Soft Bait Worm Fishing For River Smallmouth

[mic]

Before any of you post... "well da", I'm as green as it gets with respect to smallmouth fishing. Anyway, I was out with Ron this weekend on the St. Francis going through all my largemouth lures with little to no luck. Finally, I asked Ron if the ole worm would work. I think he laughed a little at my ignorance, but popped out with "sure will". So I threw the worm the rest of the trip and had my best luck. I caught them straight lining, dead dropping, and bouncing them in the current. All Texas rigged.

Anyway, I would like to hear your favorite size, weight, color, and technique.

[Stoneroller]

I don't like to worm fish frankly. i'm not a huge fan of soft plastics for river smallmouths. one, I have a hard time slowing down that much and dragging around stuff. secondly, I really do not like to take the chance on deep hooking a fish, which has a higher chance with plastic, especially texas or carolina rigged. If I do drop plastics its on a stand up/shakey head jig, that way i'm alway in contact with the bait and have a better feel of when it picks up the plastic. the jig head also tends to make them not want to swallow it as much.

I wonder if a circle hook would work? i don't see why not as smallmouth tend to pick up the prey item and slowly swim off with it. I might have to give that a try this year...

[Seth]

I've not had much luck on the river with a worm, but I do throw chigger craws and brush hogs quite a bit on a texas rig or a shaky head.

[Al Agnew]

Six inch worms are an often overlooked river bait. I carry a couple colors, straight finesse worms, not ones with a curly tail (although the curly tail worms will work, too), and mostly use them on a jig head, one of those with the little curled up wire coming out of the jig head that you screw the worm into, and bury the hook point in the worm. It's a good wintertime lure, as well. The other "worm" I sometimes use is a 4 inch Senko, texas-rigged and weighted, or one of the "french fry" type worms rigged the same way. I like the very subtle action of these types of worms, without curly tails and appendages sticking off them in all directions. It gives the fish a different look.

[gotmuddy]

last year I started using plastics, tubes and grubs mainly. yesterday I did something new, colored the baits with markers. it worked great

[Gavin]

I carry a few but dont use them often...4" Zoom Finesse worms, and some 6" finesse worms. Usually fish em on a texas rig, or a neko rig.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Like Al, I have been tossing a 6 inch worm for over 30 years now in all the creeks I fish. Only I do use the curly tail. I haven't noticed that one color out preforms the other. I used to always texass rig them. In the last 10 years, I started using a jig head. I still occasionally texass rig them but not very often.

Try tossing a 3inch soft craw next time you are out.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Zoom Finess in ugly colors. I don't think the T rig is the best way to go on a flow. A Slider head works better IMO.

[Jason R.]

I also second Al on the short worms- Those zoom centipedes in pumpkin and green pumpkin, texas rigged with a 1/8 bullet weight can be deadly- at least on all the smaller bass. For some reason I have not caught a large smallmouth on one that I can remember- probably a personal problem.

[Mitch f]

I carry a few but dont use them often...4" Zoom Finesse worms, and some 6" finesse worms. Usually fish em on a texas rig, or a neko rig.

Gavin, love the look of that neko rig, gotta try it this year