Changing up the routine can produce big results

I do quite a bit of Texas rigging with plastic worms combined with a casting rod and reel. But on this particular day I decided to try a spinning rod instead of the heavy artillery.

I guess I failed to mention that I have caught hundreds of big bass using a spinning rod and a Little Action Mac pre-rigged plastic worm. But on this outing I decided to give a new spinning reel a real workout, a la Texas style worming.

I had acquired a new Pflueger Supreme spinning reel. I teamed it up with a 7-foot Grandt worm rod and went to work.

First, some commentary.

I am not a fan of rods and reels made in China. A former friend in the material handling equipment business doesn't talk with me any longer, probably because of my many discourses against Chinese manufacturing. His company fabricates the products in China, the stuff he sells in this country. Anyway, I have been lobbying for many years for reel companies to bring their manufacturing back into this country. No such luck.

So I have this new Chinese-made Pfueger reel, and I figure I may as well use it.

Because I was going to use a Texas-rigged worm (without any slip sinker), I knew I would have to do some monster hook sets and probably work the worm through a jungle of heavy cover and obstacles. The solution was to spool the reel with Spider Wire Stealth in 10-pound test. I never use more than 8-pound mono or 6-pound Fireline on a spinning reel, but the new Spider Wire Stealth is a solid winner for strength and durability and small diameter.

I headed for one of the Lake County Forest Preserve lakes, where I knew there were a lot of deadfall trees, stumps, underwater traps and largemouth bass. There were also some heavy duck weed and algae on the surface as well.

I flipped a coin to help me decide whether I was going to use the worm or a weedless frog on the surface. The worm won out, and that meant subsurface.

After a dozen casts and zero strikes I moved to another side of the lake. Actually, the area I wanted to investigate was inaccessible and too far away to make accurate casts.

But I tried nevertheless. On my fourth cast I felt the telltale tick of a fish inhaling the plastic worm. I slowly cranked up the slack and waited a couple seconds before setting the hook. The surface exploded as a largemouth catapulted out of the slimy water. It was no match for the Spider Wire and my stout rod. The fish checked in at slightly over 3 pounds. So far, so good.

I assumed since there was at least one good fish that hit the lure, there could very well be several more. But another half dozen casts went unchallenged, so I moved again.

My next location was hemmed in by tall cattails. I inched my way to the super-soft edge of the bank and started casting. On the third try I hit pay dirt. A huge bass took the worm and headed for Cook County. I tightened the drag on the Supreme just enough to stop the fish from showing me it was the boss. The scale read 41/4 pounds. I was now convinced I didn't need the heavier casting gear.

The "boys" in Minnesota like to use spinning gear along with a jig and plastic worm when going after largemouth and smallmouth bass. Even when I lived there I always used casting gear for worming. But down here the same mission can be accomplished with slightly heavier line, a good rod and a spinning reel like the Supreme, with a drag system designed to dredge the beasts out from their lairs.

I'll be back to this lake soon with more worms and fresh Spider Wire Stealth - along with determination and hope.

It pays off to protect our gamefishI know Illinois is in a cash-strapped position, especially as it relates to the Department of Natural Resources and conservation-related issues. But wouldn't it be something to pay anglers some bucks if they went out and caught silver and bighead carp by the truckload? That's what is happening in Oregon, only it's not carp being caught.Nikolay Zaremski of Gresham, Ore., collected more than $51,000 as the result of his catches of pike minnows, a predatory species that gobbles up steelhead and salmon by the millions on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The record payout by the state is $58,000, and observers noted that Zaremski is likely to beat that number at the rate he's going.Fishing reportFox Chain: A follow-up to what I reported last week regarding walleyes. The hot bite continues around the Route 12 and Grass Lake Road bridges. Live bait such as nightcrawlers and minnows are doing the trick on Lindy Rigs. Muskie action on Lake Catherine continues, with hits coming on surface noisemakers. Largemouth action has slowed. Some larger bluegills are being taken on Pistakee Lake off Bald Knob.Fox River: Improved smallmouth action as far north as the Route 176 bridge. Walleyes hitting there as well. Bangs Lake: Fair bass action now, but the evening walleye bite has started to show some promise just off the weeds in 10 feet of water.Lake Michigan: Perching is much better outside Waukegan Harbor in 55 feet of water. Salmon and lake trout are very deep but hitting spoons and some crankbaits.bull; Mike Jackson can be reached via e-mail at angler88@att.net, and you can catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.