I have often pondered how similar a rubber band is to a worm or perhaps they can be fashioned into a bug or minnow.

Using my knife I fashioned a small minnow and thought I might coax a pan fish that typically hang out around my dock. To my surprise I caught a good sized bass instead. As I pulled it up to the dock it broke the line! I was dismayed but it did prove that my improvised lure worked!

For now I exercise catch and release when fishing at my pond and I’m quite sure that I’ve caught this one before as illustrated by the photo of our last encounter.

I made another improvised lure using a smaller hook and to my surprise I hooked more bass but they they all got off and I concluded that a larger hook was needed to be effective with bass.

I believe that a small hook works well with pan fish but a different rubber band shaped more like a grub or insect might appeal to them better and perhaps using it at a different time of day may yield more success.

I recommend experimenting with rubber bands for fun and with the prospect that rubber bands might be a good addition to your tackle box or survival kit.