fish it weightless, and keep it off the bottom. a wacky worm is a falling bait. lift rod then let it fall just short of the bottom.
you will not go wrong with plugger's president. great price, great reel.
Like coalbass recommends. any water shoe, or sneaker work well with socks.
I only fish artificial. Tubes, stick worms, and creature baits usually in green pumpkin. Tubes are my favorite. Top water favorites in order are spooks, buzz baits, poppers. In the right conditions I will also use a frog, and spinnerbait.
during the day throw your worm under a shady dock. the further back you can get it under the dock the better. fish are slow in the heat, so slow down they wont chase when its hot. I have always found when its very hot that early morning works better than evening. sun up trumps sun down.
A wacky rigged worm is a drop bait. let it sink, lift then drop again. sometimes a small twitch of rod ever so often will garner attention. try green pumpkin color.
Sounds like your not letting the bass eat the worm. Watch your line, let the fish 'run' with the bait a little before setting hook. Try and keep your line just tight enough to stay in touch with your bait, and fish.
Just returned from 10 days at Chippewa Bay. Water is very high, but did not affect fishing. Drop shot is good when fishing deep. Tubes, and creatures are always good, and we found big fish in 8-10 ft. of water with them. I used weightless worms on exposed rocks, shoals, and islands with great success rigged texas, or wacky. Big sunken rocks 10ft deep were the hot spots. Not much on top water, or spinnerbaits. Most bites came on the bottom….good luck!