Tuesday, January 3, 2023
What The Heck Is A Stick Worm
What is a stick worm really? Plenty of angler’s will say they are all Senkos, but they aren’t. A Senko(tm) is a trade name owned by Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits. It is perhaps the most famous stick worm out there, and I certainly fished with them years ago. I don’t fish with them anymore because I make my own and I catch fish with them. Lots of fish. If I had to pick only one bait this might be it.
There are lots of stick worms out there today. There are dozens if not hundreds of bait companies out there making their own unique version and others doing their best to make an exact copy of the Senko. Some want it to fall slower. Some want it to be tougher. Some want it to float. Bigger. Smaller. Fatter. Slimmer. More salt. No Salt. The thing is the basic concept of a nearly featureless mostly straight body worm just works. It catches fish.
I make mine with heavy salt using a sinking formula plastic, and I fish the Club-O (the one I make) weightless, wacky, t-rigged, flipped, waked on top, and burned on a heavy weighted hook like a swimbait. Sometimes I just drift them in the current. One fellow who has my mold uses them with no salt and a floating plastic on a drop shot rig.