Finesse worms are very popular for targeting largemouth bass, especially in clear water. Most anglers will use finesse worms with light line on a drop shot rig and they will target bass in deeper water. Don’t rule out shallow water cover, darker water or using heavier line when drop-shotting finesse worms. These worms can be very effective in a variety of situations.
Popular Fishing Techniques
Hop Them Along the Bottom
Finesse worms look great when hopped along the bottom. Use a lighter jighead, small Texas rig or a drop shot rig and just hop them along the bottom with some pauses mixed in.
Twitch Them
The twitching technique is a technique you can use with a shaky head jig or a drop shot rig. It works better with a drop shot rig, however, the shaky head jigs look good too. Basically, you’re trying to give the bait action without moving it much out of its original spot. By doing this, you’re creating action while keeping your bait in a good spot to draw more strikes from largemouth bass.
Fish Them Slowly Through the Water Column
Use a simple lift and pause retrieve with some occasional erratic jerks to tempt bass that are suspended in the water column. Most of your bites will come on the slow fall on the pause of your retrieve.
Swim the Curly Tail Worms
The smaller, curly tail worms work great when you swim them with a slow and steady retrieve. Use a baitfish colored pattern and swim these baits where bass are feeding on schools of baitfish and you’ll catch a lot of bass.
Popular Fishing Rigs
Drop Shot Rig
The drop shot rig is an awesome rig for fishing with finesse worms. Whether you decide to fish it shallow or deep, it’s a great rig that works well for largemouth bass.
Finesse Jigs (Weedless)
Finesse Jigs rigged weedless, are great for fishing with finesse worms. By adding some weight, it allows you to go a little bit heavier with your tackle and still cast them a decent distance. This allows you to get some finesse-sized worms into some places that most anglers aren’t fishing them.
Jighead
A simple jighead works well with finesse worms. When you are fishing an area that doesn’t require your bait to be weedless, a jighead and worm will work just fine.
Scrounger Jighead
Most finesse worms look great on a scrounger jighead. Use a slow and steady retrieve and you will get bites from active bass.
Shaky Head Jig
The shaky head jig is a great way to present some finesse worms. Many of the finesse worms may not be large enough to connect to the cork screw piece on the shaky head jig, but there are some finesse worms on the market that will do the trick. Fish with a slow, twitch and pause retrieve around cover and you will catch some bass.
Split Shot Rig
The split shot rig is a great rig for fishing finesse worms in shallower water or for targeting suspended bass. When you need just a little more weight to get your bait down faster, a split shot rig is a great choice.
Weightless Rig
Fish a finesse worm hooked in the head of the worm or in the middle and fish it weightless. You can use a jerkbait retrieve or a more subtle lift and fall retrieve by fishing it wacky style. Both techniques work very well with finesse worms.
