Tail-Spinner Worms: Harnessing The Best Of Spinnerbaits And Worm Fishing

John N. Felsher

Since the dawn of angling, fishermen have been spinning tales, occasionally true ones, but now they can tell stories of spinning tails—tail-spinner worms to be exact—that catch more bass!

One July 4 many years ago, Dad wanted to make a quick trip in the morning before the scorching heat became too oppressive. We headed to a pond near our home that everyone called the Ol’ Swimming Hole.

Houses surrounded three sides of the rectangular pond. A road on the fourth side provided the only access for people who didn’t live on the pond. We carried our small paddle-powered boat to the shoreline and launched it.

After fishing several hours with nothing to show for it, the summer swelter turned brutal. Swimmers began arriving, jumping off a bank about three feet above the water to cool off in the refreshing waters.

Then, my dad uttered those dreadful words. “We haven’t caught anything all morning. Let’s go.” My immediate standard response was always, “One more cast, pleeeeeesssssase!”

Long before people even heard the term “Texas-rigged worm” anglers used prerigged “harness” or “propeller” worms. These came with two or three hooks protruding from the belly of a straight worm and linked together with fishing line. A straight wire held several colored metal, glass or plastic beads tipped on the nose with what looked like a miniature aircraft propeller.

Without waiting for Dad’s approval, I hurriedly tossed a bright red three-hook propeller worm beyond a submerged sandbar that ran parallel to the shoreline. The worm slowly sank to the bottom in the trough between the bar and the bank. Then, I reeled steadily to slowly turn the propeller.

As the worm slipped up the back side of the sandbar, something grabbed it. After quite a fight, I finally lipped a largemouth weighing nearly six pounds, a new personal best at that time. Instantly, red prerigged propeller worms became my new favorite bass bait!

The Value of the Tail Spinner

Few bass anglers still fish with prerigged worms, if they can even find one. Anglers might find some on dusty shelves in the back of old tackle shops, country general stores, or maybe a flea market. However, in recent years, these worms began to make a comeback of sorts, only in reverse. Now called a “tail-spinner worm,” it’s a straight worm or similar soft-plastic enticement with a propeller screwed into the tail rather than the nose.

“I started using tail-spinner worms in tournaments and caught a lot of good fish,” detailed Keith Poche, a professional bass angler from Pike Road, Ala. “I take a simple straight plastic worm with a little weight to it. To the back of the worm, I attach a Number 1 or 2 spinner blade with a swivel and a split ring.”

In the old days, most harness worms came prerigged with wire weed guards that snapped over the hooks. Today, most anglers insert hook points barely into the plastic body like on a Texas rig, but without a weight. When rigged weedless, a tail-spinner worm can go through most types of entangling cover to get down where lunkers lurk. Some people attach a small split-shot to the line about 12 inches in front of the nose to add casting heft or to fish deeper.

A tail-spinner worm somewhat combines the attributes of spinnerbaits, crankbaits, wacky worms, soft jerkbaits and Texas rigs. The propeller creates vibrations and flash like traditional spinnerbaits, but with a more lifelike silhouette. When bass feel the vibrations or see the flash, they see something that looks like helpless natural forage and attack. Since the worm feels lifelike, a bass might hold onto it longer than a spinnerbait.

“It’s a very versatile, subtle bait,” Poche advised. “It’s a finesse technique that combines a spinnerbait with the look of a worm. The blade is just big enough to give off some flash, but not too bulky to chase fish away. The spinner draws attention to the bait and allows a person to fish it a lot faster than a Texas rig. It’s also a great search bait. With it, I can cover a lot more water than just working a standard soft-plastic stickbait.”

Since they sink slowly when rigged weightless, tail-spinner worms work best in shallow water with abundant cover like stumps, laydowns and weed beds. They also work around flooded brush, dock or bridge pilings, riprap or similar places where bass feed in the shallows or near the surface.

How to Use Tail Spinners

“I usually fish the worm in water five feet deep or less,” Poche explained. “I typically throw it weightless with a 5/0 extra-wide gap hook. I insert the hook into the plastic to make it weedless. I can throw a tail-spinner worm into grass, wood, fallen trees, brush piles or anything else and it won’t hang up.”

Anglers can fish a tail-spinner many ways. Toss it into a sweet spot and let it sink. Then, steadily reel it so the propeller turns. Work it just over the bottom or higher in the water column. Occasionally pause the retrieve to let the bait sink a few feet.

When passing a stump, log, rock or other object, let the worm sink to the bottom before renewing the retrieve. The blade continues to spin as the worm sinks. Bass commonly hit these baits as they sink. Some people hop it off the bottom like lifting and dropping a Texas-rigged worm.

“I look for little ditches with slightly deeper water in the back of pockets,” Poche informed. “Bass get into those ditches to migrate into and out of the shallows. I also look for dark spots that could indicate submerged stumps next to these little tributaries that were once tiny creeks flowing through forests. Those are high percentage places to fish. I let the bait fall and then slowly start retrieving it to make the blade spin. I’ll bump it forward a little and then let it fall again. Bass hit it aggressively.”

Unlike with the old prerigged worms, anglers can easily change worm bodies or propeller sizes on a tail-spinner rig. Experiment with different colors, configurations and retrieves to see what bass want that day.