When the midwinter panfish bite gets tough, there are times that you just have to use live bait. If you’re using waxworms, the thing to do is to pinch the hanging tail end. This lets the juice hang out of it and gives it better action in the water.
Gobbing up too many waxworms on a hook doesn’t give you much action, it’s just a piece of meat. Granted it still releases scent, but on a tougher bite, if you can get that tail action by just pinching the tail – some people call it crushing the waxworm, the skin undulates in the water and is really attractive to fish. On a tough bite, this will help you catch a lot more fish, especially bluegills.
