Roboworm's Ned Worm

From the middle of October and into early November, several Midwest finesse anglers notified the Finesse News Network that Roboworm, Inc. of Camarillo, California, had created a three- and 4 1/2-inch soft-plastic Midwest finesse bait. And now it is for sale on their website and elsewhere.

Roboworm is often lauded as the primary manufacturer of soft-plastic baits for what Midwest finesse anglers call West-Coast finesse fishing. Aaron Martens, who grew up in Castaic, California, but currently resides in Leeds, Alabama, is a Roboworm devotee. He is regularly lauded as being a piscatorial artist and wizard with a drop-shot rig, which he usually affixes to one of Roboworm's soft-plastic baits.  And his ways with a drop-shot rig have played a major role in his illustrious career as a bass tournament angler. Several of Roboworm's colors bear Marten's name, such as Aaron's Magic.

The folks at Roboworm call their new creation the Ned Worm.

It possesses the features of a soft-plastic stickbait and the classic French fry or centipede.  It is, however, endowed with a more exotic and colorful demeanor than the normal soft-plastic stickbaits and old-fashioned centipedes that Midwest finesse anglers have wielded in years past.

In the eyes of Midwest finesse anglers, it exhibits the profile of a caterpillar rather than a worm.

Like a caterpillar, its thorax and abdomen are segmented, and they are embellished with a multitude of small ribs that adorn the sides and back of its thorax and abdomen. But unlike a caterpillar, it has an earthworm-like clitellum or egg sack, which is segmented but smooth skinned and devoid of the small ribs. Its head is flat.  Its anus or tail is somewhat dome-shaped.  Its belly is flat and not adorned with the small ribs that enhance the sides and back of its thorax and abdomen.

Across the years, many Midwest finesse anglers have developed a fondness for flat-bellied soft-plastic baits. And Midwest finesse anglers agree with the folks at Roboworm who say that its flat belly will accentuate its ability to glide.  Midwest finesse anglers note that the gliding factor plays a key role when they employ their swim-glide-and-shake retrieve and their hop-and-bounce presentation. It will also glide during the initial drop phase of their retrieves.  And Roboworm designed it so that its torso will quiver and undulate alluringly as it glides.

It is manufactured with a technique that Roboworm calls a state-of-the-art robotic pouring system. It creates consistent and well-defined laminations of colors. For a number of years, anglers galore have raved about Roboworm's abilities to manufacture spectacular soft-plastic baits that exhibit a vast array of laminated colors. Mark Taylor, who is the operations manager at Roboworm, described it as a three-color, open-mold, and hand-pour-style bait.

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It is available in the following colors: Aaron's Green Pumpkin, Aaron's Magic, Aaron's Magic Red and  Black Flake, Aaron's Morning Dawn, Bold Bluegill, Desert Craw, Green Pumpkin Black Flake, Green Pumpkin Perch, Hologram Shad, M.M.III, Margarita Mutilator, Midnight, Morning Dawn, Morning Dawn Chartreuse, Oxblood Light Red Flake, Peoples Worm, Prism Shad, Twilight, Watermelon Dawn, and Watermelon Red and Black Flake.

It is impregnated with what Roboworm calls "a Salt Release System that provides a burst of salt when a fish bites to make them hold on longer for better hooksets."

Midwest finesse anglers will affix it to a small mushroom-style jig, and Mark Taylor recommneds using it that way, too. But Taylor also noted that their field tests revealed that it is effective when it is employed on a Carolina rig, drop-shot rig, nail-rig, Neko rig, shaky-head jig, slip-sinker or Texas-style rig, wacky rig, and weightless rig.

A package of eight three-inchers costs $3.99. A package of six 4 1/2-inchers costs $4.29.

Endnotes

(1) Here is a link to the  Roboworm, Inc. website: http://www.roboworm.com/.