Dry flies, nymphs, wet flies, and terrestrials are all associated with fly fishing, but are plastic worms? What inspired me to try fishing with plastic worms on a fly rod was our family get-together a month ago at Greystone Lake, where Jason, our son, lives. I had everything ready for the grandchildren's two-day trip that day, including 7-ft ultra-light combos, small sling packs, and tackle boxes for each sling pack with various lures and plastic worms. The worms were the winner for the two days. A few bass were taken on crank baits, but the worms really shined!
I wish I had a dollar for every bass I have landed fishing a little 4” worm using my ultra-light combos fishing our two-acre pond and small lakes in Mississippi. There have been variations of fishing worms over the years, but still it's just a plastic worm. I have always fished a small plastic worm in the four- to six-inch size. My favorite was the four-inch size, sometimes using the curly-tail version or the straight-tail version. In other words, this is not a bait I just discovered during our family time trip recently, but it is a bait, not a fly, that I have fished for years and to my surpirse can be used with the fly rod effectively.
First off, the setup for rigging the bait to match the fly rod is very different from how you'd fish it with an ultra-light combo. My 5 wt. 9 ft. fly rod works best for me, because I want to feel the maximum fight of a 12” hybrid bass and larger. “The hybrid bass will be covered in a future post.” With my 5 wt, as opposed to my 6 wt, which could result in overkill for this size bass, gives me more of a challenge. I am using a sink-tip 7 1/2-ft leader, tipped with a Vanish 6-lb-test fluorocarbon tippet. The sink-tip leader helps me get the worm a little deeper,quicker, without using a split shot. The lighter you can keep the worm, the easier it is to use some false casting to achieve the distance you want. Instead of using my 5wt. fly line, on my 5wt. fly rod, I switch to my 6wt. fly line, which propels the worms a greater distance without using as much false casting.
The slight bend in the worm causes it to rotate in the water as it is retrieved, triggering the hit. I learned years ago that fishing this worm rigged with the bend will twist your line, so I added a small swivel, which eliminated the twist. The size 22 ballbearing swivels are perfect for the 6 lb fly rod tippet. Another advantage of the swivels is not having to spend time tying knots when changing worms, or any fly related to woolly buggers. I also use the size 10 Durolock snap swivel when fishing streamers and poppers larger than size 6. This tiny snap swivel has no effect on the popper's action. Both the snap and ball-bearing swivels have a 20-lb test weight. The hook that works best for me when fishing the worm is the Gamakatsu light-wire hook in size 2. This is one of the sharpest hooks I have ever used to fish worms. There is no mistaking the hit; sometimes it is a soft grab, and other times it is a hard take. As soon as you see the line tighten, raise the rod, and the fish will hook itself, especially if you are using a super sharp hook.
