I’m curious to know how I would do this.

There's several ways. Use a bobber at different depths, crawl the worm slowly on the bottom, or use a worm blower. Put a split shot on the line, hook the worm once, and give him a shot of air, letting him float up off the bottom.  The only problem you might have is with panfish. It's hard to keep the little guys away.

Use one of the thread bobber stops at the desired depth and set your bobber to slide on the line.

How you rig any bait is going to depend on where you are fishing and the conditions. There are no one answer to the answers you seek. Wacky rigging a large night crawler with a small hook, using a tiny split shot if required is as close to guaranteed fish as you can get, puts Senko to shame. On a bobber, any where from a foot to 3 or so, again depending on where and when. Please go fishing.

     When I was a young minnow, I used to use Eagle claw snelled hooks size 6. I would thread the worm onto the hook and about two inches down come back out and turn the hook and bury it into the collar (wide part) of the worm. Then I would attach a small split shot above the snelled hook. 

     Cast out and let sink on a tight line. Watch your line for twitches. Get a bite, give your line a little slack then let the line tighten and set the hook. 

FM

You just need to get out and fish man.... you're overthinking everything...

I agree that there are a *lot* of ways to rig a live worm for bass.

 

I've experimented over the years with different ways including a split shot

about 10-15" above the hook, the crawler injected with air at the tail end

and man did that action attract hits. A nice little 1 ½ pound bass took it on

the fall. Great fun.

 

You can use traditional bobbers, slip floats, etc. Experiment and enjoy the

results  .

 

Walleye fishermen have been doing it forever.  Google “crawler harness”.  Although mainly for trolling I would imagine you could cast and retrieve it.  

I would throw it on the bottom with a Carolina rig and blow the worm up with air on a #2 hook

How do you blow a worm up?

3 minutes ago, BassFisher517 said:

How do you blow a worm up?

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/lindy-worm-blower

 

Basically it's an empty squeeze bottle with a needle point. I've gotten some empty syringes from a friend who's diabetic - sterilized them, and use those if I want to add air to anything...even plastics occasionally.

The sunfish and perch will likely peck at it before a bass eats it.

If you want to fish it in deep water off the bottom then you want a slip bobber setup, if you want to fish it deep on or near the bottom then you want a lindy rig or split-shot setup. Fyi these are walleye techniques.

Another vote for the live crawler Carolina rig...basically what it is, right? I read "lunkers Love Nightcrawlers" when I was a kid. I used to keep crawlers all summer and I've caught just about everything on them. I still have a worm blower although I didn't always use it.

 

The one "problem" was that the panfish/little fish could be a problem. You hook a big fat lively crawler once through the nose and some dink takes it piece at a time. LOL

 

A drop shot has become a favorite panfish rig for me and I don't know why it wouldn't work for bass.

 

 

 

 

22 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

     When I was a young minnow, I used to use Eagle claw snelled hooks size 6. I would thread the worm onto the hook and about two inches down come back out and turn the hook and bury it into the collar (wide part) of the worm. Then I would attach a small split shot above the snelled hook. 

     Cast out and let sink on a tight line. Watch your line for twitches. Get a bite, give your line a little slack then let the line tighten and set the hook. 

FM

Wow. I used to fish almost the same way. Except no weight and would put the hook in the worm’s head like a TR and let the whole worm dangle. 
 

When I got back into fishing last April after a long hiatus (almost 30 years), I started doing what I used to do- nightcrawlers on a #6 Eagle Claw snelled baitholder hook. On the bottom or 2’ under a bobber for panfish. I caught this bass on a Cabela’s UL graphite rod and a Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel with 8 lb Stren. 
 

 

That’s my PB, between 6-7 lbs going by measurements (had no scale at that time). That bass started me down this new road of new rigs, new baits, a small boat, etc. But nightcrawlers can catch bass for sure. But they also attract a lot of turtles! I’m glad I stopped using live bait! 

I used to use a rig a lot like a drop shot when I was a kid. Caught plenty of Smallies on it. Also, a lot of Sheepshead. Substitute the crawler for a Crawfish or Crayfish as we called it, on a Carolina rig you may have better luck and avoid the smaller panfish.

Depends on what "deep" is?  I wouldn't have it a foot below the bobber in 20 ft of water.  

Just pretend it’s a Senko that’s still alive.