1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

Ol monster. Black. Haven't found a need for any other big ribbon tail, or other color. Black works all the time.

 

 

 

A big black fresh water eel that looks like Thanksgiving Dinner. ?

 

 

I choose the style of worm I throw based on the cover or structure I'll be bringing it through and the clarity of the water.  Unless that cover is a clinging type of weed that catches an action tail worm, my choice is a ribbon tail. If it is, I go with a straight tail, stick worm. If I'm fishing stained water, I go with a paddle tail for the vibration. This season, I got hooked on Big Bite Baits Tour Swim worm. It's not a big worm, only 7.5in. but the tail gives off a lot of thump and you can split it for action similar to a Ultra Vibe.  I stick to three colors for worms, Green Pumpkin, Purple (black grape) and black. Peg the weight if that's your confidence way, but I prefer a sliding sinker.

On 8/12/2023 at 12:14 PM, WRB said:

Uptons Customs* 9” & 13” Straight tail in Aaron’s Tragic; green w/red flake back, blue neon vain, dark brown belly, contrasting colors. Floating worm that stands off the bottom and hand poured soft. 

* available from Hog Framer.

Texas rigged with sliding 3/8 oz painted bullet weight and 8mm green hologram glass faceted bead.

Tom

I have a few big 13" worms that were gifted to me and I had no idea how to replace... I was going to have to post a pic here. Turns out they are uptons!

 

For whatever reason I tried the red shad color anaconda and it was outfishing everything else I tried by a lot. I new I probably wanted some red because of some fresh craw claws, and tried the ribbon since I wanted to see if I could get it through the grass. Straight tailed worms mostly got ignored. 

Throw it past the grassline and drag it back. Usually the pop when it came up into the first bit of grass is when it would get bit. Or across a small grass point.

I'm just going to keep experimenting when I'm in a good place for the style. 

 

Related, grinding a 6" boom boom soft swimbait through the same area was worth extra fish. 

Zoom Mag 2 in watermelon red, black grape, or tequila sunrise.  I like a heavy weight when I can get away with it to keep the bait down close to the bottom.  Deep for me is between 15 and 20 fow.

I got on a big worm bite two years ago which was great because I had a few packs of big worms that have  been gathering dust. There were  Berkley power worms, Ring worms and a couple of packs of unknown worms . I went through them all , the bass had no preference. I was fishing them in sunken brush piles. Sadly that lake underwent a fish kill last year.

On 8/12/2023 at 12:14 PM, WRB said:

Uptons Customs* 9” & 13” Straight tail in Aaron’s Tragic; green w/red flake back, blue neon vain, dark brown belly, contrasting colors. Floating worm that stands off the bottom and hand poured soft. 

* available from Hog Framer.

Texas rigged with sliding 3/8 oz painted bullet weight and 8mm green hologram glass faceted bead.

Tom

What hook would you use for the 9 and then the 13?

The 9” you can use 4/0 round bend straight shank Gammy or Owner hook. The 13” has a fatter head requiring 6/0 hook and prefer using the 9” to start with. The 13” at night or low light conditions.

Tom

I like big straight tail and curl tail worms. YUM Mag Finesse and Mighty worms are my go to straight tail worms. For a curl tail, I like the standard Berkley 10" Power Worm, Zoom Ol' Monster, and one of the best worms out there that gets absolutely no love, the Big Bite Baits Kriet Tail worm. If you want a big, meaty worm, the 10" BBB has a thick body like a stick worm, with a big flapping tail. Also reasonably durable and fairly priced. 

https://www.bigbitebaits.com/product/kriet-tail-worm/

 

Something a little different based on a like with 20' of visibility in normal conditions.  The fish by mid summer are hardest bass I know of to get to bite outside low light feeding conditions.  I've looked for baits that bring something a little different to get those elusive bigger mid day bites.

 

Something a little different has been the Smartbaits Robbie Ribbon 10".  Yes it is a little gimmicky, but they do change color as it you move it through the water column/temp change. 

 

Outside of that one lake, give be me a power worm or maxscent kingtail worm.