I’ve seen the question come up several times, “how do you fish a weightless trick worm?” There are several ways to do it as you will see if you poke around the internet long enough, but I am going to make weightless trick worm fishing simple.
The cool thing about fishing the weightless trick worm is that it is super simple, but deadly effective. It is kind of like the good old “Senko” style stick bait.
First off though, what is the trick worm?
It is simply a straight-tailed worm that is long and skinny. This gives it great action in the water and also makes it look like an easy meal for bass.
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How Do You Rig a Weightless Trick Worm
I like to rig my trick worms weightless on an offset shan worm hook weedless. I rig it as straight as possible to allow for a natural fall and less line tangle (remember, we are making this simple). I typically use anywhere from a 3/0 to a 5/0 hook depending on how much weight I need to cast and let the bait sink. The hook is the only weight to this rig.
Now that we have the rig we’ll move on to fishing the weedless trick worm.
How Do You Fish a Weightless Trick Worm?
Remember, we are keeping this simple. This rig is typically fished fairly shallow. Many times it is target specific. I try to fish this set up in and around cover. I typically cast to or past my given target. This could be a laydown log, a brush pile, vegetation, a dock, or an undercut bank with overgrowth.
After I cast it I will either let it hit the bottom, let it sink to the depth I desire to fish, or almost immediately start working it back.
I fish the weightless trick worm a lot like I would a fluke. I usually will give it one to three jerks of the rod tip and let it sink. Pay attention here because how many twitches and how long the pauses are is important.
Examples of Fishing the Trick Worm
For example, last year I was fishing the trick worm’s little brother the 4-½” finesse worm by zoom in a smallmouth river. It ticket here was to cast it to the bank and let it sink for six seconds. After I counted to six, I gave the rod tip two light twitches. I would count to six and do it again.
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This was the pattern that the smallmouth were on and I caught three to one what my fishing buddies caught. So simple, yet the success is in the details.
In another small highland reservoir in my hometown, there is a lot of weed growth followed by deeper water access. I will give much longer pauses, sometimes to twenty seconds after I get out to the outer weed edge. This can be slow but can prove very effective for neutral or pressured bass.
I still do the same thing where I let it sink to the desired depth and count my jerks.
If Bass Are Super Active
Now if the fish are blowing up on top and are actively feeding, I will fish much more aggressively and the twitches will get harder and the pauses will be a second or so. This can be almost like topwater fishing and can be very exciting.
So basically, you cast out the weightless trick worm, give it time to sink to the bottom or the depth you are fishing, and give it twitches followed by pauses. Pretty simple.
The last way you can fish it weightless which will give a whole different action is to wacky rig it like you would a stick bait and let it sink with pops, or drags of the rod tip.
When you are fishing this bait be a line watcher. Because it is weightless you will have slack in your line and many times you will just see a little jump or twitch in your line when they bite. Other times your line will get too much slack or just start moving to the side as the fish grabs it and swims away with it.
When this happens tighten up your line to remove the slack by reeling down and set the hook. Then let the fun begin.
When to Fish the Weightless Trick Worm
This method shines when the fish are moving shallow. It is a killer in the spring, but it works all throughout the summer months and even into the fall. The fall gets a little tricky if the fish get zoned in on small-sized baitfish, but you can still catch a few.
The Gear
I like to fish the weightless trick worm on 8-14 pound test depending on cover, gear, and how far I need to cast. If I am fishing the little finesse worm I use 8-10 pound test on a medium power. If I am fishing on casting gear I will fish it on 12-14 pound test on a medium or medium heavy rod. I typically fish it on a 7’ to 7’3” rod.
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On my spinning setups, I will fish braid to a leader for casting distance and to prevent line twist.
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On my casting gear, I typically go straight fluorocarbon line.
Wrapping it Up
That is pretty much it. Get around fish, don’t be afraid of getting around or in the cover. Go out and catch some bass.
To your weightless trick worm success,
Jonathan Burke
