All Matter!

Most dipbait manufacturers don’t believe that color doesn’t make a difference. Many anglers think enough of color, though, that most manufacturers offer dipworms in a rainbow of shades. Experience suggests that water clarity is the mostimportant factor in determining the effect of color, but confidence also plays a role.

Dipworm Tricks

Looking for options, some anglers tinker to make their own blue-ribbon

bait holders.

Stange’s Modification: Years ago, In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange proposed a simple modification to commercially available dipworms: Replacing the treble hook with a circle hook. “Dipworms with trebles work well to catch

catfish, but catfish often take trebles deeper into their gullet, which can injure or kill fish, narrowing options for selective harvest,” he says. “Most dipworms come snelled. It’s just a matter of pulling the treble out, clipping it off, tying on a circle hook, and pulling the shank back up into the worm.

“Hookup rates are good with circle hooks,” Stange notes, “and catfish are almost always hooked shallow, making for easier hook removal and greater survival. A 1/0 circle hook, like Eagle Claw’s Lazer Sharp L7228, works well on most worms. I like hooks with a larger gap to handle the bulk of the dipworm and still leave room for hookups.”

Marks’ Bait Holder: Wally Marks, Greendale, Wisconsin, makes his own tubular bait holders with circle hooks. “I prefer tubular bait holders over dipworms,” he says, “and a circle hook substantially reduces gut-hooking. I insert the hook into the lead end of the dipworm instead of on the back end. The hook should barely catch the leading edge. Tapering the end leaves a suitable hook gap without obstruction from the bait holder. “I make bait holders from soft latex tubing—3/8 inch outside diameter and 1/4 inch inside—available at home improvement stores. Pinch the tubing and cut out semicircles to make round holes, or make two straight cuts for diamond-shaped openings.

“I use the Owner #1 Mutu Light Circle hook. My overall experience in small Wisconsin rivers is catching as many 14- to 26-inch channel cats with the circle hook as I used to with trebles on the back end of the rig,” says Marks. “I also catch fewer catfish under 14 inches than before. Catfish are rarely gut-hooked. Aside from the satisfaction of catch-and-release fishing, you also get fewer snags,” he adds.

McKay’s Dipworm: Kirk McKay, Winnetka, California, a contributor to In-Fisherman publications, says he’s tried just about every kind of dipbait rigging out there. “I’ve had great success on a homemade dipbait rig for channel catfish. I save torn-up worms from bass fishing to make it. Ribbed soft-plastic worms tend to work best to hold dipbaits—I’ve found that channel catfish like baits soft and chewy.

“I often use Phenix worms for bass, and they work well on the dipbait rig,” he says. “The worms are soft and salt-impregnated. Threaded on a circle hook as shown (I use a 4/0 Owner Mutu Circle hook), fished on a 3-way rig, and dipped in a nice warm tub of Hog Wild or Bowker’s, it’s the most consistent thing I’ve found for channel cats. A rod in a holder catches just as many cats as when I’m holding the rod.”