Help with fishing/hooking a worm

[fruitloopy]

For those who have read it I have been stalking some carp on a local water recently and as it is a natural sort of water, i.e. not a commercial but a sort of nature refuge I think using natural baits is the key.

 

To that end I have been using Lobworms.

 

I dont quite know what is the best method of hooking these, I have been threading it head first a short way into a size 6 or 8 hook and then the point sticks cleanly out of the side with the tail hanging down. I will often cut a small bit off the tail and put this on the hook to stop the little bugger getting off and to let a few more juices flow.

 

 

As soon as I dropped it in last night I had a bite, the float went under and dragged off so I struck but there was nothing there. I was fishing about 4-5 inches laying on the bottom.

 

Another bite came a bit later, this time I watched the fish take it down so I struck, a small amount of resistance but again no fish.

 

Another bite came when I had slipped into that comatose state you can sometimes get, it was raining and I just sort of drifted off. I woke up when my rod was being pulled away from me! I struck, some resistance...but no fish! On this one though half of the worm had been ripped off.

 

What am I doing wrong or was I just unlucky?

 

Am I putting this worm on the hook correctly? Is the hook showing enough to get attached? Should I use half a worm to give the guy a chance to suck it in? Am I striking to late? Too early?

 

These carp are clever and after a few tries they get wise to what I am trying to do so I need to get this right.

[jeepster]

I've always hooked worms through the saddle (the slightly fatter bit of the body) and sometimes use a caster (or a rubber caster) to keep them on if they wriggle too much.

[DavyR]

The rubber caster/maggot (or just a small piece of rubber band) is a good idea - however you hook a large worm, there's always the chance that their wriggling will obscure the hookpoint and prevent it getting a good hold on the strike.

 

Timing the strike when worm fishing can be tricky. It's more common to strike too soon than too late, but at the same time you want to avoid bite-offs or deep hooking fish.

[henda11]

i usually hook my worms a 1/4 down the body, and it never seems to come off.

[fruitloopy]

I've just been browsing results on Google and an article mentions that to hook a worm so that it looks natural you should use Gang hooks. I've got a feeling this is a bit more of a USA thing but the setup looks fairly simple.

 

I wouldnt want to cause any damage to our 'Kings of the Lake' though.

[Andy_1984]

ive always hooked my worms in the middle threading the hook through its body till only the eye of the hook is inside the worm, anyone else do that ?

 

i dunno if its bettered my strikes but ive never had a worm escape

[coarsefish-torbay]

Sounds like the only thing you're doing wrong is having small silver fish in the swim when you want carp! Keep going the way you're going because you will have no problems when a carp picks up that bait.

If you want to try a little dodge for carp, cut the worm in half and put both halves on the hook. Tail first because that will be the most lively bit hooked through the cut ends. No need for anything to hold the worms on the hook although they will come off on occasions, just rebait and get out there again fast.