Wacky Worm Styles

[mtcald10]

I have recently figured out why this wacky worm stik bait thing is so popular. I have been tinkering with it with store bought baits for about two monthes and either finally figured it out, found the fish, or got my rig lined up right but I have two questions for the "pros".

What are the differences between Bob's and Del's stick molds? and Secondly I did not have much luck with the actual senko's and I do not know why, maybe they were a little bit heavier than the others and sank a lot faster. What salt content is regular for a slower sink rate. I have been experimenting and I am getting about 3 parts plastic to one part salt but is that normal?

Thanks for the help.

[rxfish]

I'm not a pro and I don't know about Bob's stuff, but do use Del's molds. 98% of the baits I make in them are without salt and if I'm not fishing them on a dart head or lead head, I find other ways to make them sink. The amount of fish I catch hasn't varied enough to warrant buying the originals. So all thats left is matching the color if that color is important. As for looks, I can't tell much difference. I use a lot of my left over plastic to create some really far out stick baits and its really satisfying when they work. I haven't bought a Yamamoto bait in over a year.

[One Sock]

ahh if you want a match for the originals, get yourself a small postal scale. the kind that ways in ounces and grams, me personaly I use 1.5 tblsp to 4 ounces of plastic. If I know I'm fishing shallow 2-5 feet, I keep a bunch of sticks with just a 1/2 tblsp of salt to 4 ounces.

GY makes a senko lite for fishing in shallower water, I also have a bunch of customers who just want no salt, for carolina rigging, drop shotting or putting on slider jigs etc etc. to each is own, good luck in your quest

[Predator Bass Baits]

Bob and Del's molds are the same.

[bssmstr]

Tip: If fishing sticks 'wacky' style - use plastic tubing cut into 1/8" strips and slip onto your stick. Slide hook underneath tubing and you can fish all day on one or two sticks - they don't tear up like hooking them directly through the middle. Cheaper than 'O' rings or split rings. A foot of 5/8" tubing (take a stick to the hardware store and double check size) costs about 75 cents and will make enough strips to last all year.

Also, I like the new 'weedless' finesse wacky hooks. 2/0 works great!

[David Reid]

I am not following you here. Do you mean you slide the 1/8" tubing ring onto the stick which secures it and holds it in place with the 2 halves trailing back in the water and you then slip the hook through the tubing ring so it is not through the body of the stick but just through the tubing ring which is then positioned on the bend of the hook?

[bssmstr]

Yes, just slide tubing up to the "egg sak" and slip the hook underneath the tubing. You won't 'tear' the stick when the bass take your bait. I've caught as many as 12 on one stick. One problem though is getting the correct size tubing so it won't 'slide' off the stick easily. It should be snug.

[bssmstr]

I grew up in West Texas where an evaporative cooler worked pretty good and central air was still expensive. The water supply was brought in by 'plastic tubing' or 'swamp cooler' tubing. There are several sizes and I first used them on trick worms. Slide the tubing up to the egg sack and put your hook through the tubing. Add a small finishing nail to the head, and it pulled the worm down in front of the grass edge (or brush, stump, etc). Jerk, jerk, jerk and then let it fall back to the bottom or depth desired. REPEAT. It drives them nuts! Try not to pull the worm too far from the grass edge. No bite -- move down a little and try, try again.

[David Reid]

Thanks Bssmstr. It was only when I came across Wacky rigging which I had never seen or come across before that I realised that was probably the way to fish some of these sticks and bigger worms for some of the saltwater fish we target here. A friend of mine who I got interested in soft baits bought a pkt tried to fish them like bait threading them on the hook didnt catch a thing and then came back to me saying How do you fish them I caught nothing and darn near got tipped out of the kayak by a big fish that grabbed the bait didnt get hooked but took off. He was most depressed but even more so when I said I am sorry I just dont know. It was when soft bait fishing here was just starting here and none of us knew much which wasnt all that long back.

What size worms or sticks can you actually fish this way and what really is the optimum size for these? It all comes down to what size fish you are targeting I suppose but then again there is probably an ideal size bait and target fish for this style of fishing I suppose.

