TAKEOFF
TECHNIQUES
6 1/2-inch Strike King Perfect
Plastics Finesse Worm
3/0 Trokar
TK120
FISHING THE “BUTT WORM”
d
lead nail
weight
dennis tietJe’s oddlY naMed WoRM RiG sKiRts the line BetWeen finesse and poWeR
By Joe Sills
usually ties the bait to 10-pound-test (14-pound-test if the
water clarity accommodates it) Sunline Super FC Sniper flu-
orocarbon on a 7-foot, medium-heavy denali casting rod
with a bass pro Shops pro Qualifier (5.3:1) baitcasting reel.
Cut the nail weight to whichever size works for the
depth of water and cover being fished.
ennis tietje has carried an unusual box of tackle
with him from Florida to Canada, east-to-west and
everywhere in between. it’s a box that he christened
in his home state of louisiana, where years ago he discov-
ered a bizarre technique for finesse fishing on toledo
bend. now, we’ve talked the veteran pro into opening it up.
“my box is labeled ‘butt worms,’” tietje says. “it’s full of
finesse worms.”
before you laugh, consider this: When bass are shallow
before, during and after the spawn, persistent bass heads
might be looking for a different strategy to entice big fish
that have seen their fair share of lures over the spawning
period. if you’re fishing a popular waterway, chances are
the fish you target in shallow spawning areas already have
reviewed – and maybe fallen for – an armada of stick baits
and jigs and topwater noisemakers and old-fashioned
worms. What they’ve likely never seen before is the pres-
entation that makes tietje chuckle almost every time he
talks about it.
“i don’t know how that term came about,” he says, “but
it works.”
tietje makes the rig by sliding a lead nail weight into the
tail of a 6 1/2-inch Strike King perfect plastics Finesse Worm.
tietje pairs the weight with a 3/0 trokar tK120 plastic Worm
hook rigged texas style in the opposite end. From there, he
how to Fish It
Cast and retrieve. that’s it; no fancy presentation, though
it will be necessary to vary the speed of retrieve to determine
what the bass want. if grass is already growing, cast toward
holes in the grass and work the bait over the top. tietje says
the butt worm is mostly weedless and excels in cover. Fish it
just below the surface or deeper as conditions allow, in
much the same way a floating worm is fished.
“With a normal texas rig, you’ll be fighting the grass the
entire time,” he says. “by putting the weight in the tail, it
does two things: it allows you to fish that worm subtly,
without disturbing the grass, and it keeps the front of the
worm high because there’s no weight in there. that keeps
the grass off of it.
“basically, it looks like a snake. you can kind of slither it
through those grass beds, and you’re not pulling grass as
you’re fishing. Fish are kind of timid this time of year.
they’ve been beaten to death by boat after boat after boat.
you’re almost power-finesse fishing them. you don’t see a
snake swimming through the grass with 2 pounds of grass
behind it. this lure is the same way.”
Dennis Tietje
20
expanding on the technique
tietje admits that the butt worm is not his creation. the
crawfish farmer learned the technique years ago as a local
tournament angler at toledo bend. over the years he has
adopted tweaks to the lure’s retrieve that have served him
well when more popular finesse strategies have failed.
“Sometimes, when you’re working that bait fast and you
get a bass chasing it, you can stop your retrieve and the
weight will carry that bait backward in the water,” he says.
“then you have to drop your rod and trust the bait. that
fish has either got to run into it or eat it, and a lot of times
that triggers a bite.”
if grass is lacking, tietje says the butt worm can still be
deployed in open water, or especially around docks, where
the weighted tail can propel the worm under a dock after a
well-placed cast.
“it casts better than a typical texas rig,” he notes. “but
the big bonuses here are its ability to slither and the
unique way the weighted tail makes it fall.
“it’s not a new trick, but it is overlooked,” tietje adds.
“the butt worm is really effective when fish are looking for
something different.”
FlWFIshInG.com I maY-june 2017