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Finesse Fishing Insanity (Guest Article)
by Craig DeFronzo (Earthworm 77)

Technique: Using Small Worms To Increase Your Catch
I wasn't always a jig guy. When I first got serious about bass fishing, I threw a worm of some sort almost all the time. I cut my teeth fishing Gator tails, Phenoms, Culprits, and Bandit worms. As time grew on, I slowly adapted from the traditional Texas rig to other more capable rigs. My worming took an abrupt change of course in March of 1991. I spent a week in the Ocala National Forest and was turned on to the Slider worm. I found that this bait, fished on a Slider head, was a deadly set up that nobody around my area was using. That season I took notice as NY bass ate it up. The small 4" Straight tail worm was deadly. I immediately sought out new ways to use the worm. My attention was turned to California where the finesse movement was now steadily gaining popularity. I became extremely lucky when I learned that my God Mother was Bob Crupi's aunt. Yes, THAT Bob Crupi! He set me up with Michael Jones who is a finesse master. He wrote a book on most of the popular finesse methods that has been like a bible to me.

The Weenie Worm:
By definition the Weenie worm is any small, thin diameter worm. Finesse methods always employ handpoured worms, but you can get away with a Slider worm, Kalin's Weenies, or Lucky Strike Razor worm. I actually had to rely on these worms for quite sometime because I couldn't find a manufacturer that would do business on the East coast. These days I have no problems finding custom handpours thanks to Mr. Todd Miller of Susquehanna Snoozers. Snoozers has a 4" finesse worm that is hardcore finesse. All of the baits are custom color, scent, and glitter. "Your imagination is the only limitation"!

The worm itself is a very slim 4" model with a smooth, flat bottom indicative to it being a hand pour. There are so many awesome colors, but I rely on just a few; Pumpkin Chartreuse tail, Purple Red flake, Watermelon, Junebug, Rainbow Trout, and Motor Oil Green Glitter. Yes, I know Oxblood, Cinnamon, and Green Weenie are traditional California favorites, but I keep it simple. As for scent, I always use it and lucky for me Todd molds it into the plastic. I opt for either crawfish or shad. Handpoured worms are softer then injection molded worms. Bass most likely hold a handpour longer because it feels natural. The addition of scent increases my chance of a successful hookset. I only use straight tail worms. I believe that these mimic baitfish better than baits with a curly tail.

The thin diameter of the worm requires the use of a thin diameter hook. I utilize TTI X-Point hooks which have a stronger temper, better steel, and a smaller diameter than most other hooks. Needless to say, it is also one of the sharpest hooks available. For mini worms, I almost always opt for a 1/0 offset hook. When rigging Texas style, I push the point of the hook just under the surface of the round side of the worm. Usually I push it completely through and back it up so it is buried. Not that hooking bass on these soft worms is a problem.

The weenie worm appeals to a larger base of fish. It is also very natural and tends to attract strikes when other baits get zeroed. It works great for heavily pressured bass.

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"All of these finesse methods have proven themselves to me. I didn't invent any of them. I've just modified them a bit to suit me better. They are not all little fish techniques and guys who refer to them as sissy baits have obviously never tried them. They surely will get you onto fish and in capable hands are simply devastating."

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Tackle:
I prefer to use brass weights. Top Brass Tackle makes a great weenie weight.This is a shorter fatter version of the traditional bullet weight. I like to paint mine black or brown. I'm a huge fan of Mojo weights. These are skinny cylindrical weights that are good for using in grass. They have a thin diameter and are a great alternative to split shot. Most of my finesse worming is done in 0 to 8ft of water. I rely on a few sizes of weights; 1/64oz, 1/32oz, 1/16oz, 1/8oz, and 3/16oz. Brass weights, besides being environmentally friendly, resonate sound better than most other metals. I use glass beads with them for optimum noise. These must be faceted fire polished so as not to damage your line. Glass beads come in a wide array of colors to match the bait you use.

For finesse worming, I rely on a 5-6" or 6ft spinning rod with solid backbone. A fast action light power rod suits my needs. You all know I am fond of BPS Bionic Blade series rods. I use the smaller rod when wading or fishing in my Float Cat. The larger rod is strictly for my boat. Here leverage is the key. My reel of choice is the Pinnacle DNF25 Deadbolt. It is a smooth dependable reel with 5BB, instant anti-reverse, front drag, and 5.3 to 1 ratio. Worms are the only light tackle lures where I even consider using my drag over back reeling. This is only because I keep the anti-reverse engaged for the hookset. For other techniques, I prefer to fish without it. If I hook into GUS, I will backreel as that is the safest way to play a big bass.

My favorite light line is Silver Thread. It has a thin diameter, good abrasion resistance, low memory, and is supple. I opt for 6 or 8lb test. DR has turned me onto Power Pro Braid and I love it. My only concern is the lines color, which I think may turn fish off in clear water. All in all, I've been doing really well with the 10lb line. Pro friend Terry Baksay of CT has me using Triple Fish Camo which satisfies my concern for line color. I have found it to be a great line and its color is first rate.

