After reading the previous posts on this board about the pink worm, I thought I'd give it a try. I threaded a 4" worm on a 1/4 oz jig head and fished it under a float. I left about an inch hanging past the hook shank. I can see why Bob "The Really Big One" says no comment...meant to be taken as a hint when refering to the pink worm. I had four solid takes with this set-up. Unfortunately I completely missed two of the takes. The worm had squeezed back and had almost covered the exposed hook. What's the trick to keeping the hook exposed while threading the worm on the jig head? After I threaded the worm on, I would just push the hook through the worm up to the barb. This worked okay but it didn't look natural. Any hints on this rigging would be appreciated.
Mark

There are barbed jig heads made just for hanging onto soft plastic worms. Not sure what kind your using.

I'm not sure that a bubblegum pink worm really imitates anything found in nature. They just love it for some reason. Sounds like you've got it down pretty good.

Bruce

If I read your question correctly, you need to expose more hook. Like Marty mentioned there are jig heads with barbs on them. Most of the time you need to trim them a bit with a razor, because they are usually made for plastic baits with a larger circumference than that of a pink worm. Also, I haven't tried this, but I read in a bass magazine once that a drop off superglue will help hold the plastic bait to the jig head.

[This message has been edited by Hohwaiian (edited 03-30-2000).]

If you want to run the worm a bit longer on the jig head, you could also try using a trailer hook. A short leader with a single hook or small barbless treble, hooked in tail section of worm. I haven't used this jig head set-up before on steelies, but it works well on walleye, which tend to bite light and often just nip at the tail.--mike

I like to trim the worm down to about 3 or 4 inches and thread it on the jig hook keeping the worm in a straight line as possible....hang on tight no snozing Good Luck

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Tight Lines
FISH ON ------<*)>><
Men are like fish we get into trouble when we open our mouths to much!!

Here on the Island i thread the worm onto the line and let the worms tail hang free about 2" and pull the hook down so that it's flush with the tail of the worm. Some guys use a spinal needle to tread the line thru the worm ( the needles hollow ). A bead above the hook ( optional ) will keep the line from ripping thru the worm. With the worms tail flipping loosely it has action but the hook is still at the back to pick up short takes. Very few short takes on a pink worm though. Fish will even chase it down on the retreive.

Hey BCSteel,

I had one of those "on the retrieve" takes 2 weeks ago on a pink worm. I was drift fishing with a Berkley floater and he chased it down and rolled on it like a bass. It was on top of the water and I was reeling it straight back to me at full speed.

For drift fishing I rig it just like BCSteel. For better flotation I sometimes add a corkie or a "rag" head.

For jigs, try this: heat up the lead portion of the jig with a lighter and then slide the worm up on it, it melts the plastic and sticks to the jig.

TK