I was first introduced to worm fishing as a young boy. I am referring to the plastic worm that has undergone many changes as well as the worming techniques used by anglers to catch largemouth bass.

My grandfather had one of the first fish ponds on his farm. It was built around 1951 when I was a youngster. I could not wait for opening day to occur. The pond had been stocked the prior year and it was time for the entire family to get together and catch some fish.

My daddy and uncles were fishing out of a homemade johnboat and the children including me were fishing from the bank. My daddy was using one of the first popular worm rigs. The worm was about 9 inches long and rigged with spinners, beads and two hooks. Those early worm rigs only came in two colors, red and black.

My daddy and uncles were using the red color and using a flyrod to work the worm somewhat like modern day anglers work a floating worm or Trick worm and they were catching bas after bass.

My daddy had given me an old Pflueger reel mounted on a 3-foot steel rod. The reel was spooled with that old black braided line used during the 1950s. He gave me a plug to use that I would learn later was a plug he used in saltwater to catch speckled trout.

I began walking the bank of the pond and casting that old saltwater plug. About the third or fourth cast, I had a fish grab the lure and I caught a 2-pound bass. No telling how many bass I could have caught that day if I had been using a plastic worm. However, catching that first bass began a lifetime of bass fishing for me.

Since that day, I have seen the evolution of both plastic worms and worming techniques and I have used most of those. I began using the Texas rig when I began serious bass angling in the 1970s. That was followed by the Carolina rig a few years later. Just when you think that surely the last possible technique for catching largemouth bass on a plastic worm has been invented or developed along comes another worming technique.

Anglers are inventive and always looking for an edge over other anglers. The development of new worming techniques or modifications and improvements to existing techniques will surely continue evolving.

Just look at the Carolina rig that became popular in the late 70s and early 80s. It has been constantly modified, tweaked and improved over the years and improvements continue even today. Many of the new worming techniques have been slow to catch on in the deep-south since many of these worming techniques were developed in other parts of the country where deep clear water is prevalent.

Additionally, some anglers (like me) were initially reluctant to give up their “power” equipment for the “finesse” equipment that is required to utilize some of the newer worming techniques. However, anglers are beginning to see that these new worming techniques are catching fish even in reservoirs with stained water like lakes Sinclair and Oconee.

Until recently, anglers had only to deal with four basic types of worm techniques. Those were the Texas rig, the Carolina rig, weightless worm rig (often using a Trick worm) and the wacky worm rig. Even those four basic worm rigs have variations depending on the terminal tackle used and how the worm is placed on the hook.

Some of the more recent worming techniques include names like shaky head or jig head and the drop-shot and they have been around for a few years. These worm rigs have created a whole new group of special worms and terminal tackle. The shaky head and drop-shot worm rigging is meant for spinning tackle and lighter line (4/8-pound test). The shaky head jig has become very popular and is a local favorite of anglers in this area.

Now some very new worm rigs have come along. These new worming techniques have the names Ned rig and the Neko rig. These are so new you may not have heard of them but they are quickly becoming popular. Both require special terminal tackle and companies are now beginning mass production of the material needed to fish the rigs. Both are also meant for light tackle applications

The Ned rig is made up of a very small 2 ¾ inch worm (looks like a small Senko) and a small mushroom jighead. There are many ways to fish the Ned rig including swimming it, drag and shake it, drag and deadstick it, hop it, bounce it and just about any other way you can imagine.

The second new worm rig is the Neko rig. I am not sure who developed the rig but it was a tightly held secret on the pro fishing circuit until word finally got. It is basically a modification to the old whacky rig. The whacky rig is rigged by hooking a small finesse worm in the middle with the hook exposed.

The Neko rig modifies the basic whacky rig by placing a weight in the nose of the worm. Special weights are now available in various sizes and some of the weights are constructed so that the angler can modify the weight by trimming the weight down to the desired amount of weight. The remainder of the whacky rig remains the same.

I have been told that the Neko rig when used with a magnum Trick worm is deadly oh largemouth bass and I cannot wait to give the rig a try. Obviously, development of new worming techniques will continue for as long as angler’s inquisitive minds tinker around in an attempt to catch more bass. Good fishing and see you next week.