It’s almost fall and the fall fishing videos and articles are already making their way across the internet but it’s definitely still summer where I’m at. In fact I went out yesterday and the conditions were still about the same as they have been for a while…bright blue skies and hot, stained water. That’s usually not a recipe for great fishing however I did manage to land a couple in just over an hour and the hero of the day turned out to be a lure that has been around for a while: the Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm. This lure has been and continues to be one of my favorite lures to use when the bite gets tough, and I personally consider it to be one of the best lures of all time so I decided I’d share some thoughts on why I feel that way.
Texas Rigs in general can be very effective and many anglers have already realized this. I personally find they do especially well in ponds where there’s a lot of grass since they usually don’t get caught up in the grass as much. In terms of what lures I like to use with a texas rig I pretty much stick to worms. There are certainly other lures that will work on a texas rig, but statistics have shown that worms consistently produce some of the biggest bass and I also like them because they are streamlined and move through cover easily.
So we’ve decided to throw a texas rig and our lure of choice is a worm. That leaves us with one more question…which worm? As it turns out there’s no shortage of worms on the market, but in my case I’ve found that I prefer a swimming worm and a ribbon tail worm, and the one I go with depends on the visibility. If the visibility is high then I actually prefer a ribbon tail worm as they have a unique action when you rig them correctly and look like a small snake swimming through the water. That action can be very effective, but if the water is stained or it’s cloudy and the visibility isn’t as good then I prefer a worm with a paddle tail since I believe it creates a little more commotion in the water and suspect that’s where the ‘vibe’ in the name comes from. Another lure that I like is the NetBait BaitFuel Big Bopper and it’s actually very similar to the Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm, however it also included their BaitFuel fishing scent technology. Scent is an interesting topic for me and I could probably write a whole different article about it, but in summary I’ve found that it can be effective but the bass can also get used to the scent and associate it with getting caught and so I personally think it can lose it’s effectiveness over time…especially when you are on a small body of water like a pond. The Zoom Ultravibe has no scent, and I also really like the colors they’ve got and so it’s definitely my main choice but there are times when I might want a worm with some scent on it.
Now let’s get into the lure itself. I like to use it with a 3/16oz bullet weight with a peg on top of it and I like to match the color of my weight to the color of the lure as much as possible. I completely realize that’s a bit OCD and the bass probably don’t care…but in summary that means I’m usually going with a red or brown weight, or a black one or a green one. That brings us to colors. The swimming worm is used when the visibility is lower, so I like a darker color (junebug red is my personally favorite) and then a red color (redbug is what I use here). So if the visibility is really low then I’ll go with junebug red and a black weight, and if the visibility is a little better I’ll use a brown / red weight with redbug.
In terms of how to fish it there’s several things you could do. Most of the time I start out by using this as a search lure so I cast it out, let it sink for a bit and then slowly reel it back while throwing in some slight twitches and varying my retrieve speed a bit. You can also let the lure hit the bottom before you start reeling it back if you think the fish are lower in the water column or you can just start retrieving it back right away if you want to keep it high in the water column. Having said that you can also pitch and flip with this thing and target specific areas with that sort of technique, or just hop it along the bottom slowly if you think that approach might be more effective.
In summary, I’ve found this lure to be one of the most effective presentations you can use under certain conditions. Specifically if the bite is tough and the visibility is low and there’s a fair amount of grass or cover around. You can also use this lure in other conditions and it’s a great lure to use when you aren’t sure where the bass are at and you want to cover water. So if you are tired of spending lots of money on the hottest new thing or just want a lure that will consistently catch fish then I’d highly suggest you pick some of these up if you haven’t tried them already, and I’m willing to bet you will be glad you did.
Tackle Summary
Product: Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm
Category: Swimming Worm
Length: 6″
Suggested Colors: Junebug Red, Red Bug
Suggested Lures: Texas Rig
