Rigging Live Worms

How do you rig a live worm for fishing? Is it as simple as just tying on a single hook and then threading a worms onto that hook? Or hooking a worm over and over again onto a hook? Of course, the answer to these questions is yes. That's how anyone who fishes with live worms rigs them, mostly because they don't know of a better way. The problem becomes, are the worm rigging techniques mentioned above the most effective way to do it? The answer to that question is a resounding No. Threading a live worm onto a single hook or hooking that worm over and over again are not the most effective way to rig said worm. The most effective way to rig a live worm is the natural way.

What does the "natural way" mean? The natural way simply means the way that it would appear in nature. In other words, you want your live worm to appear as much like it would in nature as possible. If you take a live worm and throw it into the water what does it look like? Does it look like the worm that you "thread" onto a hook or the worm that you hook over and over again? No, of course not. It looks outstretched, the way God intended. So how do you accomplish a natural presentation when rigging a live worm?

You accomplish a natural presentation through the use of a set of gang hooks. Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem, which enables you to present a live worm outstretched, the way God intended. If you don't employ gang hooks, the only way to accomplish this is by hooking a live worm 1 time through the body, and leaving the majority of the worm "floating free". This of course looks natural, but fish will simply bite the end of the worm, you'll pull, and BAM your bait is gone! With a set of gang hooks the second hook will help hook these 'short striking' fish.

You can pre tie gang hooks yourself or purchase them ready to fish, it really makes no difference. The point of the matter is that if you fish with live worms the most effective way to rig them is a set of gang hooks. For most live worm fishing size 8 or 10 gang hooks are the best bet, but larger ones are effective as well. Threading a live worm onto a hook shouldn't be the technique that you use any longer. From now on gang hooks should be employed so that your live worm can be presented outstretched, the way God intended a live worm to look.