Entry 115-3

Mark Davis - Don't Forget the Worm

The Davis Carolina-Rigged Worm

Editor's Note: At the Elite 50 BASS tournament on the Tombigbee River in Columbus, Mississippi, Mark Davis had a wire-to-wire victory. The front-runner after the first day, Davis continued to lead the tournament all three days and won. He won the tournament primarily with a Strike King Ribbon Tail Worm, fishing it the old way. This week Davis will tell us five of his best worm-fishing tactics.

Davis: Most fishermen have Carolina-rigged worms tied on their bait-casting rods, but I don't. I prefer to fish the Carolina rig on spinning tackle. I use a 3/8-ounce weight up the line, and then I put either a plastic or a glass bead under the weight. Next I tie on a barrel swivel. On the second eye of the barrel swivel, I'll tie about 3 feet of either fluorocarbon or monofilament line. After I tie on a hook, I like to use either the Floating Worm, the Finesse Worm or the Ribbon Tail Worm, depending on the time of the year. When the water is hot, I prefer to fish the Ribbon Tail Worm. However, when the water is below 70 degrees, I like to fish either the Finesse Worm or the Floating Worm. On my spinning rod, I'll use 20-pound-test line.

This technique is especially deadly when you're fishing for spawning bass and the water's too muddy for you to see the bass on the beds and cast to them. By using the spinning tackle and this Carolina-rigged technique, you can make a soft presentation to the bass on the bed and often get them to strike.

Another situation of when to use this rig is when you're fishing deep-water structure. When I'm Carolina-rig fishing deep structure, I like to crawl the bait along the bottom. I use my rod tip to pull the bait 3 or 4 feet on the bottom and then pause the bait and let it sit for 30 or 45 seconds before I pull it again. Most of the time the strike will come when the lead is sitting still, and the worm is either floating up or gliding forward. You have to remember that when you stop moving the lead, the worm continues to move. But, it's now moving much slower and making gentle, lazy type of movements that really seem to attract bass.

One of the biggest mistakes that many fishermen make who fish the Carolina rig is that they try and fish this rig too fast. One suggestion I make that may help you is to fish the Carolina rig in a shallow swimming pool to learn how the worm moves after you stop the bait. Once you see how much your lure is moving when you're not moving your line, you'll realize that you need to fish much slower to catch more bass using this tactic.




 

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