Up there among my favorite Savage perch lures has to be the Rib worm. A super supple, scented worm with a long flowing tail. A classic style reinvented and improved. The great thing about this style of lure is how adaptable they are, you can fish them on jig heads, texas, carolina rigs and anything in between. I like using the whole lure but sometimes I trim them to suit other situations to. Here’s a look at how I fished them on 2 different venues a week apart.

Session one

I’d been working away for the week and decided to explore during an afternoon off. The River Thames was just a few hours away, so I hopped in the car keen to have a go. I had seen the venue a week before pumping through floodwater rendering it almost unfishable, but I was keen to go back. Arriving again the river was still pacing through, but the levels had dropped considerably. I felt confident I had a chance and decided to fish. My first choice of lure was the rib worm. The plan, to pin it down in the flow with a heavy flex head, the tail would do all the work while a 2 turn wind every so often would cover ground. I started natural but after a few finicky bites I swapped to a darker color and quickly got some action. A fin perfect 2 pounder made my afternoon and got me off the mark on a new river.

Session two

A cold crisp morning, the early bird gets the Rib worm. I arrived at the spot & rigged up with a reaction cray. After 20 minutes covering the area, a few nips and one jack pike I decided to change lures. I settled on a dark rib worm the plan to fish super slow. I cut down the tail, making a pintail and rigged up the Jika rig. The free hook movement would allow the lure to settle super slow while the weight would bounce over debris kicking up silt. The change quickly improved the confidence of the bites and I soon hooked a heavier fish at range. A big very aggravated perch hit the net showing its attitude with flared gills. I slipped the fish back a great reward from a subtle change.