In recent years, and very effective, rubber and real worms for steelhead are threaded on a single hook leader with a 'threader'. These are a long straight thin piece of metal with a pointed front end and a flattened back end with hole in it. For worms or prawns, or even herring and other things, you run this threader up though the worm/prawn from the tail end, putting an inch or so of leader into the small hole and it pulls the leader all the way thru the bait and leaves the hook near the tail where most bites occur.
Some guys use a double smaller hook rig, as you would for sandshrimp, and hook the upper one near the head and the lower 'stinger' hook near the tail. These 2 rig ups work for drift fishing, float fishing, and with a diver. And they work really well, especially with softer hand poured worms.
The last couple of years many of us have been using a weighted jighead hook to wire most of the worm onto, by pushing it over the hook point and working it on around the hook bend and up the shank, while leaving some of the tail to wiggle in the current. The Berkley injection molded worm, which is slightly stiffer, seems to work the best on a jighook. Fished mostly with a float, and occassinally drift fished, this rigging not only allows a little more action but most importantly the weight of the jighead takes all slack out of the line. When it gets hit or just mouthed by a fish you instantly see or feel the fish and can set the hook a second or so sooner than with the other weight and slack leader methods; which often makes a big difference. Very deadly effective once you get the rigging and presentation methods down.
RT
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