Bland favors dark colors in murky water and lighter colors as clarity improves, and he often dips the worm s tail in chartreuse dye. Glass worm rattles help bass find the bait. One of the most refreshing aspects of Bland s murky-water approach is that it requires a bare minimum of lures. While most pros tote around a truckload of spinnerbaits and crankbaits, Bland relies mainly on a small selection of finesse worms. Bland uses a wide array of colors in his finesse fishing, and changes hues often until he determines exactly what the bass want.
Chartreuse is also excellent in murky water, especially for spotted and smallmouth bass.
As the water clears a bit, try lighter colors. Bland makes some modifications to his worms to enhance their appeal in 'low-viz' water. Bland rigs his Super Needles on a jighead of his own design. Rig the worm weedless, but run the hook point all the way through the plastic, then back it into the lure body for surer hook-sets and a weedless presentation. One of the golden rules of worm fishing is to keep the bait straight on the hook, but Bland throws this notion out the window.