I have hardly tried this method but must try it more. That tubing sounds a good idea and have not tried that O rings or split rings either. The couple of times I did try it with these worms I wasnt Wacky rigging and the worms were quickly munted by being pulled off or being chomped up to the hook by pickers so havnt really tried it again. Its certainly a darn good way for youngsters to fish I imagine.

Prior to this I was thinking it would probably be a good idea to put a length of mono in the stick mold to act as reinforcing but that is certainly a good idea alright and with the bait not so quickly being ripped in half with the hook through it I certainly will try it.

[GB GONE]

I like senko type baits for wacky worming but try designing your own bait. The one pictured is about 3" long and I used a marble with 2 grub bodies attached to it.

I purposely off-centered the marble so the bait will fall erratically. This bait is a never fail bait and catches its share of larger fish as well.

Pair it up with a #1 shiner hook and you are good to go!!

The bait is small enough that when the fish hit, the bait pushes up your line and remains undamaged. I have caught as many as 12 before I needed a little glue or another bait....

Jim

[David Reid]

How are you rigging this bait Jim? #1 is a very small hook even just slightly smaller than a 1/0 so I take it the fish you are targeting are bass and other freshwater rather than saltwater. Whats the biggest fish you would catch with that bait? The smallest I use are generally 2/0 with 3/0 and 4/0 up to 8/0 depending on what I am targeting and size. I dont use hooks below 2/0 and most of the time if I use 2/0s they are with smaller soft baits or use as a keeper hook. Here we have strict minimum size (length = from snout to inside fork of tail "V") and maximum daily limits nowadays for each species to ensure sustainability eg Kingfish are 75 cm (= 29.5") with a maximum of 3 and Snapper are 27 cm (= 10.63") with a maximum of 9 in the region I live in and 10 elsewhere. If I was to use hooks below these sizes I would hook and damage too many undersized fish.

[GB GONE]

I hook the bait right through the center of the ball part. It gives it a nice horizontal fall. I have a 6' model as well. The shiner hooks are a little different as they are made for live bait so they are a bit more stout. I mostly target bass with them and have found this to be the best bait for wacky rigging any bait. Something about the angle of the shank that keeps the fish from throwing the hook.

I have tried the Wide gap finesse hooks with so-so success. Seems the fish can throw those easier.

I go "wacky" a lot on lake that are pressured when I fish tourneys and have come up with some needed fish with the technique. Around and under docks, the wacky rig is tough to beat!!!

Jim

[David Reid]

Bssmstr et Al, I was wondering about this Wacky rigging as you have suggested and was thinking you could Trap-Rig these sticks or worms with a hook in each end of the stick/worms as well. If you ran your braid through the middle with your needle bringing it to the outside surface near the middle and tied off the hooks first you could then pick up the braid with your hook giving it a couple of turns to take up the slack in the braid and so it dosnt slide so easily on the third hook and then by tipping the hook on its side slip the plastic tubing loop over the hook and move it along a bit to roughly centre it or whatever and align it where the braid comes out of the worm. Sounds very effective to me and I am sure it would be deadly with most strikes retrieved slowly or trolled. You would also end up with 2 fish at times or the bigger fish that took the whole bait I imagine. A lot of fun anyway and I imagine a very effective way to fish. Try it and let us have your feedback.

[David Reid]

Jim, Thanks.That sounds good as with the ball you would have plenty of meat for the hook to go through and so it wouldnt split your bait into two halves so easy but tend to slide up your line as you suggest.

Here I know the Shiner hook as a Kahle hook. Here is what the Gammakatsu site here says about them: This is another favourite hook pattern favoured by surfcasters and boat anglers. This clever wide-gape design with hook point aimed back at the shank provides then angler with another "self-hooking" hook. The wide gape is perfect for shellfish baits and cut baits because of the curved length of its shank. Thin wire gauge, these kirbed Shiner hooks are deceptively strong and feature a straight eye and are black only. They are available in sizes 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0, & 6/0 and in small packs.

