A wrap or two of electrical tape works nicely and offers color options. When fishing finesse worms wacky-style, cut sections from soda straws and slide them over the worm’s egg sac. Bring a few home from your favorite fast-food eateries, for a selection of diameters and colors.

Tackle: The right tackle for wacky wormin’ varies with density of cover, water clarity, and potential size of bass. A medium-heavy 61⁄2-foot spinning rod and 10-pound-test mono work for skipping small wacky worms under docks. At the other extreme, drifting a 7-inch YUM Dinger into a submerged stand of mesquite at Mexico’s Lake El Salto calls for 25-pound CXX-Xtra Strong P-Line, Berkley Big Game, or other tough-as-nails line, coupled with an extra-heavy-action 7-foot baitcaster.

An overlooked option that combines power and finesse is a 7-foot medium-action spinning rod and high-capacity reel spooled with braided line of 15- to 20-pound test. Finish the rig with 4 feet of fluorocarbon leader. Long casts are easy with this setup, and solid hooksets at 30 yards are possible. Braid floats, staying up and out of cover, while the fluoro leader helps parachute the lure into the target area.

Down and Wacky

Combine the subtle action of a wacky bait with the depth control and teasing motion of a drop-shot, and you have a formidable rig. Kota Kiriyama, a Japanese pro now living in Alabama, is regarded as one of the deans of drop-shot fishing. A finesse expert, Kiriyama always uses spinning tackle, usually with 6-pound-test Kali fluorocarbon line.

“I like to rig a 4- to 6-inch straight worm wacky-style. When you rig it wacky, it doesn’t twist the line, which is a big problem with baits rigged straight. I match a #2 Nogales Mosquito Hook with a thin 3- to 4-inch worm, a #1 with a 4- to 6-inch worm, and a 1/0 with a 6- to 8-inch worm. For sinkers, I like the tungsten X-Metal weights from Kanji International.

“Too many anglers consider the downshot only a vertical presentation,” Kiriyama adds. “I usually cast the rig, since you spook fish by holding over them, even in 12 to 15 feet of water. At Lake Seminole, bass were suspended in the branches of standing timber along creek channels. They were relating to schools of shad passing along the creek. If you positioned above the fish, you spooked the shad and the bass would move away, also. I had to cast the rig, positioning it between the channel edge and the treeline.”

Up and Wacky

One final trick is to float a wacky bait. Try fishing a YUM Dinger or Berkley Gulp! Crawler on a dropper below a topwater bait or a float.

Depending on depth, tie a 24- to 48-inch fluorocarbon leader to the rear hook of a popper with a wacky worm hanging below. Work the topwater slowly, so the soft plastic rises and falls in tempting fashion. Bass attracted to the commotion on top but reluctant to strike will engulf the drifting bait. Try a popping cork or rattling float for added attraction.

So, what realms remain for the redoubtable wacky rig? I foresee growth in new products and presentations. The scope of expansion is limited only by the imagination or skepticism of anglers. Like the swimming worm, the Carolina rig, and a few other of the deadliest things you can throw, some anglers still consider them too wacky to use. That’s their loss.