When it comes to carp fishing and nearly all other areas of coarse fishing and angling within the UK, worms are one of the most effective baits for putting many species of fish in the net.
Their natural appearance, protein-rich bodies and their wriggling movements provide a formula that plenty of fish can’t seem to avoid.
Although worms are great for catching carp in the right scenario, they are a largely overlooked bait, with many anglers preferring to stick with more modern bait such as boilies and pellets.
This is mainly because dedicated carp anglers are intent on catching only carp and tend to avoid targeting the other species of coarse fish swimming in commercial fisheries.
If you’re a pleasure angler and don’t mind what fish you put in the net, then worms can be a great bait to target plenty of species with a single rig.
In this post, I will explain how to put worms on a hook and the many ways you can do so (some more effective than others).
How to Put Worms on a Hook?
When it comes to putting worms on your hook, there are a few ways we can go about this. Many anglers claim “their” way is the best, but without giving them a go for yourself, you’ll never know what works in the conditions in front of you.
If one method of hooking just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, it could be beneficial to mix it up and try a new way of hooking worms.
Straight Hook
This is the most common of attaching worms to a hook and is extremely straightforward.
As you’d expect, this involves hooking the worm directly on a hook and can be used to fish on the bottom or even on a float fishing set-up’s.
Although this method would seem self-explanatory, there are several methods for hooking worms.
Some anglers swear to ensure their hands are dirty before handling and putting worms on your hook.
Fish have very good noses, and keeping your hands dirty will ensure there is no “human” scent on the worms, which may make fish wary and put them off taking your bait.
In most fishing situations, it pays to hook the worm through the head, allowing the worm to wriggle freely below and less likely to cover the hook point, which can result in strikes not setting the hook properly.
Another effective way to put a worm on a hook is to thread the worm over the hook.
To do this:
- Cut the worm in half
- Piece the hook into the cut end and thread the worm around your hook all the way to your line
- Pierce the point of the hook out of the side of the worm and leave some of the worm dangling below the hook.
Hair Rigs
Hair rigs are a great way to present all sorts of baits and are usually used for carp fishing.
Presenting your bait below your hook comes with a lot of benefits.
When your baits are hair rigged, they react more naturally underwater when carp or other fish come in to investigate the hair-rigged bait.
Carp will often suck baits into their mouth to watch how they react in the water and to taste for anything inedible.
When baits are hair rigged, the hook is far more likely to set in these situations as nothing obstructs the hook point.
If you’re looking to use worms as bait, it can be extremely productive to try them on a hair rig.
The following video will walk you through some easy steps to attaching worms to a hair rig that works great for catching carp.
- Pick out a few large worms and chop them into a few pieces. Make sure to chop each worm a few times for maximum attraction with plenty of oozing worm insides.
- Put your quick stop over your baiting needle.
- Feed the quick stop and needle through the middle of each worm.
- If you want to only target the bigger fish feeding in your swim thread on plenty of worms.
- Chop up plenty more worms, mix them with worm peat and then fill your feeder.
That’s All
Hooking worms onto a rig is an extremely simple task that can get you into catching many species.
Although you might not have heard of many day ticket anglers using worms to target carp, it doesn’t mean they should be avoided.
When used properly, worms, a natural carp food source, can entice the elusive fish to take your hook bait, but be aware of all the other fish that will also have a keen interest in your worm kebab.
If you have any experience catching carp with worms, please comment below.
