There are very few bass fishing baits as synonymous with summer fishing as a big worm. Whether fishing 20 feet deep on a ledge or dragging a Texas rig through laydowns in two feet of water, a big worm is hard to beat in the summer for a couple reasons. First, bass aren’t typically super aggressive during the heat of the day, so a slow-moving worm is something they won’t have to expend a lot of energy to chase down.
Bass are also cold-blooded creatures, meaning their metabolisms rise in the hotter water. Even though they don’t want to move much, they still have to eat a good bit. A big ribbon-tail worm makes for the perfect combination of a slow moving target and a big meal opportunity.
Today, we’re going to look at one such big ribbon-tail worm, the Netbait C-Mac.
Ribbon tail
I’ve already mentioned the defining characteristic of this particular bait genre a couple of times, that being the ribbon tail. Ribbon-tail worms have a long flowing tail that requires very little movement to create an awesome action. The tail whips and flows in the water as the bait is dragged along or if there’s the slightest bit of current present. The Netbait C-Mac in particular offers up a great example of what a good bait in this genre should look like.
The slow-moving action of the tail again makes this a great bait for bass fishing when the water is hot. You can certainly catch bass on a C-Mac anytime of the year, but in the summer in particular the slow, lazy action of the C-Mac’s tail make it a perfect bait to fish on a Texas rig, magnum shaky head or Carolina rig.
Smooth belly, ribbed back
Some ribbon-tail worms can be a little tricky to rig; the tail will swim best with the worm rigged a particular way. With some worms, however, the body is circular and has ribs or rings all the way around. It’s hard to figure out how to rig the worm any other way than a little trial and error. Rig it one way, toss it in the water, see if the tail is swimming right or the bait is trying to spin. If the bait is spinning, pull the hook out of the worm and start over.
This can lead to a few torn up worms before you ever even make a good cast. Or if you don’t pay attention to this at all, the spinning of a poorly rigged worm will lead to lots of line twists, which then lead to knots in your line or backlashes. But with the C-Mac, Netbait made the belly of the bait smooth and the back ribbed. So you can tell how to rig your worm perfectly the first time, with the hook point entering through the smooth belly of the bait and coming out the ribbed back.
Size and colors
The Netbait C-Mac is a BIG worm, coming in two sizes, the smaller of which is 11 inches long. The large version of the C-Mac is an impressive 15 inches in length, longer than most keeper bass across the country.
Again, offering something big and slow moving to a bass in the summertime is a great way to draw a strike, especially when faster moving crankbaits and spinnerbaits are failing to get bit.
The C-Mac also comes in a wide range of colors, 11 in all, with everything from Green Pumpkin for clear water to Black and Blue Flake for muddy water and night fishing. Netbait also has plenty of choices when it comes to the ever-popular red tones that you often see anglers fishing with in the summer months, like Red Bug, Plum and Plum Apple.
Price point, consistency and design
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the Netbait C-Mac is its price point. Both a 9-pack of the 11-inch version and an 8-pack of the 15-inch version come in at a stellar price of only $4.29 per pack.
Compared to several of the other big ribbon-tail worms on the market, Netbait really puts a lot of product in each pack for that price. The soft plastic Netbait uses also has a good consistency to it and the design of the worm has a great taper from body to tail. These two factors help ensure the C-Mac has a good action while also cutting down on the number of tails lost to short strikes.
Short strikes are still something you’ll want to pay attention to though with this worm. Both versions of the bait are longer than your average soft plastic, so you’ll need to give the fish a few seconds to get the whole bait in their mouth before setting the hook. And the hook you use will likely need to be in the 6/0 to 7/0 range, preferably an EWG (Extra Wide Gap) hook in my personal opinion. These are monster hooks, but even still they hardly cover a third or even a quarter of the worm depending on which version you go with.
In conclusion
The Netbait C-Mac is a great representation of what to look for when picking out a quality ribbon-tail worm. It has a nice and slow, lazy action to the tail. The soft plastic used offers a good compromise, not so soft as to be easily bit in two but not so hard as to impede the action. With 11 colors to choose from, there’s a little something for every water color imaginable.
With two super-long offerings in this worm of 11 and 15 inches, both variations of the C-Mac give you a big-profile bait to tempt lethargic summer bass into biting. Just remember, with a bait this big you’ll need a fairly large hook as well. And you’ll want to be sure to let the fish get the bait all the way, pausing at least three or four seconds between the initial bite and the hookset.
Other than that, Netbait makes it pretty easy with the C-Mac, just rig one up and chuck it out into the water, this one is sure to get you a bite!
The Netbait C-Mac is available at the following online retailers:
