My Company

Putting the worm on the hook shouldn’t be the one thing that keeps anyone from getting their line into the water. You would think that this would be an easy enough task, but it’s not always so. I have noticed that when I go fishing with different people, either they do know something about fishing or they don’t know a thing about fishing at all. Furthermore, one of the biggest challenges for those who don’t know anything about fishing is getting the worm onto the hook!

I’ll admit, I’m nowhere near an expert when it comes to fishing. A lot of my experience comes from just putting a spinner on the line, tossing it into the water and then tossing back a few cold ones while I cast and reel it in. I’ve caught a few good bass this way, but it usually takes me a couple beers before I can get it off the hook. Not only is my knowledge of fishing poor, but so is my tolerance for all things wet and slimy!

There comes a time, however, when you just have to man up and velcro manufacturers admit that another way can be better, when done right. One morning, while fishing with a buddy from work I caught only a couple with my spinner while he caught about a dozen with his worms. Of course I was intrigued. I had been fishing here for months with very little to show for it! I decided then that I had probably just get over my revulsion of hooking the worm and trying it his way.

So how do I do this exactly? I didn’t pay attention at first and I was embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t do it. After all, he only joined me because I had been talking about fishing every weekend, for the entire summer! Picture the letter S if you will, except replace the letter with a live wriggling worm. Got it? Okay, what I did was to hook the end, and then the loop and then the end, thus hooking the poor invertebrate in three different places. This seemed simple enough, but what I soon learned is that the fish could easily pick the worm from the hook without getting ON the hook!

I next tried something a little more devious and this is something that has worked for me in my fishing expeditions since. Looking at the tip of the worm, either the mouth or the anus, I insert the hook into the opening and then thread the worm onto the hook entirely, coming out the opening on the other end. Of course, your worm isn’t going to live long at this point so you want to be sure to get it into the water as soon as possible!