Pass the Salt… Please!

By: Will Whitehead “Pro Staff” Writer

It has been quite a spell since a new lure came down the pike! One that ACTUALLY worked as advertised and caught fish too that is. And, so is the distinction of the “Salt Worms” as I have come to refer to them. They are distinguished by their shape, or lack of it, and the fact that they are LOADED with coarse-grain salt. The original was approximately six-inch long and about one-quarter inch in diameter. One end was rather pointed and the other blunt. The entire body was etched with tiny rings and it sported an “egg sac” just shy of “in-the-middle”. It felt rather stiff and hard and I believe that fact alone turned off a lot of anglers. I know it did me.

I understand the very first worm of this type was fashioned after some tackle company execs “Bic” pen that was lying there on the desk. How true that is I have no idea. They first appeared on the market several years ago, but never quite “caught on”. They were expensive, tore in-half quite easily, and after one or two fish, were a severely damaged “throw-away”. I know tackle dealers who had them marked down to near nothing, just to get rid of them. Then the “worm turned” (pun fully intended) and this funny looking worm that was more salt than plastic started catching fish. Soon it was the rage of the “tournament circles” and with the boys and girls on the chat rooms and fishing boards.

It didn’t take long for most soft plastics manufacturers to come-out with their own version of this unobtrusive and ugly little fellow Now let me tell you… I am the world’s BIGGEST and OLDEST skeptic and have to see some PROOF when folks are talking about how good a new lure is; how many fish it is catching; how it is the best thing to hit the market since live minners’ and how wonderful this phenomenal NEW lure is. I have seen the “Magic Worms”, “Talkin’ Minnows”, “Ho-Down Lures”, “Magic Butterflies” “Whirly-Giggers” and a whole HOST of “Super Lures” come and go in my lifetime and not a SINGLE one of them has ever impressed me (and even fewer are still around)! And this lure was no exception! I had heard all of the claims, but I had heard such claims before and I don’t believe half of what I hear and even LESS of what I read. There are entirely too many folks out there willing to hype ANYTHING for the right price. And I wasn’t about to shell out my hard-earned cash for some worm full of salt that didn’t DO a darn thing.

All of that changed on a sunny, warm and beautiful spring day on one of my favorite lakes. I had invited Greg Hill, from Martinsburg, WV, to join me. I had met Greg on one of the “Fishin’ Boards” and have since decided that day was one of my luckier ones. He is a true gentleman, savvy, polite and one of the best anglers I have ever shared a boat with. On the trip to the lake that morning, the talk soon turned to the “Salt Worms” and how wonderful everyone was saying they were. Greg informed me that he had caught some nice bass on the Shenandoah River with these lures and that he was solidly SOLD on them. I still hadn’t tried the salty little bugger, and was anxious to see it in action. BUT I still was NOT impressed with it!

I like my “Crow” medium-well, with a little orange marmalade on the side PLEASE!! If we had been fishing for dollars that day, I would have wound-up in the “low income” bracket. Greg, on the other hand, boated fish after fish. NICE fish! Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass alike, and all on the six-inch “Salt Worm” he had introduced me to. Well… I’m a proud person! But not THAT proud! It took me about half-a-day of seeing him kick my butt, for me to finally and politely ask for some of those worms. In the afternoon we both enjoyed the action and ended the day with somewhere around seventy-five bass.

That very evening, we ran all over the “Tri-State” area and bought-up every pack of “Salt Worms” we could lay our hands on. To make a long story short, we spent the next 10 days, every day, on that same lake, catching more bass than I had for a long, long time. And the scene was repeated this past spring, with one exception… Now I have a tackle bag full of Cabin Creek “Salty Sinkin’ Worms”!

