june 1963 boating issue - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

POP A WORM
FOR BASS
Kv Don Shiner
The hottest item, in recent years, to hit the imagination
of the bass addict, is the black plastic worm or eel.
During- the heat of the summer months, when big bass
seek the cool depths of deep water, a plastic worm
wiggled slowly over the pond bottom reaps a harvest
when other lures draw a blank. Now these plastic worm
artists have gone one better. They emerged from their
bottom plowing tactics only to ascend topside, and are
using these same worms on the surface with astounding
success! When the long-jawed pond bass have the
slightest inclination to surface feed, they leap for joy
at the sight of a floating, wiggling worm.
I watched my partner, in the bow of the boat, with
interest as he "spinned" a popper plug toward a bed of
weaving cattails. The lure dropped at the edge of the
foliage. The plug remained quiet as the little ripples
of sound dissipated. Then, the slightest twitch of the
rod tip sent a loud "P-L-O-P" echoing among the
reeds. I watched the little popper plug, for this artful
angler had been catching three bass to my one. The
plug quivered in the water for a surprisingly long
time. Then POW! A bass pushed from the reed cover
to slam into the plug. This fellow was once again playing
a heavy bass.
When the bass hit the boat floor, I closely examined
that little plug. It was a popper lure, no mistake about
that, built with a concaved face similar to most noisy
surface lures. But the similarity ended there. A sixinch
black worm, fitted to a weedless single hook,
dangled from the rear. Here was the secret! The popper-shaped
head held the plastic worm afloat, though
it dangled down into the pond, dancing the twist with
every twitch of the rod tip. What bass could resist the
sight of a worm dancing so enticingly overhead?
I had a package of plastic worms. I also had a
popper plug, the conventional type, to which I could
easily fasten a worm. In appearance, however, my
renovated lure lacked the polish of my partner's plaything,
but it suspended the worm on the ceiling of the
bass's domain.
It worked. Bass came topside to clobber the wiggling
worm with amazing regularity. We missed some bass.
A few rushed in to bite only the end of the worm,
J8
NEW POPPER-WORM concept for big bass surface fishing-
The floating popper body keeps the worm wriggling on the
surface.
racing away before touching the hook. Others scooped
in the plug, worm and hook in one giant inhale. AS
noon our stringers held a number of bass, some tipping
the scale at nearly six pounds! I was impressed.
"When did you spawn this surface worm idea?" *
asked this angler in all seriousness.
"I didn't," he answered. "I bought this popper-worm
plug at a sport shop. It's a new concept in surface
lures, and one that I thought would work for bass-
The popper-head plugs are fitted with plastic worms
in a variety of colors. Others have plastic tadpoles and
squids dangling in the rear. You pay your money arid
you take your choice, or you fit a plastic worm to a
surface plug as you did this morning. An all black
popper head with a black plastic worm is tops for nigh r
fishing."
Each year finds new renovations in lures or angling
techniques appearing on the scene. A few years ago
when the black plastic eel or worm was the rage among
bass fishermen in the deep south, I knew the idea
would catch hold here in the north, with plenty of
Pennsylvania anglers finding it profitable to dredge
the depths with this plastic wiggler. Now the same
anglers have brought the black worm topside for surface
fishing with equally deadly effects. Northern
anglers should try this newest of bass techniques, too.
So pop a worm on the pond's surface. Then hold
fast to your hat!
PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER