Texas, wacky, or weedless

Great thread guys. Keep up the good discussion.

This year I've caught a good amount of bass on a Texas Rigged weightless setup. I've had good luck with some Strike King salted worms.

I'm very interested in new ways to rig them and hearing what works best for everyone.

thanks for the info.

weightless texas rigged, wacky (weighted or weightless) with o ring or no o ring. i would suggest the O ring to save worms. you can also use heat shrink (not heated) to rig it "properly" you can catch 15 fish without losing a worm this way.

I probably fish wacky-rigged 90% of the time. I just find the action on the fall to be superior at most times. The last 10% is when I am fishing it through super thick weeds or am trying to pitch it into brush and wood, in which case I'll go with a T-Rig usually.

I find that the wacky rig works best when you don't overfish it. Cast it out, let it sink, watch the line. Once you hit bottom, let it sit for a bit. If nothing bites, twitch it back up in the water column some and let it drop again. More often than not you get bit on the initial drop.

I personally find that the KVD Ochos fall, when T-rigged, the same way a normal worm falls when it's Wackly rigged.

I still haven't caught anything on a wacky-rig. I weightless texas rig everything I use no matter where I am fishing.

Even in heavy current its all weightless for the most part, every once in a while I will use a small split-shot to nose the bait down faster. But thats about it. Senko's, Berley ribbon tails, Lizards ETC all weightless.

What about carolina? I like to bring two rods: 1 texas and 1 wacky and mix it up until one proves better.

Had a lot of luck at spot with the carolina rig

Haha, don't worry about me. I'm not a tourney fisherman (no boat.) I've gone almost exclusively texas rig, guess it's time to try wacky. What's the action/retrieve on that (assume weeds/lilly pads)[/quote]

I was always a texas rig guy... no matter what, my buddys would use bait certain days but I always stick with my artificials. Just started wacky rigging the senkos this year and have been catching plenty of bass. I will still use the texas in certain situations but it is kind of tough when you don't have boat access.

What about carolina? I like to bring two rods: 1 texas and 1 wacky and mix it up until one proves better.

Had a lot of luck at spot with the carolina rig

Interesting... Not that you had luck on Carolina at Spot Pond...but the fact that you fish Carolina at Spot. Just about every bottom-contact lure I have used at Spot except for a shaky head jig rigged Texas has been snagged or lost. Jigs, drop shots, wacky jigs, weighted banjo...gone, gone and gone.

The rocks are just brutal for dragging anything on the bottom.

I think a large tube texas rigged on a jig head might work great there to imitate craws. Might give it a shot.

i used to carolina rig a lot, but last season i started almost strictly texas rig with a soft stick bait. occasionally wacky, but most of the time texas. have caught plenty of fish on all 3 setups, really just a personal preference and what might be working on any given day.

OK, round 2! 4" or 5" artificial worms?

The bigger the worm, the bigger the fish.

The bigger the worm, the bigger the fish.

Last summer I was fishing for smallies and they kept hitting the 5" senko but we couldn't get them hooked. Eventually cut the last inch off the worms and started pulling in 3+ lb smallies left and right.

The bigger the worm, the bigger the fish.

Last summer I was fishing for smallies and they kept hitting the 5" senko but we couldn't get them hooked. Eventually cut the last inch off the worms and started pulling in 3+ lb smallies left and right.

Of course. Then there's always the tiny little bait fish that thinks it'll hit the worm that's bigger than it is.

What about carolina? I like to bring two rods: 1 texas and 1 wacky and mix it up until one proves better.

Had a lot of luck at spot with the carolina rig

Interesting... Not that you had luck on Carolina at Spot Pond...but the fact that you fish Carolina at Spot. Just about every bottom-contact lure I have used at Spot except for a shaky head jig rigged Texas has been snagged or lost. Jigs, drop shots, wacky jigs, weighted banjo...gone, gone and gone.

The rocks are just brutal for dragging anything on the bottom.

I think a large tube texas rigged on a jig head might work great there to imitate craws. Might give it a shot.

What are you using for line? If you are already using Fluorocarbon there then don't bother reading any further

You almost HAVE to use flourocarbon at Spot when bottom fishing... I absolutely love braid and pretty much refused to use fluorocarbon until today and I have finally seen the light... Rather than respooling any of my 3 rods (they all have braid on them) I just made myself a fluorobarbon leader for a coffee tube. A combination of three things made me make the switch
1. my brother has done so well there with fluoro and he always told me that fluoro was the trick to getting the good size fish there,
2. Watched an episode of Bass Pros this morning where KVD was SmallMouth fishing in superclear water with tubes. And just considering water clarity he said you are at a Major disadvantage if you aren't using fluorocarbon in clear water.
3. This months Bassmaster mag reinforced the concept that clear water absolutely requires fluorocarbon due to how well fish can see in super clear water. (Page 45 they give example instructions for a "clear water carolina rig")

So why fluorocarbon at Spot? ABRASION RESISTENCE and as previously mentioned, its great visibilty features (or lack thereof). Big fish really seem to notice the braid in clear water and it seems to turn them off.
As you know Spot is littered with sharp rocks, rock crevices, and huge rock chunks. The fluorocarbon seems to outperform everything else in this environment when bottom fishing.

I think the fluorocarbon leaders made a big difference for me today. I caught my first decent sized smallmouth utilizing the leader. I then followed that up with my second decent sized smallmouth on a Red Eye Shad, my first lipless crank bass. And even though it was only 2 and 1/4 lbs it was an outrageous fight, and since the bass took the crankbait on the initial fall it was a long fight too, it was jumping everywhere and darting around so forcefully... I finally appreciate why people say smallmouths are the best fights

I use wacky style 3o off set shank hook w/o any weight in say 6 ft or less on a semi calm day. anything past 6ft i will use some finish nails and put um on each side of the worm and cut off the exsess. i like to use weedless over the pads. and like meatballs said use the o rings they are worth the $3,00 (not shure if the replacments are going to work as good as the new ones. different color and just picked um up today