I am a finesse fisherman for the most part. Worms, lizards, craws, creature baits, senkos it doesnt matter I can catch em with soft plastics. Its just my thing, my go to bait. Then when it comes to those big 12" worms something just dont work for me. I can not for the life of me catch em on those big worms. I dont know if its my tecnique or what but I have caught exactly zero bass on big worms. So Im just wondering in what situations and what tecniques do you use those big worms and does anyone here have much luck with em?

I use the big worms anytime I am fishing greater than 10' and always at night. I prefer the 10" Berkley Power Worms (which are on sale at BPS right now by the way) ...the big worms move alot of water and are sometimes easier to locate in deep water. The Power Bait scent is just an added bonus.

only at night and the only kind ive caught on is the zoom magnum in red shad

Any time I'm after big bass which happens to be any time I'm on the water  

zoom big ol' worm in watermelon w/t red and black flakes are killer around here

Speaking of big worms...

I like a culprit 10' in red shad.  My favorite place to fish them is on underwater humps.( about 15 foot down, dropping off to about 20 to 25 foot.

I fish mostly ponds, but when I slow down I start with a 10" Brushy Creek worm in a darok or natural color.  If the bite is 'that' slow then I downsize to a smaller worm, and possibly a shakey head.

They make worms SMALLER than 10"????  That's just crazy talk!

bass pro makes a killer 12" worm that crushes big fish down here--especially now with it being brutal hot. i also make a 14'' homeade worm that i call the "big nasty" it does damage when all others fail.

Dont be hard on yourself or the lure. It could just be that the fish weren't biting or there were no fish where you were fishing...etc. I read that a basses forage will typically be between 30-60% of its size. So a 12" LM bass will typically eat prey from 3.6-7" in length. Larger meals take a bass more time to digest and makes it inactive and vulnerable, therefor most fish, unless they feel they have a safe place to retreat to and digest a large meal, may not eat a larger offering in the 7-10" range and may opt for many smaller 3" fry or minnows, frogs, crawfish, insect etc. This is my theory not fact, the prey size is fact though, I saw it on a website, dont think I still have the link though.

10 and 12" is big?!?

When I talk big worms I like the ones 15+". I love these for fall fishing. I just can't seem to find many of them any more.

Can anyone tell me where I can buy 18" worms? Bass LOVE these in the fall.

One thing though: using bigger baits means the smaller fish won't go for it as much.

True story from BASS's magazine around 25 years ago:

Fellow was using a 15" worm and caught a 12" bass (legal limit where he was). Took it home, cleaned it, and pulled out an 18" snake from the stomach.

Go to the "Links" bar at the top of the page and choose "Tackle Manufacturers".  Then find 'DeLong'.  Check those out.

Ok, now with all the talk about 10+ inch worms, would it be advisable to maybe add a stinger hook  somewhere along the addtional length to increase potential hooksets?

Sorry, I wasn't trying to hijack the thread in regards to my question above. The question just occurred as I read thru the thread.

You will find some bodies of water that just won't produce for the big worms.    Some lakes are just that way.    Cedar Creek Resovoir, Tx,  I always thought fish went deep in the winter, but 3 ft works all winter, and 10 inch worms, never seem to get the job done.    

   You could graph a spot that shows nice fish, even caught fish there in the past.   You could chunk a large worm all day and not get bit, but down size that worm down to 8 inches, same color, and limit out.

Some lakes just goes against the grain.

By the way, I fuse all my big worms, another words, I soldier (melt) them together to give me 15-20 inch worms.

Matt