selection of lure

Question
HI Jack, I am bass fisherman and I mainly use spinner bait and crackbait, starting to get into Jig/pork, tubes and worms. I want to ask question about these lure. what is the difference between these 3 - jig/pork, tubes and worms, when do you use which and what structure do you look for to use different one? and how to you detemine the weight that you use?? I am kind of confuse because seem like all 3 sink to the bottom and the action require is similar. many thanks.

Answer
I had this all typed out and along came the lightning and the power flickered losing all of it.  I will try again.

Let's start with worms.  The first artificial worms were simply plastic replicas of real night crawlers (night walkers in some areas)
We don't have the real thing down here in Georgia.  I used to go out at night after a spring or summer shower and collect them for catfishing.  The first artificial one I ever saw was in 1959 when I was fishing a small lake in Minnesota with two brothers-in-law.  We had fished with what we called bass plugs without catching many.  The night before when I was going to the little house out back with a flashlight noticed night crawlers on the ground.  After finishing my business I filled a can with them and put them under the seat of the boat.  Along about 11am the others were talking about going home when I tied on a #1 sproat hook a small split shot and hooked on a worm.  I began catching bass on every cast.  The others started doing the same and soon the worms were all gone.  My wife's sisters' husband reached in his tackle box and brought out a bright red plastic worm with hooks built in and with a small propeller on the leader in front.  He began catching bass on it.  It was the only one he had but you can bet when we got to a tackle shop we got some and continued catching bass all week.  Since that summer plastic worms have been increased from the original six inches to a foot or more or shortened to 2 inches.  Now some have tails that twirl when pulled through the water others have flap tails.  Some have rattles in them but most are not pre rigged although the pre rigged kind are again available.  Anyway the darned things caught bass and of course fishermen have modified their use in a thousand ways but the most common still used is simply to put the hook  through the nose   and out about 1/4 inch back, rotating the worm and inserting the point  until it just barely goes through the plastic.  In some cases the point is not quite pushed through the worm making it  virtually  weedless.  Worms now come in hundreds of color combinations.  They are usually fished on or near the bottom using a weight but at times they are used on the surface and anywhere in between.  I cannot go into all the ways they are used but the worm now is also shaped like a lizard or even like a french fry and all catch fish.

Jigs have been around for many years in salt water fishing.  In the last three or four decades they have become popular for many kinds of fresh water fish.  They are essentially a hook with a built in lead or other weight as a head.  Heads come in many shapes for different uses.  Some come dressed with hair or feathers or skirts while others have no dressing and depend on being dressed.  The
jig-n-pig is a jig, dressed or not but with a pork rind or plastic trailer.  Jigs are essentially lures for bumping along the bottom trying to imitate crawfish or other bottom dwelling critters.
Some jigs are dressed by putting the head inside of a plastic tube with tentacles on it.  The tube is used in much the same manner as the jig-n-pig but it is much less likely to hang up because the tube helps keep the hook protected.

All of the above are now used from tiny 1/64 ounce to 2 ounce jigs and in hundreds of colors.  I think much of the coloration is to catch fishermen rather than fish but since I seldom use jigs except for crappie who am I to say.  I do use worms and have a bag full of many colors and sizes on which I often do catch nice fish.

Most of the action of using jigs consists of casting them and letting them fall.  Fish often grab them on the way down.  Or jigging them up and down at various speeds to make fish think they are good to eat.

I hope this has been of some help.  These lures can become very confusing because there are so many variations but don't let that scare you.  Ask locally what sells best and buy that kind.  Take it to the lake and cast it out and slowly jump it across the bottom or jig it up and down.  you will catch some fish and as you learn more and more you will cat catch more and more fish with them.   Or be like me stick to something simpler and still catch fish.   Remember much of this hoopla about color shape and such is made by pros trying to win a million dollar tournament.

Thanks for calling on me to answer your question.  I hope this has cleared up rather than confused you about these three lures.  If you have future questions feel free to call on me again.

I am

Jack L. Gaither   (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, Georgia