Methods:
Mojo Rig - Perhaps one of my all time favorite worm rigs, the Mojo is just an advanced version of the ever popular split shot rig and alternative to the Carolina rig. A great feature about this rig is that there is no swivel and only one knot to tie. The Mojo weight is pegged securely on the line above the bait by using a piece of silicone filament. A simple tool similiar to a needle threader is used for this. You can add a glass bead if you want sound. I usually prefer it. The best thing about this rig is that it only requires one knot, not three like the Carolina set up. This can mean alot if you fish rocks and lose a few rigs in a day. An advantage over split shotting, you no longer crimp the weight to the line. This could damage it. The filament protects the line and keeps the integrity of the line intact.

Just like its predecessors, the Mojo is best used with a slow steady retrieve. It is a true search bait as it methodically plods the bottom on a seek and destroy mission to find bass. It is a subtle presentation that can be used in every season. I have scored with it in the heat of the Summer to the cold of Winter. You can also use it in clear or stained water. The elongated sinker comes through grass and rock better than traditional bullet weights. This rig is successful because it keeps the bait close to the bottom mimicing a sculpin or other bottom dwelling baitfish. I usually rig the weight about 24 inches above the hook. This is a contact bait in that you must keep in touch with the bottom. I never pick the bait up. I just slide the rig along trying to feel the bottom at all times. You will notice that most strikes feel like you snagged a wet rag. A mushy heavy sensation is often all that you will detect. I prefer a sweep set of the hook.

The Mojo rig lends itself nicely as a rig that a guy can fish in the back of the boat and still take a limit. The rig is notorious for producing numbers over giants. I have taken a few big fish on it, but not enough to call it a big fish technique.

Earthworm's Modified Shaking Rig - Most of the California finesse techniques are tailored for deep water verticle presentation. Shaking is one such technique. I modified it a bit to meet my shallow water needs and it has become a deadly asset to me. The shaking rig is quite simple. It is merely a Texas rigged worm fished with a heavy weight and either a brass clacker or glass bead. Also called a doodle rig, this set up was devised with suspended bass in mind. Don Iovino perfected it. It is little more than this- an angler locates a pod of fish in deeper water and drops the bait on top of them. Here the angler shakes the rod tip to make the brass and glass slap together, literally making the bass strike out of anger. Precise placement of the bait is key as I know guys who are so in tune with their electronics that I've seen them actually hit the fish with the bait. The traditional set up was meant to be fished on baitcasting gear.

I have found a use for this rig in my arsenal. I scale down on the weight and utilize spinning gear. This now becomes a horizontal and shallow to mid depth presentation. I opt for 1/4oz weights or lighter. I like to use this set up around docksupports or bridge pilings. Those that I can find in deeper water are ideal. I constantly jiggle the rod tip to keep the bait sounding off. Again, I'm using a small 4" worm or 3" reaper. I utilize this set up in dingy water where visibility is poor. I feel that the noise is the attracting characteristic of the bait. It can pull fish in from a distance. For this technique, it is important that you learn to "weigh the line". This means become accustomed to what the bait feels like under normal circumstances. Anything heavier or lighter is a fish. I normally use 8lb test with this rig as the dirty water allows me to upgrade. It also has a knack for producing big fish so the extra strength is welcomed. Try not to give the bait too much action. A simple jiggling of the rod tip is all you need. Figure about 2 or 3 inches of movement. Late Fall and Early Spring are my preferred times to use this rig.

Weightless Skipping - Here is a deadly way to fish weenie worms that I rely on more than any other method. The rig is simple- a weightless Texas rigged 4" worm with a 1/0 or 2/0 offset Owner hook. The placement of the bait is what makes the rig so successful. Using a side arm backhand motion, I release the cast with my rod parallel to the water. The bait will skitter and skip along the surface like a frantic baitfish. You can skip the bait like a flat stone into and through cover. This is nothing new, just an exceptional way to catch bass. The skipping gets fish looking skyward, which is about the time that the bait slowly descends upon them. The biggest reason I rely on skipping is because it helps me get my bait far under docks and overhead snags. Usually to places that people would never even think of casting into. I choose a Slider worm for this. It is a bit heavier than most other weenie worms and skips well. Even though you are using the bait in dangerous places, you will usually get it back. Often I will use this rig when I'm fishing behind another boat. I've taken 4 bass over 8lbs on it only moments after other boats worked the same areas. This includes a 9-3 that creamed a black grape Slider worm with a glass Venom rattle hidden inside. I prfer a shorter rod for skipping. A 5-6" fast action rod is cherry for this. I caught the 9-3 on a Cabela's 5ft Tourney Trail rod. What a battle that was!!! This rig is awesome for sight fishing and was key for me in two amatuer tournament victories on the St. Johns River in FL several years ago. Both with very heavy bags of bass.

