Jigworm Renaissance On Tours This Year

A look back at the last 2 tour years reveals an important trend. Picture Luke Clausen with his $500,000 check at the 2004 FLW Tour Championship and the picture takes shape. Then see Greg Hackney with the Table Rock Bassmaster trophy hoisted high above his head and the picture gains focus. Envision Kevin VanDam with a spinning rod and his Lewisville Bassmaster Elite 50 win and the picture becomes tack-sharp.

A lot of insiders agree, 2005 was the year of finesse. VanDam won an E50 event with a jigworm,

and Hackney won Table Rock with it. Plus Davy Hite won the Dardanelle E50 with a jigworm (and other baits). That's not to mention all the other jigworm Top 10s this year for various anglers.

Mike Iaconelli, who finished in the Top 10 in every E50 this year, also threw a jigworm. "I call it the year of finesse," he said. "I think the reason is, and I'm definitely sure this is a part of it, was the pressure. The lakes we've hit had an ungodly amount of pressure – just thousands of boats.

"It seems like everybody lately has been doing same thing," he added. "They see Tak (Omori) win the (Bassmaster) Classic on a creature and crank, and there were a mass of people power-fishing. But because of that, finesse-fishing's taken over. You have to slow down."

Tale Of Two Heads

There are all sorts of ways to rig a plastic worm, but the simplest way is just to thread it on a light jighead. That's all a jigworm is - a worm (usually a short, straight-tail version) strung on an undressed round (or mushroom) jighead.

But over the past 2 years, two jigheads have all but dominated. The first is the Bite-Me Shakey Worm Jig. It has a ball-style head with a 60-degree, flat line tie. It also has a collar to hold the worm in place and it's made with a Gamakatsu hook. It's the jighead VanDam uses.

The other popular head is the Buckeye Lures Spot Remover, which is a stand-up head that includes a collared keeper to rig the worm Texas-style (with the hookpoint buried). The spot remover is best for smallmouths, spotted bass and bedding largemouths.

Find 'Em, Then Worm 'Em

VanDam doesn't use a jigworm to find fish. Instead, he uses it after a good concentration of fish is found and he has to coax them into biting.

"When you've got a lot of pressure, or maybe you've caught some fish off a spot with a crankbait or spinnerbait, this is my clean-up bait," he said. "For me, it's the very best (clean-up bait) there is.

"I've probably been doing it for 5 years or more," he added. "For me personally, I just have confidence in it. You can throw a Carolina rig with a finesse bait and catch four or five, then not get a bite. Then you throw a Shakey head in and get four more."

The Shakey jig "catches quality fish too," he noted. In fact, he caught an 11-13 monster on it at this year's Lewisville E50.

For his worm, he uses a Strike King 3X Finesse Worm. "The really unique thing about the Strike King 3X Finesse Worm is that it floats. It's so soft, and so buoyant, you get so much more action than with any other worm. That's my go-to deal."

He fishes the jigworm both deep and shallow, but noted its use is limited to hard-bottom areas, and it's "not real good in thick vegetation."

But with any finesse presentation, there's a mental game the angler has to play. There's the urge to cover water with a faster presentation vs. the need to slow down and milk an area. He said that's another reason the Shakey is so great. It's a compromise.

"I do like to fish fast," he said. "But I don't like to cast the worm out and reel it back. I can shake it along in 3 or 4 feet (of water), or make short hops, or basically drag it along in 5 or 6 feet. I get a lot of bites that way, and it allows me to cover water quicker. And it works in 2 feet to 30 feet."

He said water color determines worm color, but "90% of the time it's watermelon, watermelon/red, green-pumpkin – basically the greens and the browns. If I'm in Florida or stained water, I'll go to junebug."

He likes the 1/8-, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce head sizes, but this year at Table Rock he went all the way up to 3/8-ounce to fish deeper water. "And to me, it's a must for fluorocarbon," he added. "I use Bass Pro Shops XPS – usually 8- or 10-pound. In real deep water I've gone to 6-pound for a quicker sink rate."

About The Fall

One of the key transitions in angling skill occurs when an angler stops looking for bites on the bottom. Easy enough with a bait like a Senko, but a jigworm begs to be fished on bottom, especially in shallow water.

That's fine for spotted bass, but it's usually not the best bet for largemouths. That's why Hackney uses an ultralight jighead to slow the sink rate of his jigworms. Like VanDam, he also throws a Strike King 3X Finesse Worm.

"I probably caught 85% of the fish at Table Rock on a finesse worm," Hackney said. "It was by far my dominant lure. And I had a couple of good tournaments last year where it really pulled me out of a bind."

