Entry 221-5
Looking Back Over the 2007 Bass-Fishing Tournament Season with Mike Wurm
Editor’s Note: In 2007, Mike Wurm of Hot Springs, Arkansas, qualified for his 10th Bassmasters Classic, a major milestone for him in his professional bass-fishing career. His big dream when he first started competitive fishing was to qualify for 10 Bassmaster Classics, which he believed would establish him as a true bass-fishing pro. In 2008, Wurm will realize his dream. One of the most-difficult feats to accomplish in sports is being able to compete at the highest level possible for an extended number of years. The names in sports you’re most familiar with aren’t the men who’ve won big tournaments, but the men who’ve endured over the years, like Babe Ruth, Johnny Unitas, Jim Kelly, John Elway, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicholas, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Mike Wurm has proven that he’s an endurance fisherman. Only the best in bass fishing compete in the Bassmasters Classic. To have 10 appearances in a lifetime is a major accomplishment for anyone. This week, we’ll talk to Wurm and learn what he’s doing and what his hopes are for the future.
Part 5: Finding the Right Lures, Line and Reel
Question:
Mike, you didn’t fish the crankbait much this
year, but I know you’re a crankbait fisherman. What’s
your favorite size and color?
Wurm: You’re right, I didn’t fish the crankbait very much this year, because the lakes we fished didn’t lend themselves to crankbaits very much. In 2008, we’re fishing different kinds of lakes, so the crankbait will play a larger role in my fishing. Fort Madison will probably be a crankbait lake. Clarks Hill may be a crankbait lake. You never really know when you’ll need a crankbait, so I’ve always got one tied onto my rod. In 2007, Lake Guntersville in Alabama proved to be a good crankbait lake.
Question: What’s your favorite crankbait? What size and what color? What type of retrieve?
Wurm: My favorite is the Series 3 in the fire-tiger color or any of the new tour-grade colors. I also like the Series 5 crankbait. The Series 3 and the Series 5 are workhorse crankbaits. The Series 3 will fish 6- to 8-feet deep, and the Series 5 will fish in 8- to 12-foot-deep water. You want to crank these two depths when you’re fishing a crankbait. You need a crankbait ready to fish at all times, because you never know when you need to pick up a crankbait, throw it under a piece of cover, bring it over a ledge or swim it beside the grass.
Question:
In 2007, the shaky-head worm was definitely a go-to
bait for you. What are you doing to the shaky-head worm to get
more bites than other anglers?
Wurm: I think my success is because of the way I set up and cast the bait. Strike King has always had good 4- and 7-inch finesse worms that you can fish on a shaky head. Now Strike King has put a good barb on the shaky-head jig to hold the worm tighter to the head of the jig. The company also has a long Gamakatsu No. 3/0 hook in the round and the Football shaky-head jig. The Football shaky-head jig holds the tail of the worm up better than the round head does. That’s the reason I like the Football shaky-head jig better than I do the round head. I usually fish a 3/16- or a 1/4-ounce jig on 8-pound-test fluorocarbon line with a Quantum Tour Edition PT Signature Series Mike Wurm rod and a Quantum Energy PT reel. I know that when I put a 3X green-pumpkin Strike King finesse worm on that jig, I can cast it into any body of water in the United States and catch bass.
Question: How do you work the worm, Mike?
Wurm: I cast the worm out, let it fall to
the bottom and slightly shake the tip of my rod. If I pull it
over a limb, a log or a stump, I let it fall back to the bottom
and shake it again. 
I’m
shaking the worm throughout the entire retrieve. I make the
worm create little tiny hops, like I have a nervous twitch in
my wrist. I only want the worm to travel 1 or 2 inches each
time I twitch it. You don’t really need to move the worm
too much. The entire time I’m retrieving the worm, I’m
shaking it. You want the worm to continue to move along the
bottom, stirring up a little dust as you shake it. If you’re
throwing the worm to dock posts, standing timber or brush piles,
you want to pull it up next to the target and then shake it.
Question: Mike, why do you like 8-pound-test line for your shaky head?
Wurm: I’ve experimented with a lot
of different line sizes. Six-pound-test line is a little too
light because you have problems with setting the hook too hard
and breaking the line. If you’re fishing in cover, the
bass can break off that 6-pound-test line fairly easily. Ten-pound-test
line is somewhat stiffer than 8-pound line, and you can cast
it as well. But, 8-pound-test line seems to be the magic number
in-between the 6- and the 10-pound-test lines. Any time I feel
a bass on that shaky head, I’ll set the hook. 
A
fish doesn’t have any hands, so it can’t pull the
worm’s tail, pick it up or set it down. Any time you feel
a bass or any pressure on that worm, the bass has the worm in
its mouth. So, you need to set the hook.
Question: What’s your favorite color to fish on the shaky head?
Wurm: Green pumpkin is my favorite. That color will produce bass anywhere at anytime of the year, under almost any weather and water conditions. My back-up color will be watermelon red. Anytime you’re fishing and you don’t know what lure to use, you almost always can bet on a Strike King Football shaky-head jig with a 4- or a 7-inch 3X finesse worm on 8-pound-test line, using the shaky-head tactic.
Contents:
- Part 1: Season Highlights
- Part 2: Finding Lures that Win Classics
- Part 3: Learning to Change
- Part 4: 2008 Classic Lures
- Part 5: Finding the Right Lures, Line and Reel
