Zoomies....All about them.

[mblk181]

Looking at the board lately, we have a slew of new members.....just wanted to share the following information.

For several years now I've been very impressed with a zoom ultra vibe speedworm modified for a slow fall presentation......

I cut off the tails about a half inch up from the flat hooktail and rig the body texposed with a 2/0 worm hook. Watermelon/Red works better for me than any other color zoom makes. Save the tails.

Fishing the zoomie.....

1. The weightless lure casts like a bullet. Will go much farther than you'd think....it just goes.

2. It also skips well under dock, limb and rock. Great for skipping with a sidearm cast.

3. Can be wacky rigged as well as wacky rigging on a dropshot rig.

Once in a great while, I find it necessary to weight it a little. Sometimes, when the boat is drifting a little too fast, I'll texpose it on a Snagless Slider Hook.....the 1/16 ounce original, not the heavier Pro Model. This gets the lure down quickly, but makes it a nose down proposition on the fast fall.

If not drifting quite so fast, I weight with a short piece of clipped finishing nail by placing the nail piece just under the skin near the hookpoint. NOW, it makes a difference how high or low in the side of the worm you place the nail weight....if near the point of the hook, you get a little side to side wobble, if nearer the side of the worm, a more pronounced side to side wobble on the fall. Fun to tinker with.....the different actions and all.

95 percent of the time, however, no weight is needed or desired. Simply cast to likely spots near cover/structure and let fall to bottom...watching line at all times.... If it gets to the bottom without a bass grabbing it on the fall, let it set for 30 seconds...again, watching line at all times......after the 30 seconds, lift slowly about two feet to feel for fish...if nothing, reel in and cast to another likely spot. I've learned from some on this board, that a skipping cast sometimes turns the fish on, and at other times a gentle entry works well....

The tails.......you can weld the tails onto lizards after cutting off the lizard tails. Simply use a pencil soldering iron to heat both pieces to be welded together or the flame of a candle works well also. This makes a lizard that has a buzzbait tail on the surface, and will provide you with a throbbing action underwater when pulled.

The zoomie is about 5 inches in length, and for whatever reason works best in watermelon/red under most circumstances. Looks like a Senko, but behaves much differently on the fall, not being internally weighted.

Just for fun, I welded two zoomies together, nose to nose and then welded on a leftover lizard tail to the back end. I rigged it on a snagless slider hook and fished it like a snake.......caught three bass, all fairly small by moving it slowly across the bottom near brushpiles. Didn't know bass would hit anything that big before.....

Another method of fishing the zoomie..... My wife casts to likely cover/structure, lets it fall to bottom and waits 15 seconds with the line over a finger for feel.....then after 15 seconds she slowly takes half a turn on her reel, then waits another 15 seconds.....again, a slow half turn. She does this until the lure has traveled about 10 to 12 feet across bottom, then reels in and casts to another likely spot.

In heavy weeds, if the zoomie catches and hangs a lot, simply switch to a watermelon/red lizard and fish it exactly the same way as a zoomie....the weightless slow fall, the pause, the slow lift to feel.....