Take it the ones you are using have a straight eye similar to the standard Octopus hook rather than the offset eye of the Octopus Circle hook. They did a lot of research here and found the best hook for longlining as used by commercial fishermen were by far the Octopus Circle hooks as they ended up with the majority lip and mouth hooked as opposed to gut hooked which occurred much more with the straight eye straight shank hooks. As the lines were in the water often for quite a time as well before they were hauled out they found this minimised the amount of drownings and mauled and eaten fish as well. Its not important here as we are dealing with recreational fishing but I applaud anything that can minimise the suffering to/of a hooked fish.

Thanks for the help and advice I will certainly try something like this at some stage. What size fish have you caught with the 6" version and what size hooks are you using with these?

Betwen you and Bssmstr you have got me a lot more interested in this style of fishing and I will most definitely be trying it more.

[One Sock]

the hell with the tubing, too much work... IMO... go to your local dentist or othodeontist and get some of those little rubberbands (o rings) they use on braces, some are more than happy to give some to you, take a small sharpie cap and roll the ring over it, put the senko in the hollow end of the cap and push the o ring onto the senko, quick easy and the rings are always snug, works like a charm

[BassnRandy]

Better yet go to Walmart and buy a bag of black rubber bands from the womens hair section. Three sizes in a bag for about $1.29. Middle size and small size works on some baits. The rest I use to hold my crankbait hooks together and prevent tangling in the box.

[Senkosam]

What are the differences between Bob's and Del's stick molds? .

Bob's 4" is better than Del's and Del's 5" is better than Bob's. IMO I talking about how close to the original.

I did not have much luck with the actual senko's and I do not know why, maybe they were a little bit heavier than the others and sank a lot faster. What salt content is regular for a slower sink rate.

Salt and softener go togther like peas and carrots when referring to soft sticks and the famous Senko wiggle. You have to have the right amount of both for the proper drop rate which is so important to maintain the wiggle/ shimmy action. Too little softener or salt and the bait falls like a felt tip marker.

Too much salt and softener and the bait is only good for a few casts.

I think fish have seen too many Senkos and are shying away from them locally, which is the reason I've been using Del's T stick with the sharp pointed tail. Charlie Case has a similar design, but Dels is better.

My fishing style (and maybe yours) doesn't allow me to snooze for 5 minutes until my Senko hits bottom in 30'. I would rather use a soft stick as a jerk stick, and as someone suggested, use it on a jig head or use a split shot up the line. You can make that stick dart & die all the way to the bottom or even let it sit on bottom to get hammered, but it least it gets there faster.

Nice wacky design Jim! Will have to try that with Phenom worm bodies and a marble to make the mold.

For my favorite wacky desingn (pictured in another post), I take two T-sticks (4" or 5" depending on length), cut them at the egg sac and fuse them together with a candle flame such that the ends are both pointed. This design allows a nice quiver on the horizontal drop or rod twitch. (Charlie Case also has one that's similar.)

For either design, I add fine salt for casting distance and texture (not taste). Even firm sticks when used as jerksticks catch bass and picks. Look at the success of hard jerks!

[David Reid]

Thanks everybody what an opinionated bunch of people you have just confused me more. No seriously Thanks everybody that has contributed to this thread you have all added to my knowledge about a style of fishing I knew and know very little about and had not even heard of before the start of this year. I can see why this style of fishing has quickly become so popular and that each of you have developed your own unique little tricks and things you do that make it successful for you individually. Without knowing about this tube/ring idea its a method I would have tried again and probably given up as I continued to lose bait after bait as they were pulled off the hook one after another. Also thanks Jim for sharing your knowledge and the details plus picture on that Wacky bait of yours I learnt a lot out of that and am definitely going to have to try some of these things plus this style properly now. I dont know how well it will go with some of our saltwater fish but imagine with a little trial and error it will work quite well. Again thanks everbody.

[charkins]

Nova makes a wacky worm with a split ring poured in the middle of it. It worked good for me.

[David Reid]

You mean a)he pours the mold with the split ring in place and you then insert your hook, or you add your hook to the split ring and tie your line to the split ring as well? Done that way your split ring is not going to slip off the stick/worm. With a bit of thought there is a lot of potential and options there.