How to work a Texas rig worm

How to work a Texas rig worm

When worm fishing, I try to keep my bait on the bottom as much as possible. I spend the majority of time with my worm sitting on the bottom and my rod straight up toward the sky at 12:00. When I get ready to move my worm, I move my rod down to about 2:00 while reeling in my slack at the same time (I like to keep a lot of line between the end of my rod and the fish so she doesn't feel the rod). Then I work my rod upward while shaking the rod to give it action and keep it from catching any stuff on the bottom. The only time my reel moves is when it is taking up slack. I never move my bait with my reel. That way I know if I feel something different, it is probably a fish (especially if I didn't move my rod). If I feel a single thump, I drop my rod, take the slack out and immediately set the hook. If I feel a machine gun hit, I wait a while, because I know it is a little fish and the hook probably isn't in his mouth yet. Big fish normally won't move far to chase a bait. If you work your bait fast (like most people do), you will get more little fish bites, but the big fish probably won't bite. The reason big fish and little fish feel different when they hit is that when big fish hit, they suck the bait to them (the fish doesn't always move). Whereas, little fish pick up the bait on the run and what you feel is the fish carrying the bait (the fish is moving).

Most common worm fishing mistakes:

1) fishing too fast
2) waiting too long to set the hook
3) putting the rod to close to the water