That 3/8 ounce weight is probably part of the problem. A 7 inch worm does not really need a 3/8 ounce weight unless you are punching or channeling your inner Ish. But if u are catching fish so be it. My lures don’t always have the smoothest entry into the water but I do alright. 

In the area that I fish the splash is usually a good thing. The water is very muddy usually and the splash held the fish know where my lure is, also I can’t even count how many times I casted and the lure made a splash and as soon as it made that impact the fish would bite it out of reaction.  So I like a little splash

9 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

That 3/8 ounce weight is probably part of the problem. A 7 inch worm does not really need a 3/8 ounce weight unless you are punching or channeling your inner Ish.

I generally start at 3/8 oz. and move up.  I rarely throw 1/4, though 1/8 can happen if I'm feeling like a more horizontal approach.  It's not an Ish thing.  Whether there is heavy weed cover or not, up here, it the speed of the drop.  Something big goes whizzing down, and a fish has to do what fish has to do to get a quick meal.  Think of it like a "reaction bait" - a term I hate - they have to react quick, if they want that meal.

40 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Think of it like a "reaction bait" - a term I hate

 

In my estimation of things all lures are reaction lures...bass see lure...bass reacts!

Exactly.  I was just using the term in a way many could recognize.  When I think about this kind of fishing, it's more of a brief opportunity bait.  If they're somewhat active, they grab it now, it might be food, and I'll get it first.

Some of the splash comes down to how much weight you're throwing, the rest comes from technique. 

 

A 1/2oz weight is kind of a lot of weight. In the end that depends on what lure you're using, but for a 7" worm that's serious overkill. Makes it easier to learn to cast without a backlash, but you get a huge splash when it hits the water. 

Not to mention, the action of that worm is all messed up with that much weight. 

 

For a worm that small I'd use no more than a 1/4oz weight, but only if you're using it around certain vegetation and working it more like a flipping bait, or going for some kind of lightweight Carolina rig. Usually 1/8 or 3/16 is plenty. 

 

Technique is the other part. That just takes practice to get right. Learning to control the entry of the lure into the water by controlling the spool with your thumb. You can toss a 3/4oz jig and have it hit the water with barely a ripple, or chuck a weightless senko and have it sound like a canon ball hit the water, just by altering your cast a bit, and controlling the line as the lure nears the water. 

I went out fishing this morning on my way home from work (I picked a small pond along a busy road and you should have seen some of the looks on the peoples faces as they drove to work) and was paying attention to my casting. I seem to be casting with a high arcing cast that has a steep entry into the water. I am assuming this is causing some of my issues. I tried to release later but seemed to be getting shorter more acute angle casts that caused a splash. I just cant seem to find that sweet spot when to release.

 

One of the interesting things I noticed when fishing with my daughters (who are using 10 dollar WalMart Zebco combo specials) is that a slow retrieve with a Texas rig seems to work better. The reels they are using have a 2.1:1 retrieve vs my 6.3 or 7.1. They were catching them and I wasnt. I am going to try a really slow retrieve next time to see my results.