For currently common plugs, the bass should like about 0.040."
In my area, quite a few fishermen also carry a hypodermic syringe. Since all our local waters are mud/silt bottoms a worm will burrow into the mud and be inaccessible to the fish. A bubble of air in the loose end makes the worm's tail float so it can't hide. Try explaining that "paraphenalia" to the cop who stops you on the way home. (It helps to have a bucket of worms handy. Assuring that the syringe isn't "clean" comes naturally.)