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Lure Review

 

Berkley’s Latest Finesse Worm Doesn’t Fall Flat (continued)

 

Position at Rest: The Flat Worms hover really nicely on a drop shot rig and sink quickly on a jighead, so the tail will follow and create a darting hopping action when worked back to the boat. Unlike Z-Man plastics the material will not float up and I found them less effective when used like a NED rig, but the tail whipping action was effective on a fast moving jighead, like a Snap Jig for example. But nothing was as effective as simply drop shotting this bait.

 

I am not sure if it the movement of the bait, the efficient dispersion of PowerBait Scent, or the versatile profile that is so enticing to fish. The likely answer is “all of the above” and it has proven to be one of the most reliable drop shot baits that I have ever fished.

 

Fish absolutely love it, and there are times when other baits are not performing where the Flat Worms have netted strikes within just a few casts.

 


The Flat Worms get eaten up by all types of sunfish. I've also caught a lot of trout on these baits as well

 

I found that largemouth of all sizes would readily eat these baits and to say they are deadly for smallmouth would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe how much smallmouth loved these baits, there were times when pattern didn’t even matter, if there was a Flat Worm on the line the smallmouth was all over it!

 

Pro Angler Keith Poche took Andrew Wheeler, Director of Product Management at Abu Garcia, and I out to target shallow water smallmouth on Champlain. We absolutely wrecked them and had to recycle Flat Worms until there were none left

 

I fished on Champlain with Tournament Anglers Adrian Avena and Keith Poche and absolutely wrecked them using flat worms when sight fishing with a flogger and targeting suspended fish with live sonar.

 


Andrew with a stud smallmouth caught on a Flat Worm and the new Abu Garcia Revo RKT spinning reel

 

I brought these same techniques home to Northern California and found the bass would readily eat the Flat Worms, and so would bluegill and crappie. These worms are extremely effective for targeting fast moving crappie schools with live sonar, and watching the fish swarm on the bait the second that it entered the schools was pretty incredible. These worms straight up get bit!

 


The Flat Worms are also a great option for targeting schools of fish with live sonar. Above are a school of fast moving crappie on LiveScope

 

Durability: The biggest weakness of the Flat Worms is that you will use a lot of them, and especially if targeting smallmouth and crappie. Fish will readily strike and tear these baits up, and I found I lost a number of baits when fish broke the surface and head shakes would tear the bait right off the hook.

 


Crappie will also readily eat the Flat Worms

 

At Champlain the carnage on the boat decks was comical, and it was all fun and games until we ran out of Flat Worms and were literally recycling baits by tearing off broken head sections until there was little above the tail. The fish still ate them up.

 


The only drawback I found with the Flat Worms is they can tear and shake off in the heat of battle. I observed this the most with smallmouth who regularly broke the surface

 

Design and Ergonomics: Berkley’s Flat Worms are some of the best drop shot baits that I’ve ever fished and I make sure to have a couple packs in my boat at all times. When the fishing is tough these are some of the best skunk-beaters that are out there. There are times when it is freezing out and the rain is pouring and the Flat Worms have not only saved the day but yielded some high quality fish for me.

 


In the middle of winter and pouring rain the MaxScent Flat Worms were still deadly effective

 

While anglers can fish them a variety of ways all you really need to do is have a drop shot rig and the Flat Worm will do the rest. Besides the action and scent one of the reasons I personally find MaxScent lures so compelling is the texture. Unlike traditional plastics that often look too perfect, flat, or shiny, the MaxScent lures all have a rough texture that is matte in appearance and looks more like the skin on a worm or crawfish carapace. This is yet another reason why I think fish are fooled by them and why I have so much confidence in MaxScent baits like the Flat Worm and Chigger Craw.

 


When the fish are locked up or suspended the Flat Worms still remained effective. These are excellent skunk-beaters

 

Price and Applications: The 3.6” Berkley Flat Worms come in packs of 10, while the larger 4.5” size comes in packs of 8. Both sizes retail for $8.99 per pack which equates to .89 cents to $1.12 per worm which isn’t cheap but also not the most expensive plastics out there. If you have favorite colors the 3’6” inch worms are also available in bulk packs of 30 or $22.99 which gets the price per worm down to .76 cents each.  

 


The Berkley Flat Worms are some of the most effective drop shot baits I've ever fished, and especially when targeting Spots and Smallmouth

 

There are enough Flat Worm patterns out there that they can match the hatch and be used throughout the year. I find that the darker colors like Black, Green Pumpkin/Watermelon, and Smoke Black Purple are great year round. Some of the lighter patterns like Brown Back, Gobyashi, and Natural shad are excellent when there are a lot of small baitfish on the menu and White Pearl is a killer bed fish bait, if you’re into that type of thing.

 

Ratings:

Berkley Powerbait MaxScent Flat Worm Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Bait quality is good and very consistent. Packaging does a great job keeping Flat Worms fresh until use, and the smell of PowerBait out of the rest of your bag or boat 8.5
Performance Excellent performance and one of the best drop shot baits for situations when the bite is tough. The combination of the versatile profile, texture, action, and scent all add up to a lot of bites. Largemouth love these worms but so do other panfish and crappie, and smallmouth eat it up like candy 9.5
Price Price is reasonable but certainly not cheap when considering the price per worm. There are many cheaper options out there but none that offer the same attributes and the unique, and proven, PowerBait MaxScent combination 8
Features Resealable bag and infused with Powerbait MaxScent are the top features but the value of the unique texture of the worm cannot be understated either 8.5
Design (Ergonomics) Easy to rig and fish. The only downside to the bait is durability and the material will tear and worms can shake off in battle 7.5
Application I would consider the Flat Worm a technique specific worm and while you can use it for more than drop shot fishing this is where it really excels. This worm is great for targeting just about all sunfish and I've caught plenty of trout on it as well. If you are looking for a larger profile Berkley also has the Hit Worm and Hit Worm Magnum, which are round but have a similar tapered tail design in a larger footprint 8.5

Total Score

8.41
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ A drop shot weapon. Mimics a wide range of forage (worms, leeches, baitfish etc.) - Not as durable as some other competing worms. Can rip off in the heat of battle
+ Easy to rig and fish effectively in all seasons - Not super cheap and you will burn through packs like nothing else when the bite is on
+ Powerbait MaxScent definitely adds drawing power to this small bait  
+ Good color options to mimic both worms and small baitfish  
+ Great bait for targeting a wide range of species. Smallmouth and trout both love this worm  
+ Excellent bait for when the bite is tough  

  

Conclusion: As far as drop shot baits go Berkley’s Flat Worms are exceptional. The combination of a versatile profile, lifelike quivering action, natural texture, and proven scent make these worms absolutely deadly for just about every type of panfish out there.

 


Pretty simple with this one. Berkley's Powerbait MaxScent Flat Worms are serious fish catchers

 

I’ve never seen smallmouth want to eat a particular bait as much as they readily chomp down the Flat Worms at times. The Berkley Flat Worm is one of the best executions of MaxScent to date, and tournament anglers have done some serious damage on tour with it already. It is pretty simple with this lure…. Buy Flat Worm, drop shot Flat Worm, and catch fish on Flat Worm.

 

 

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