Were the fish short striking? (meaning the fish ripped the worm off the hook)
Or were you losing the fish after a short fight? (If this choice, then follow Wolf's advice)
If you are trolling a "big" worm, the fish may have 2-4" of grabbing room behind the hook. Short striking fish get a mouthful of worm, tug on you to say thanks, and off they go.
... It really sucks when that happens!
To beat this, you can try using a stinger hook attached to the bend of the first hook by 2-3" of mono (really small hook works well here like an egg hook). That way the worm is held by the first hook but a short striking fish gets "stung" by the trailing hook.
NOTE: you can not use this technique in waters that specify "single hook only"
Cheers,
Alex
... "high water" is when you can fish from your car.