Split Shot Grubs - With the inception of the Mojo rig I rarely do any splitshotting anymore. The only exception is with a small 3 inch grub. For the rig, I crimp a piece of tabless shot about 18 inches above the bait. The tabless shot won't snag on the weeds. I prefer to use the rig on sandy flats or around hard bottoms. These areas won't foul the shot. A slow steady retrieve drives bass wild. This is also a great search bait. I use it on many of the small creeks I frequent for smallmouth and it is deadly! If you take the time to gain confidence with this rig, you will take a ton of bass with it. You can upgrade to a larger hook and grub to try to attract some bigger bass. I stick with 6lb test. You must rig the grub perfectly to prevent line twist. Rig the grub Texas style along the seem with the tail down. This will act as a keel to keep the grub from rolling over on itself. Make sure you maintain bottom contact with this bait.

Wacky Rigging - Wacky rigging goes against the grain of traditional worm fishing. Many anglers look at this set up and snicker as it really does look quite stupid. Their smirks quickly turn to frowns as I spank them silly out on the water with this odd looking rig. Once you get past the unorthodox appearance of this set up, you will see that it's clearly a unique tool that belong in your arsenal.

The Wacky rig is best in water from 70 to 80 degrees. I prefer clear to slightly stained water. It is one of my top sight fishing rigs, as those of you who fished the NYBASS Mahopac get together saw how effective it was for me. This rig has a knack for enticing cruising seemingly uninterested bass when other baits fail. I use it in shallow water from 0 to 5 feet deep. You can use a small nail in the worm for a spiraling fall effect. I prefer to fish it weightless. My set up consists of a small 3 or 4 inch worm rigged down the middle in half on a small size 4 or 6 splitshot hook from Gamakatsu. This shallow water rig is great around boat docks, boat houses, and sparse vegetation. Simply cast the bait to cover and keep your line semi-taunt. The bait will slowly flutter to the bottom. I don't give it any action except to move it to a new position. My experience with the bait finds most bass suck the bait in and move off with it. I never feel a bite on this rig. I see the fish take the worm or I observe the line slowly moving off. The rig has no negative cues so fish don't drop it that often. When you detect that a bass has the worm apply steady pressure to hook the fish.The hook is small so you can't swing set. I used a larger hook in the past, but realized that I was dropping about 30% of bigger fish at boatside because they were never hooked. Maintaining steady pressue on the fish will allow the small hook to slide along until it finds a place to stick in. It is a hard thing to see a 5lb bass hit your bait and not set up right away. If you can get past this and use the pressure method, you won't lose many bass. I was skeptical, but with practice I learned to do it and it has benefitted me greatly. Thank you, Jerry Puckett!!!

Downsizing Soft Jekbaits - For years, I have relied on soft jekbaits to catch boatloads of bass. I first got my hands on Bass Assassins Super Finesse Twitch Worm which is a thin diameter 4" Slug Go type bait in 1990. Little did I realize that it would become a major player in my tackle box. I picked this bait up in Florida and brought back several hundred to NY. I used them religiously here and found them to be awesome. I quickly learned that I could deadstick it, walk the dog, twitch it, and skip it. I was able to place it deeper into cover than any other bait. It was so natural and fish never saw it before. Deadly. I still use them today. I like Slug Go 3", Snoozers 5" Thrasher, and a 4" model that my buddy, Chris from Al's Worms, handpours for me from California. I rig the bait Texas style. Many baits have a hook slot where you can pop the point through. This helps because you no longer have to penetrate the plastic on the hookset. I've been using Sugoi or EWG Gamakatsu hooks in 2/0. I stick with gold or silver shiner patterns.The 3" Slug Go is deadly for creek smallies. I've had more than a few 100 bass days on it. I like to skip the bait under overhead cover and snags to get to places most people by-pass. Next, I just kill it and let it deadstick or slowly get pulled by the current. I'm hoping my pal, Todd Miller, comes up with a smaller version of his Thrasher as it will be killer combined with his scent mixtures.

Light Tackle Tubing - You all know that I love to Texas rig tubes, but I cut my teeth fishing 2 3/4 inch Gitzits for small stream smallies. I use the original 1/16oz Gitzit head which allows the bait to seductively spiral down. The bait is open hooked so it isn't at all weedless. I prefer it around rock cover. I let it fall on a tight line so I can detct hits. The open hooks sticks fish pretty easily. I like the new Bitsy Tube and Gary Klein's Salty Tube. Both are 2 3/4 inches long. I use a 5-6" light action spinning rod with a fast backbone. Normally I'll go with 6lb mono. A few years ago I thought I hooked a state record smallmouth. A big fish freight trained my tube on 4lb line. It turned out to be a 15lb carp. I have also been known to Mojo a tube with a Gamakatsu G-Lock hook. The tube shimmies back and forth far behind the weight. It is a unique look that fish just don't see all that often. As far as tubes are concerned you only need these colors: Black/Blue, Junebug, Watermelon, Green Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Smoke/Purple Flake, Bluegill, and Roadkill ala Snoozer. As of this writing, Snoozers baits has just introduced a 2.75" mini tube that is deadly for stream smallies and cold water largemouth. You could also try your luck for slab crappies with them.

All of these finesse methods have proven themselves to me. I didn't invent any of them. I've just modified them a bit to suit me better. They are not all little fish techniques and guys who refer to them as sissy baits have obviously never tried them. They surely will get you onto fish and in capable hands are simply devastating.