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Wacky Worm Rig

With an invitation to spend the weekend on Lake Ida with my good friend Lory Brasel at his cabin, it would give us a chance to fish his lake for bass using wacky worm rigs, just like a month ago when I spent some time with my friend Charlie on Lake Miltona, Lake Carlos, and Lake Darling.  Lake Ida is basically in the same area as these other lakes as well is very similar in structure, and having threaten Lory a lesson in late summer bass fishing along the reeds, it was a pretty easy decision.  Wacky worming is a pretty simple technique for catching largemouth bass.  As stated in a previous post, it all began in Texas a few years ago.  In Texas bass is king however we do have a fantastic bass fishery here in Minnesota, both largemouth and smallmouth bass and what works in Texas works here as well.  This rig has evolved in many forms however my personal choice is the simple method of inserting a small O ring onto the middle of what is referred to a stick type plastic worm that is 4 - 6 inches, then using a wacky worm style wide gap hook (the picture shows a weedless style), hook the O ring and you are set.  These worms are usually impregnated with salt and scent and will sink on there own at a rate of 8 - 12 inches per second.  As stated earlier, there are many forms of this rig, some add weight to get down deeper into the weeds, we simply were casting the reed edges that were in the 4 - 6 feet depth so our strategy was to go with the simple presentation.  Lake Ida in Alexandria is the second largest lake in the area, it runs north to south with a couple of nice bays,  the water is extremely clear and on

Lory's First Wacky Worm Bass on His First Cast!

Saturday it was quite windy.  Wacky Worming is the most fun when you can actually watch your line as the worm sinks as often the bass will grab it and run, with the only indication is that your line is moving.  The wind plays havoc on the sight aspect of this yet one can still feel the hit as well as changes in the bow in your line.  As stated the worms are usually salt/scent impregnated and the bass will hang on to the worm for quite along time as it tastes good!  A quick set of the hook and the battle is on!  It is a very fun way to fish bass however this time of year the larger bass tend to be deeper so one usually catches bass in that 12 - 16 inch range.  One can target the deeper weed edges using the same Wacky Worm style using a drop shot presentation, something I haven't tried but is definitely on the list.  Our strategy was to find a reed/wild rice structure on a less windy part of the lake.  This was Lory's first attempt to use the Wacky Worm technique on his lake, and of course I tend to oversell things as well.  Giving him the basic instructions, cast right to the reed edges, points are good as well as pockets within the weed growth.  Let the worm settle to the bottom, give it a few lifts to impart some action and wait a few seconds.  If there is a bass, it will hit it within the first couple of seconds from the time the worm hit the water, and will actually pick it up from the bottom if in the vicinity of your worm.  With the clear water a bass can actually come a long ways to hit the bait as they are generally sight feeders.  Lory's first cast was on a reed point and although not exactly focused on the right methodology all of a sudden.....I got one!  We landed a nice 15 inch bass, actually the largest of the day, on his first cast.  I caught the next 3 - 4 bass while explaining the specific technique, after looking back at his first cast and understanding what went right with that situation, Lory began to catch more bass.  For the day we ended up with about 15 bass as conditions were difficult with the 15 mph south wind, it made boat control a challenge for sure. We fished for about 6 hours as it was fun to teach someone a new presentation that actually seemed to work.  I also tried a new type of rig called a Tokyo Rig, it looks deadly and should really work on the river for smallies, something that has eluded me this year.  Definitely plan on dealing with that in the next couple of weeks!

I did get some fish last weekend!

The saga of the Lac Seul May lower unit strike on the Ranger 620 continues.  After the trip fishing with my friend Charlie, I brought the boat back to Frankie's to fix the steering and a few stress cracks.  A more detailed inspection showed a number of stress cracks related to hitting the rock and after notifying the insurance company, $7200 arrived to cover the damage.  Giving an OK to start the work, they pulled off my motor and under the top cover of the transom found more damage that was not visible earlier.  Again another trip back to the insurance company however this time I expressed my frustration with them not getting this done all at once and 3 months later I am still dealing with damage.  Explaining that this was the final time to take care of everything and am expecting that this is the last of something that should have been dealt with in June.  the additional damage was $650 so I authorized them to get it finished, as the boat has been in the shop 8 weeks this summer.  As well I told them for now a $8,000 in repairs they can touch up a few spots of dock rash and a scratch where we hit the side with a metal shield while welding a gusset on the frame for a step.  That has been confirmed, so the Ranger should be just like new, just in time to take it back to Lac Seul in September.  Hopefully my luck has changed by then!  This week is Mississippi River week and the plan is to hit the smallies and try for some larger catfish in the hole behind the island.