It took a little doing, but I finally convinced the good folks at Cabin Creek Baits to design and market a “Salty Worm” of their very own… And the “rest” as they say, is HISTORY! The version “Cabin Creek Bait Company” developed was named the “Salty Sinkin’ Worm” and was very similar in appearance to the original, measuring five and one-quarter inches long, with one pointed end and a blunt end. Unfortunately, the powers that be did not deem it necessary to put the heavy dose of salt into the lure. BIG MISTAKE!! There was something… Some specific feel, taste, or action the extra heavy load of salt imparted on the lure that made it what it was. It didn’t take long for me and several other pros to enlighten the folks at Cabin Creek, and they “loaded” the bait with coarse-grained salt. PRESTO! The little jewel began catching bass as fast as one could rig it up and get it in the water. The “Salty Sinkin’ Worm” feels softer than most of the other brands I have tried and it seems to “hold up” a lot better when being fished, and doesn’t “tear” as easily. It is also more reasonably priced than most of the other brands on the market and has a good selection of real “fish-catchin’” colors available. Cabin Creek now manufacturers a four inch version of the “Salty Sinkin’ Worm”, and several “Custom” colors for “E-Bait Express”. I understand there are smaller and larger versions on the market, under a variety of names by a variety of manufacturers. I also understand there are companies who make “lite” versions with less salt and other variations of the same lure. I have found the five and one-quarter inch and four inch versions to fill all of my needs.

One of the “secrets” to the success of this lure is the “Do-Nothing” approach to fishing it. The primary method of fishing this lure is to tie a 3/0 Angler’s Edge Wide Gap Hook ( use a 2/0 size for the four inch model ) directly to your line and “Texas” rig the worm with no weight. Cast the lure out and give it ample time to settle to the bottom. It will fall in a horizontal attitude and descend about one foot per second. Once the lure has reached bottom, allow it to set motionless for as long as you can stand it, and then slooooooowly move it forward a foot or so. Allow the lure to rest and then repeat the retrieve process. Normally, the less action you impart onto the lure, and the slower you move it, the better it works and the more fish it will attract. There are times and conditions, however, when other rigging methods will work even better.

One of the alternate rigging methods for this salty little critter is to “Wacky” rig it. Tie a short-shank, wide gap hook bait hook, a similar hook of your liking, or a light wire “Circle Hook” directly to your line. Attach the worm by piercing the body of the worm, through the “egg sac”, so the worm hangs from the hook’s bend in the shape of a “horseshoe”. Toss the worm out and “swim” it ever so slowly while giving it short, light twitches. A small swivel, tied about eighteen inches above the worm, will help to eliminate line twist and a fluorocarbon leader from the swivel to the hook helps attract more strikes. The “Salty Sinkin’ Worm” can also be used as a “Split Shotting”, “Finesse Fishing” or “Drop Shot” worm with great success.

As I stated before, one of the major complaints has been the fact that the worms “tear-up” quite easily and are sometimes only good for one or two fish. It REALLY ticks me off when I put a fresh, new worm on my hook, make a cast, get a strike, and have the bass jump, shake his head, and fling off my brand new worm. Of course I have seen some worms that will last ALL DAY… Because the fish won’t eat them! So I would rather suffer from the former problem, than never hooking a bass to begin with. But I have to agree they do become damaged quite easily and there are some tricks that can prolong the life of them.

Of course, the first thing you want to do, is purchase a bottle of “Zap-A-Gap” glue, and you can repair most any tear, rip, ravel or gash in this lure or any other. When rigging the worm, put a piece of Scotch Tape around the worm, right where the hook point is going to penetrate the body. The “tape” will reinforce the body and the hook will not tear-out as easily. I have seen and read about putting “shrink tubing” around the worm ( way too much trouble, time consuming and hard to do in the field ); using a small rubber band and putting the hook point under the rubber band (again a real PAIN trying to get the rubber band on the worm); and a few other methods for prolonging the life of the worm. But I have found the “tape” method to be best for me. This is a fast, economical and easy method to use and works especially well when “Whacky” rigging.

When one end of the lure becomes tattered and torn, you can reverse the lure and put the hook in the “pointed” end. It may just be “ME”, but when I do this, the hook point usually winds up in about the same place anyhow. They just don’t seem to work as well, or catch as many fish, when rigged this way. I just have more confidence in a fresh, new worm. I keep all of the damaged ones and repair them at home with a “Worm Welder” or with “Zap-A-Gap" glue.

I happily put up with all of the short-comings of this little worm, and will continue to fish it in any locale or situation where it will produce. And produce it does! We boated dozens of nice Smallmouth Bass all summer, on the Shenandoah and Susquehanna Rivers, and Largemouth from area lakes and farm ponds when other lures were producing very little action, if any. But don’t take my word for it try the “Salty Sinkin’ Worm” for yourself… You’ll be glad you did!