I was reading an older article by Paul Elias last night. He said that as a general rule, he used plastic worms until mid fall, then switched to a jig.                                         He felt that a jig was the better bait in cooler water. Have you noticed this to be true in your own fishing? Do you base this choice on water temp or other factors?

I have not and will never stop worm fishing 

Some of my best worm fishing is in the winter.  I’m pretty much addicted to shaky fishing.  I have a minimum of 2 setups rigged that way 24/7.

I fish a worm year round but do throw a jig much more in the Winter.  It's not because the worm is less effective.  It's because I love catching big fish on a jig in the Winter.

Bigger fish seem to hit the jig for me.  But I’m a worm guy all year long.  But yea late winter I’m throwing a finess jig all the time. 

I dont fish winter . I do fish late fall  and early spring . Jigs seem to work better at those times . Maybe its because of the  slower fall that I usually get with a jig than  a worm . Mid autumn , like right now , I still rely on worms mostly .

Big worms over 10” excel at night and spawn cycle where I fish.

Smaller finesse worms 4 1/2”- 6” are year around for drop shot.

Big bass a jig excels year around.

Tom

I always have both a jig & a worm tied on when bass fishing; From ice out to ice in.

Both 24/7/365 ?

Depends on the style of worm that he is talking about worms with alot of appendages and movement dont do as good in winter as a trick worm or dropshot worm. Worms are good year round, jigs are also good year round, really depends if you want more bites or bigger bites. Jigs also do better in winter on bottom because of grass, it usually dies off. worms do a little better in my experience slithering through hydrillia and milfoil compared to jigs. both a trickworm and dropshot worm are interexchangable with a jig in the winter months. Personally my plan for winter fishing is probing deeper water with a Carolina rig or drop-shot so if I snag im not out a nice jig, Find the spots that have fish+structure, and fish that small area effectively with a jig that has a weed gaurd and weight suitible for the structure your fishing.  Find the structure with your electronics, but not all structure has fish on it, so search around mark spots and if you get bit on a smaller worm you can upgrade to a jig and soak it in the area. This is what I do, although if you just want bigger bites go with jig, and if you want more bites you can go worm. Jig and worm complement each other really good!

I tend to abandon traditional T-rigged worms from mid-October through April. I just seem to do better with other soft plastics then.  A jig/ trailer, on the other hand is a year round presentation for me, although I do go lighter/smaller in cold water.

 

 

Think presentation not lure.

I fish the same baits all year long including worms and jigs.

Caught a nice smallie today with worm. Tried fluke with no bites 

i fish them all season which usually ends in december and starts in april for me. although in cold water i usually opt for a smaller worm with less action and or a shakey head. jigs i fish all year.

I rarely fish worms except for this year ive been hammering the wacky rig. Prior to this year it was usually craws that i would throw on a t rig and would switch to the ned in winter. Jigs never entered the equation any time of year but I'm done bass fishing this year. So maybe in 2022 I'll try a finesse jig while its still chilly. 

I fish jigs & worms year round. Our Spots prefer worms all year over any jig.

I worm fish year round

I use a Ned rig trd from the day the ice is off until the day it ices up...that count as a worm? I would think something like the small size roboworms would work all year.

Shakyheads with straight tail worms get fished in the winter almost every trip while a jig is just an occasional bait and rarely as successful.