Foot-long offering from Mister Twister creates big bass buzz
That two different professional anglers can fish a new 12-inch worm completely differently — with both catching solid numbers of quality bass — is a testament to the new Mag 12 Buzz Worm from Mister Twister.
The Minden artificial lure company relied on Albert Collins of Nacogdoches, Texas, and Clent Davis of Montevallo, Alabama, for input to create the new foot-long plastic worm. They used the first prototype early last summer, and it took off from there during testing and tweaking.
Collins, a 53-year-old veteran basser who has fished twice in the Bassmaster Classic, and Davis, 31, a Bassmaster Elite Series angler who was the 2014 FLW Tour Rookie of the Year, had the finished product in their hands in time for this year’s post-spawn action and the summer months. The two bass anglers haven’t been disappointed.
Davis used the Mag 12 Buzz Worm in his rotation of artificial lures on the way to finishing 5th in the FLW tournament on Kentucky Lake in June. To those who might balk at tying on a 12-inch plastic worm, don’t be concerned about the length and still connecting on the hookset, he advised.
“As far as the hookup ratio, they eat it. They’re going to eat the whole thing,” Davis said. “It’s definitely a fish catcher. You’ve got to tie it on. It does get bit.”
Collins agreed and said, “I feel like it’s one of those where somebody needs to pick it up and throw it out there. That worm’s going to be a good one. Clent and I have had it for the past year. It impressed me. I catch fish of all sizes on it, but I feel I’ve got a better chance to catch a big one. I feel it’s an opportunity to get bigger fish to hit. I was really surprised at the numbers of fish I catch on it — and not just the numbers, but the quality, too.”
Collins, the 2015 Bass Nation Champion, 2014 ABA National Champion and 2012 Bassmaster Weekend Series National Champion, devoted much of his attention in the design phase to the plastic worm’s tail.
“You’d be surprised at the movement that tail makes,” he said. “It gives it a lot of action.”
But it took trial and error to get the tail right.
“Darryl (Darryl Laurent, Mister Twister national sales manager) sent some out. I got to messing with it. I had a problem with the tail holding up on it,” Collins said. “It was too thin. When a fish would jump or even when I’d cast, it’d come off. It just needed a little fine-tuning.”
To correct the issue, he recommended making the inside of the V-shaped tail a little heavier.
“We got it thickened up,” he said.
Collins fishes the Mag 12 Buzz Worm Texas-rigged with a 5/0 hook on 20-pound High Seas fluorocarbon line, most of the time under a ½-ounce worm weight. In 4- to 7-foot depths, he’ll use a 3/8-ounce worm weight “but anything deeper, a ½-ounce, even in 25-feet, if it’s not windy, a ½-ounce.
“I’ll adjust if it’s windy.”
He loves to fish the new worms in deep brush piles at Lake Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. And he’s very partial to the color “Red River special,” and also favors plum, june bug and Rayburn bug.
“For some reason, it’s a good, all-around color,” Collins said about the Red River special.
Davis said he lost count of how many bass he caught on the new soft plastic this year while fishing at Lake Sam Rayburn and Kentucky Lake. His special supply was running low as of the eighth month of the year, he confided.
“I had 200 poured up at the start of the year. I’m down to about 15 of them,” he said.
Davis’ favorite way to fish the Mag 12 Buzz Worm is on a Nichols Bulldozer, which he does 90 percent of the time. He uses the 4/0 hook model with the weight hinging on the depth he’s targeting bass — 3/8-ounce in 5 feet or less, ½-ounce in 10- to 15-foot depths and ¾-ounce 15-feet and deeper.
“I like to feel them bite it and move away with it before I set the hook,” he said.
He fishes it much differently than Collins — but is just as successful with it.
“The only time I Texas rig it is in submerged grass in 5-foot or less,” Davis said, noting he’ll use it then under a 3/8- or ¼-ounce worm weight.
He also throws it weightless and works it on the surface, he said.
“As far as action, it’s a big worm, a long worm, but it’s got a small profile. It has a lot of action when falling through the water,” Davis said. “The diameter of the worm makes it have the action. It’s perfect. If the worm itself at the main part was any thicker, it wouldn’t have the action it does.”
His input on the design targeted the long plastic worm’s body. He wanted a longer plastic worm and he knew what he wanted it to look like.
“I wanted a bigger worm than what we have. The biggest thing to me was refining the mold to make sure it stays together,” he said. “We’d do a lot of different things to the mold before I said, ‘That’s the one I want there.’ ”
Its versatility should appeal to all bass anglers, weekenders, bass club anglers and professionals, he said.
“It works in grass. It works in bushes — anywhere. I can take that worm and fish 1 to 30 feet,” he said.
His favorite color is plum. He also throws a little watermelon/red flake.
The Mag 12 Buzz Worm’s length is a big advantage, he added.
“It’s one of those deals where, with a big worm, you can keep using it as you catch fish,” he said. “Just bite off a quarter-inch at a time.”
Collins added, “You know, with a 12-inch-long worm, you can probably catch eight, 10, 12 fish. You can break off and use it all the way down to 4 inches if you want.”