He noted it's not a "clear-water bait" but more of a "clean-water bait. The water can be stained or just good color – it doesn't have to be clear. If it's stained, I may change colors up a little – go darker – and change the weight of the head."

Here's big "biggest" tip: "Normally in 5 foot (of water) or less, I'll never use heavier than a 1/16-ounce head. And sometimes I'll downsize to 1/32. The finesse worm is really good on the fall, and I want to give it plenty of time in shallow water. The fish don't run from it, and you don't get an aggressive bite in shallow water. So I like the real light head just because of the fall rate.

"It's almost like a speeded-up version of the (Strike King) Zero or Senko-type baits," he added. "It's like a faster version, but it falls headfirst, not flat. It's just a real natural bait. It looks like a worm, eel or small baitfish. When you're needing a bite, that's the deal."

When Hackney's shallow, he's usually target-fishing to stumps, laydowns, docks or patches of grass. But he was out deeper at Table Rock, which demanded a slightly different approach.

"At Table Rock I was fishing it on mid-depth drops," he said. "All my fish came from 10 to 14 feet. I was throwing up to 8 (feet) and fishing it down to 14. Once I figured out where the fish were positioned, I could throw down to that depth – the 10-, or 12- or 14-foot line and fish it back."

The biggest reason he fishes the Strike King worm is because of tail action. "A lot of people make a standup head, but the 3X (Finesse Worm) stands straight up," he said. "It's probably the best spotted bass bait out there, because it stands up straight."

> His jigheads are homemade, "just a ballhead with a Gamakatsu (hook)." He usually paints red eyes on them with fingernail polish. "I don't know if it makes any difference, but it helps my confidence."

Stand-Up Style

Both Hackney and VanDam fish ballhead jigs with their worms, because they want a combined dropbait and bottom bait. But as mentioned previously, another hot jighead is the Spot Remover, which is a bottom bait. FLW Tour pro Dwayne Horton was one of the first to get on the Spot Remover, and he never looked back.

He was first introduced to the Spot Remover by Buckeye owner Ray Altman. As the story goes, Altman and Horton practiced together for the 2003 Wal-Mart Open (Beaver FLW). Altman, who fished the Tour as a co-angler, had seen Horton fishing a jigworm at the prior Murray FLW practice. Altman developed the Spot Remover, then showed it to Horton before Beaver.

"They really didn't impress me," Horton said of the Spot Remover prototypes. "But I tried some of them and sure enough started catching fish on them. And sure enough, Ray went out and won the tournament on it – $40,000. And every (other co-angler) who had the Spot Removers came in the money.

"The next year, which was last year, (the co-angler division) was won on the Spot Remover again. And 90% of the co-anglers who came up on stage at Beaver said they used a Spot Remover. If I had the money that's been won on it, I could retire and do anything I wanted."

He noted the reason the Spot Remover is so effective is because spots and smallmouths "feed down. And what's amazing about them is they don't get hung-up. If they do, you pop your line one time and they're unhooked."

Another key is the Spot Remover sinks straight down – it doesn't spiral. That saves key time in deep water, but also puts the bait exactly beneath your cast. "And when it hits bottom, that worm stands straight up," he added. "That tail will start going side-to-side, and I think that's what really triggers the bass to bite it. They're deadly on a bed too."

He likes to fish a Zoom Finesse Worm on the jighead. "I think it's the right size, and the right diameter around, that it lets the tail go back and forth when it stands on the bottom. That, and it has lot of salt."

Like others, he prefers natural colors like green-pumpkin and watermelon, and he often dips the tails in chartreuse dye. But unlike others, he throws the light jigs on baitcasting gear.

"I like using 4-, 6- and 8-pound test," he said. "It depends on where you're fishing – the depth and water clarity – but I mostly use 8-pound Original Stren Clear/Blue Fluorescent. I hardly ever break a line, and the visibility is real good above water."

For a reel, he uses a Daiwa Procaster, "the small one," coupled with a "pretty light-action rod" to help cast the light baits.

He added this final tip: "Spot Removers have VMC hooks. The key to fishing the Spot Remover is to take and open the hook up just a little bit. Your catch ratio will go up 90%. What happens is, those fish hold onto it so tight, with 6- or 8-pound line you can't hardly move that jighead. But with the hook open a little, you seem to catch them a lot better."

Notable

> Mark Davis learned to fish with a jigworm. He still throws it. "Hardly a tournament goes by that I don't have one tied on and catch some fish with it," he said. "I think it's a consistency bait. It keeps you in the hunt and so forth."

> Horton noted that Buckeye now sells a Spot Remover Finesse Jig, which is the standard Spot Remover dressed with a skirt.