Entry 315-1

What’s New From Strike King and How to Use These Products with Denny Brauer

Part 1: The Rage Thumper Worm

Question: Denny, what’s the Rage Thumper Worm, and what makes it different from any other plastic worm?

Brauer: The thumper tail, which vibrates as it’s falling from the surface to the bottom, makes the Rage Thumper Worm a different type of worm. As the tail vibrates, it sends out different pressure waves than what the bass are accustomed to feeling and hearing. Not only is the Rage Thumper Worm a different-looking worm, but it produces a different vibration pattern from all other soft-plastic worms on the market today. In the hot summer months, like right now, when most hydroelectric plants are moving current through lakes and reservoirs, you can go to main-river points or secondary-river points and catch a number of bass with the Rage Thumper Worm.

Question: Do you use the Rage Thumper Worm primarily as a fall bait?

Brauer: No, I fish it like any other worm. However, it attracts the most strikes when it’s falling because that’s when the worm really kicks back and forth. Knowing that the tail action seems to cause the bass to bite instead of when the worm is crawling across the bottom, I sweep the worm up from the bottom maybe 5 or 6 feet and then let it fall back. This really makes the tail work. And, that Thumper tail generates almost as many vibrations as a spinner bait does. Generally an angler will cast a worm out, hop it back about halfway to the boat and then reel it in to make another cast. But I’ve learned that because of the vibration of the tail, you actually will have some bass attack the Rage Thumper Worm as it’s being retrieved back to the boat. So, the Rage Thumper Worm can be very effective when you swim it back to the boat after you’ve swept it up off the bottom and let it fall back.

Question: What else do you like about the worm?

Brauer: This worm is easy to modify. The worm is designed with segments, which allows you to cut the worm off at different lengths. For instance, I’ve found that the Rage Thumper Worm is a really-good flipping bait. But oftentimes I prefer short, compact baits when I’m flipping. So, I can just pinch this worm down to the size I want when I’m flipping. Also, the Rage Thumper Worm is recyclable. For instance, if you’ve caught four or five bass on the worm, and the head is beat-up and not staying on the hook very well, you can cut off a portion of the worm, re-hook it and keep fishing. Because of the segments, if the bass are short-striking, when you shorten the worm, you’ll catch those short-striking bass.

Question: The Rage Thumper Worm is a 10-inch worm, and Strike King’s Rage Tail Anaconda is also a 10-inch worm. What’s the difference in these two worms?

Brauer: The Rage Tail Anaconda is more of a ripple-tail worm. It displaces quite a bit of water but sends out totally-different pressure waves than the Rage Tail Anaconda. The Rage Thumper Worm has a hook-tight tail that produces a rage action, like the Rage Craw and some of Strike King’s other Rage lures. The Rage Thumper Worm generates a harder thump than the Rage Tail Anaconda and has a totally-different look as it swims through the water. Most of the Rage Thumper Worm is a straight worm with a sharp hook on the tail.

On the other hand, the tail on the Rage Tail Anaconda starts about half-way down on the body and gives that soft, thin rippling action. They’re both tremendous worms, and I’m often asked in what situations do I fish one or the other. I always take both the Anaconda and the Thumper with me because bass have different moods. For instance, if I’m fishing in a school of bass, and they stop biting the Rage Thumper Worm, I’ll change to the Rage Tail Anaconda because it may cause the bass in that school to bite.

It’s very important for a fisherman to be aware of and take advantage of new trends and lures. Most of the public waters the Strike King Pros fish, especially the really-good lakes, have tremendous fishing pressure on them. And, although the bass have become accustomed to that fishing pressure, they still will seek ambush points to attack bait, such as humps and points. So, these schools of bass see the same baits presented in the same way, almost every day. If you can fish the Rage Thumper Worm in a way the bass probably have never seen before and aren’t conditioned to seeing, your chances of catching bass are much greater than the angler who’s using the same worms everyone uses.

Next: The Rage Tail Smokin' Rooster

Contents:

• Part 1: The Rage Thumper Worm
• Part 2: The Rage Tail Smokin' Rooster
• Part 3: Hawging Up the Bass
• Part 4: The Rage Eeliminator
• Part 5: The King Shad's Baby Brother