Worm Rigs

Whether you are salt or freshwater fishing worms are attractive to a wide variety of fish species. Personally, I prefer to use them live, but you can salt, brine, freeze and soak them in a variety of liquids to keep them for a later use. Off the beach I will use beach, blood, tube, and squirt worms. In the estuaries I will use blood, tube, and squirt worms, and sometimes earth worms after a lot of rain. As for the freshwater you can’t go pass the scrub worm followed by the tiger and garden worm.

If you are a freshwater angler, you would use tiger, scrub and earth worms for trout, yellowbelly, silver perch, catfish, bass, estuary perch, Atlantic salmon, and redfin. As for that saltwater, I mainly use beach worms for whiting, bream, and dart off the beach. I have even had small mulloway take a liking to a large fat beach worm. Tube and squirt worms are ideal in the estuaries and bays. Live is best, however I have also used worms that have been brined.

Technique 1

When threading a beach worm onto the hook, you need to start from the head end. If you, don’t you will find that the worm will break up into small pieces. Making it difficult to get the worm to stay on the hook.

Technique 2

Whether I am passing the hook through the centre of the worm, or through the sides of the worm several times, I will always start about a centimetre from the top. I will then put a couple of half hitches around the worm, thus stopping it from sliding down the shaft of the hook into a bunch that can cover the point and the barb of the hook.

Technique 3

Both garden worms and tigers are used in a similar fashion and are usually bunched onto the hook to make an attractive and lively bait. Try suspending a bunch of worms underneath an A-Just-A Bubble Float when targeting trout, perch, bass, and carp. This method will keep the worms off the bottom and away from snags.

Rod Selection:

Okuma Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-802NT 8'0", 2-4kg Nibble Tip: Ideal for either out of the boat or from the shore in the estuary.

Okuma Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-902NT 9'0", 2-6kg Nibble Tip: Ideal for either out of the boat or from the shore in the estuary, where you may need some extra length in the rod.

Okuma Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-1062NT 10'6" 2-6kg Nibble Tip: Ideal for off the rocks when there is not a lot of swell.

Okuma Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-1162NT 11'6" 2-6kg Nibble Tip: ideal for fishing off a breakwall or rocks when you need that extra length to lift or wash the fish out.

Reel Selection:

Okuma Alaris Spin Reels – ALS-45 and ALS-55

Okuma JAW Spin Reels – JAW-45

Line Selection:

Platypus Platinum or Pulse Mono -10lb and 12lb for off the rocks and breakwalls.

Platypus Platinum and Pulse Mono – 8lb and 10lb for the estuaries.

Platypus Hard Armour FC Fluorocarbon Leader – 4, 6, 8 and 10lb as your leader material.