After I repaired my reel to make it cast longer distances (spool was over filled), I wanted to test it and a 3.75" worm with a new design. A few things I learned and a few things confirmed:
1. Don't overfill your reel !
2. When it comes to cold water (41 degrees in this case), fish will still smack a lure like no tomorrow given their
cold water immunity. This morning I wanted to see the action of the worm on the drop, jigged off bottom and swum. Not great since the plastic I poured was too hard for the tail end to shimmy. But guess what? A 1.75 lb bass and 12" perch clobbered it! Which leads me to these question:
a. when matching jig hook size to lure size, how small is too small ?
b. when fishing in cold water, how long is too long when it comes to straight baits like Slider Worms?
a./b. V1 is the hook placement I had no problem hooking either fish. V2 is where the hook would normally emerge given a larger hook size. Just the fact that both species got hooked means that when it comes to
larger fish, their aggression level stimulated by lure design allows them to easily wrap their lips around a longer lure with short shank hook. In the case of the bass, the lure was completely in its mouth whereas smaller fish in my pond didn't bother.
(Note: The bass started out at 1 lb when stocked in my pond in spring; today that bass had grown to almost 2 lbs. being the only bass swimming alongside a smorgasbord of pan fish to snack on. Guess 'hog' applies!)
Back to tail design. The tail made the worm act slightly different regardless plastic's firmness and the retrieve; the tail's hook-profile might have an added visual stimulus.
Time to pour some more in
soft plastic.
(note: pond is stocked with permits for five species)
