I've fished this thing for over 20 years hopping and dragging around and have caught a lot of fish...but I found a little pattern the other evening that makes me think I've been missing out. I had on a light 3/16 oz weight, 7 inch worm and was doing a steady retrieve. Speed was based on depth, but kept in close to bottom. No stops, hops...just steady cranking. Anybody else fish one like that?

That's pretty much the only way I fished senkos and ribbon-tail worms for years.  I didn't know any better, but seemed to do pretty well.  I will say that the fish I catch on them nowadays, on the bottom or hopping, are generally bigger than I averaged just swimming them along.

 

I think it came from having come to bass from other species.  I knew trolling...and then first bass fishing was with spinner baits....I didn't know any better --- but I will say that my wife still presents a lot of worms and grub-types with a fairly steady retrieve and often out-fishes me.

Yeah...certainly didn't catch any size, but went from one fish after a few hours of fishing to a dozen or more real quick just by swimming it.

Swimming a ribbon tail worm doesn't seem to be hugely popular but there are a few of us that have had some success with it.

 

A-Jay

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SETt8ghxAkE

Unfortunately Mann´s discontinued the Jelly Waggler, that worm was tailor made for swimming, the "new" hardnose 6" curly tail worms also swims quite well, so is Zoom´s G Tail Worm.

Rage Tail Recon

The swimming t-rig strikes again...different lake...similar results. Still playing with weight size, but I'm liking this "new" technique.

The Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm is great for swimming.

I've fished this thing for over 20 years hopping and dragging around and have caught a lot of fish...but I found a little pattern the other evening that makes me think I've been missing out. I had on a light 3/16 oz weight, 7 inch worm and was doing a steady retrieve. Speed was based on depth, but kept in close to bottom. No stops, hops...just steady cranking. Anybody else fish one like that?

 

I fish my gourd-green Zoom U-tail worm like this and have great success.  More so than if I hop it along the bottom.  

I've been using the green pumpkin Power Worm but I hear the bait monkey knocking.

The swimming t-rig strikes again...different lake...similar results. Still playing with weight size, but I'm liking this "new" technique.

The heavier weight you use, the easier it is to keep your swimming worm (or jig) just off the bottom. The extra weight works against the natural lift of the bait.  One thing I'll suggest that you may have figured out already and that is to make bottom contact a few times during your retrieve. This keeps you oriented to the bottom, especially when that bottom is irregular or may change in composition.

I find shaking the hell out of a Texas rig using an ultralight rod really gets bass going.  Watching the rig on the bottom I can see why, too.  Bloody thing looks alive.

 

But yes, there are times I'll go with a slow, steady retrieve.

 

Josh