Big Worm Beatdown
WHO DOESN’T HAVE great summertime memories? Vacations, picnics, cookouts, big worms — great stuff we think about the rest of the year, right? Well, Harvey Horne’s no different, but the second-year Bassmaster Elite Series angler knows that summertime faves, particularly those jumbo worms, are not restricted to the year’s hottest months.
Sure, dragging 10-plus inches of lanky, Texas-rigged plastic across deep points, next to brushpiles or through the deep grass is Dog Days 101. Nevertheless, learning to view the big worm as more than a one-trick pony will up your game.
“I think it’s a lot broader than the summertime deal,” Horne said. “I’ve literally seen bass caught on a big worm in water that was 52 degrees.”
Horne’s eye-opener came about seven years ago during a mid-March trip on Dale Hollow Lake. The Obey River reservoir had come up 10 feet in about three weeks, so Horne and a buddy were checking the inflow at the back of a creek.
“Generally, your creature baits and soft-plastic jerkbaits are what you’re throwing in the spring, but the friend who was with me pulls out a 10-inch ribbontail worm,” Horne recounts. “He’s in the back of the boat and he goes to whaling on them.
