Bass Worms

[FishnDave]

I decided to tie up some of these worms weightless:
(weighted one is in the the picture too)

For size comparison, the hooks on these worms are all size 2, and the worms are around 5" long.

And then I also tied up some longer Clousers. I don't have a lot of colors of bucktail to choose from, so I tied these with Craft Fur:


I'm also looking forward to trying some deer hair poppers for bass this year:

[Chuck S]

From above: "While we can tie a fly to look like a plastic worm, our efforts seldom work as effectively. Primarily because our restrictions on weight and materials used mean that the fly doesn't move like the worm."

Long before the plastic or rubber worm as they were called you'd find the Uncle Josh's Pork Rind products in amost every bass fisherman's box. (frogs, strips twin tails, eels and more) They worked as well or even better than today's worm products and still do but they are messy, and dry out if not cared for plus you need to keep them in a watertight jar. Many years ago I tried imitaing the rubber worm with a fly but thiuking of the old pork rind eel, I quickly migrated to rabbit fur and chamois strips. I have used them from five to 12" long with and without lead eyes and they are deadly. My best big bass getter is a purple black strip with the fur shaved off except for a paddle tail of fur and with weedguards to help with fouling. I use a bit of shapplen palmered on for a head.

Good luck and although a smaller strip eel will catch a lot more bass, always keep a nine to 12" one handy for those ten lb plus critters.

[Gigmaster]

The absolute best worm fly I have ever used is Richard Komar's incredible Hard-hackle Worm. The bass tear this thing up, and I have tied them with weighted bodies to good effect as well. My best color is purple.

hardhacklewormfly.jpg

You can see the whole pattern instructions on the FOTW for Oct 31, 2005.

[bowfin47]

The late, great warmwater tyer, Tom Nixon, used to say the the very best "bass fly" was a 4 inch rubber worm, fished weightless...

Maybe it 'aint strictly flyfishing, but it works!

[deathb4disco]

The late, great warmwater tyer, Tom Nixon, used to say the the very best "bass fly" was a 4 inch rubber worm, fished weightless...

Maybe it 'aint strictly flyfishing, but it works!

I agree. I'm a big fan of Tom and think he was way ahead of his time. Chuck S mentioned the pork rind above, and Tom used that also. He cast a small pork rind strip (often with a spinner) for bluegill. He said it was the best bluegill "fly" he ever used.

[Gigmaster]

I guess I have to make a confession here. I have actually tied a bare #8 light wire worm hook on the end of my fly leader, and threaded a live worm onto it, and fished with it.

OK. There. I said it........I'm so ashamed....I live-bait fished with a fly rod....and enjoyed it. Thinking back on it makes me feel dirty. It doesn't help that I caught several dozen panfish, just as fast as I could cast out.

It gets even worse...I have even hooked a live frog, grasshoppers and crickets on my fly rod and caught fish. One time, I even stuck a live minnow on it and just let it swim around on it's own. A 4 lb, bass slammed it within 2 minutes.

I have to go do Pennance, now. I have sentenced myself to reading three chapters of Izaak Walton tonight.

The late, great warmwater tyer, Tom Nixon, used to say the the very best "bass fly" was a 4 inch rubber worm, fished weightless...

Maybe it 'aint strictly flyfishing, but it works!

[bowfin47]

I have to go do Pennance, now. I have sentenced myself to reading three chapters of Izaak Walton tonight.

Now, now, it's o.k.

Please remember that there aren't any fly fishing police looking over your shoulder! HA!

[Bear742]

Well Walton, that devil, used bait all the time.

I am still working on chenille worms myself. But in the back of my mind something says, "Just use a plastic worm." I had problems with durability when using soft plastics on a fly rod. Now Strik King 3X and Z-Man have these slow sinking salt impregnated worms made of a super strong-not plastisol-material. With an 8-9 fly rod I have cast them Texas or Wacky rigged.http://zmanfishing.com/store/categor.../finesse_wormz

[FishnDave]

About a year ago I used rubber for some worm patterns. They looked decent, I just never tried them on the fish.
I tied a bent staple to the hook shank to keep the worm from sliding down the hook shank, and also put a "bump" of dubbing near the hook bend for the same reason.