https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/how-to-plastic-worm.html

 

good stuff

Do the techniques he showed in the video also apply to jigs? I'm trying to learn to jig fish but I'm a little lost about what specifically I should be doing with my rod and reel.

I am no expert on jig fishing. When  I do fish  a jig I have my best luck slowly dragging them along. You can also hop them and catch fish. Sometimes changing your jig trailer  can make a difference. Hope this helps but I am sure others can help you a lot  more.                                  

2 hours ago, JFlynn97 said:

Do the techniques he showed in the video also apply to jigs? I'm trying to learn to jig fish but I'm a little lost about what specifically I should be doing with my rod and reel.

 

After no bites I like to try another color worm. Do you reuse plastic worms if you don't get a bite? 

32 minutes ago, JMZ said:

After no bites I like to try another color worm. Do you reuse plastic worms if you don't get a bite? 

I usually try to present the worm differently before I change colors but yes I reuse them. 

Back in the late 60’s my uncle and cousin were avid field & stream magazine readers. I think that’s we’re they learned about the split shot rigged 6” black worm. We would fish from a row boat and row off a droppoff from the shoreline till the weeds disappear from view as the water became deeper. We would then cast into the shoreline and work the split shot rigged worm very slowly towards the boat. We caught some nice 3lb bass doing this. At another local spot from shore. I tried fishing the same split shot rig again with success. First cast I thought I hit a log. The second cast I had a hookup. A nice four pound lmb.

 

one night while night fishing I seen the freshwater eels up against the shoreline. I’m thinking that’s why the bass are feeding near the shoreline.

 

note, years ago all we had was black, natural, red colored 6” worms. That’s almost 60 years ago.

8 hours ago, JMZ said:

After no bites I like to try another color worm. Do you reuse plastic worms if you don't get a bite? 

I save the used plastics in a seperate zip loc bag. I always use the used plastics too.

Use them until they are torn up

Good stuff, Glenn.

 

In my opinion, fishing a plastic worm is the essence --the fundamental, elementary matter-- of bass fishing. Before I learned how to fish a plastic worm, i would catch bass sometimes on all sorts of baits, but it always felt like it was mostly luck. Once I had spent some time learning a texas-rigged worm, my success rate went way up. Fishing a worm teaches patience, concentration, and precision. You learn how to focus on location, how to count depth, how to feel the bottom, how and when to impart action, how to detect strikes, and how to distinguish strikes from cover. And I really believe that becoming proficient at texas rigged-worms (and other plastics) improved my ability to fish every other bait in my tackle box. 

 

 

Good video.

I agree with those who feel that worm fishing is as basic as it gets for bass.  Back when I was a kid fishing in Wisconsin, I can remember hearing about guys using live nightcrawlers for bass.  I never saw anyone doing it, and I have no idea how they rigged them, but it inspired me to use a little of my very limited funds to buy a plastic worm.  Not certain of the brand, but I think it might have been Eagle Claw (it was back in the early 60's, so memory may be a bit sketchy).  It was one of those pre-rigged worms with a short leader and 2 or 3 snelled hooks, and also had a few red beads and a prop in front. 

 

 

It wasn't nearly as pliable as plastic worms today, not much wiggle action.  I caught my first few worm bass on that before I lost it to something I never saw.  I never replaced it, as for some reason I was still not convinced.  My thinking is a lot different now.

1 hour ago, RPreeb said:

I can remember hearing about guys using live nightcrawlers for bass.  I never saw anyone doing it, and I have no idea how they rigged them, but it inspired me to use a little of my very limited funds to buy a plastic worm.

We used a worm harness that was very similar to the rig in your picture.  I never really used them for bass, but did for walleye.