Tackle Talk: Strike King Ocho

Stick worms are one of the most effective bass fishing baits in existence. They may not look like much, but they have a funny way of coaxing nearby bass. I’ve caught many of my biggest bass on these worms on both large reservoirs and small ponds. If presented correctly, they’ll quickly save a tough day of fishing.

One particular stick worm I’ve been using for several years is the Strike King Ocho. After experimenting with several different models, this one continues to produce quality bass all year long. Whether you’re fishing a Carolina rig, shaky head, wacky rig or weightless Texas rig, I’m confident you’ll find success with the Ocho.

Action

At first glance, it seems as if the Strike King Ocho wouldn’t have much action to offer. But the small details of its design make a noticeable difference to both anglers and the bass.

Instead of a traditional rounded shape, the Ocho has 8 flat sides running the length of the body; this allows for an enticing shimmy as the worm falls on slack line. When wacky rigged, it undulates slowly as it falls next to vertical cover and on a weightless Texas rig, you’ll notice a very tight shimmy on the descent.

The beauty of this natural action is simple: It requires very little angler involvement. Most of your bites will occur on the fall, so it’s not necessary to constantly twitch and jerk your rod tip.

FLW Tour pro and California angler Cody Meyer recently used the Ocho to catch the potential world-record spotted bass. He caught the bass in 20 feet of water with the worm on a weightless wacky rig—that should tell you a lot about the natural action I discussed.

This worm is also a good option on both shaky heads and Carolina rigs when targeting coldwater bass. Conventional worms often have too much action for these lethargic bass and the tight shimmy of the Ocho is a well-known technique for fooling these hard-to-catch fish.

Scent

The Strike King Ocho is part of the popular KVD Perfect Plastic lineup, which incorporates a very unique coffee scent into the plastic. They smell great to the human nose, but more importantly, the bass seem to like it as well.

Will the scent make a bass swim 30 yards to eat your Ocho? I’m not so sure. But I do believe, however, that it makes them hold on longer once they bite. I’ve caught several bass on this bait over the years in windy conditions—I had a hard time feeling the initial bite. But they kept the Ocho in their mouth for so long that I was able to get a solid hookset, even several seconds after the bite.

I also like that this particular scent doesn’t infiltrate your boat. I’ve used a lot of scented plastics that make your boat and gear stink like dead fish, but I haven’t had that problem with this worm. I keep dozens of packs in my boat all year long and have never had issues with any nasty funk.

Color options

There are some really good color options in this lineup. With over 20 colors to choose from on Tackle Warehouse, you’ll find plenty of great-looking colors for your local fishery.

I tend to keep it simple with the Black Blue Flake, Watermelon Red Flake and Green Pumpkin colors, but I’ve also become a fan of Blue Craw, KVD Magic and Honey Candy. Each color I’ve used is consisent throughout the entire bag, so you won’t find some Ochos with too much flake and others with not enough. In my opinion, that’s a small but important detail that many manufacturers tend to overlook.

Other considerations

This isn’t the most durable stick worm I’ve used—I can usually catch two fish before it’s time to re-rig. While I’m usually a stickler for durability in soft plastics, I have a hard time getting too bent out of shape about it with the Ocho. The reason is simple: It catches too many bass. I’m willing to let it slide.

If you’re a wacky rigger, you’ll certainly notice an increase in durability if you use the O-Wacky Tool. I’ve caught up to 4 bass with one Ocho while using it.