TEXAS RIGGED RED WORM

THE TEXAS RIGGED RED WORM

Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone. I made a
trip recently to East Tennessee to fish with fellow Redear / Shellcracker fanatic Troy Seal. Check out Troy’s Facebook group at Bream Brain. I have learned over the years of fishing for all kinds of species that it only takes one little tip, or a sentence from someone that fishes like you, to send the alarm bells off in your head. Learning from others is the best way to not only straighten the often-large learning curve and also give you ideas.

 The Texas rigged red worm is something I learned on this
trip. When you hear Texas rig you automatically think bass fishing. Troy has devised a way to fish grass effectively by Texas rigging a red worm. The first time Troy showed me this rig I didn’t take note. I just thought it was a red worm on a jighead. It wasn’t until I saw him carefully bending a tiny bream hook that I began to ask questions.

 Troy uses bream hooks and bends them to make a sort of wide
gap hook for shellcracker and bluegills. When rigged this way you can slowly work your red worm through grass without hanging up. The slick red worm also sheds the little fine green moss that tends to attach itself to everything. I found myself cleaning grass and/or moss from my Hairy Cricket Jig often. If you find the Shellcrackers and the Bluegills in the grass give this a try and spend your time catching fish and not cleaning your hook.