| |
THE INCREDIBLE
Wacky Rig
Float it, drown it, pitch it or drag it, for something so simple there must be 100 or more different ways to fish a wacky rig. Formerly known in the early years of tournament competition as the Jersey Rig, the Wacky Rig, in recent years, has returned as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to putting a nice limit of smallies in the boat. While we would need a book to list all of the different ways to fish this rig, in this article we'll explore two techniques I've been employing as of late to present this rig to those marvelous brown bass.
Typically, there are three methods most anglers employ when assembling one of these rigs, all would include a 4"-6" inch plastic worm, and a size 1 or 2 high carbon steel hook of either bait holder type or octopus style. Some anglers will also use a circle hook to lower the chance of deep hooking a fish. The physical make up of a circle hook places a wider bend in the bottom of the hook to bring the hooks point and barb almost full circle so that the point and barb are facing the hooks shank. The result is a hook that when inhaled buy a fish will bump and slide up and over the fish's vital areas, in the mouth, and hook the fish in the corner of the mouth every time, while the fish is moving away from you. It bares mentioning though that due to the positioning of the hooks point, this method can result in fewer hook ups, should the fish be swimming towards you when you go to set the hook.
In the first method of assembling this rig an angler will insert the worm through a rubber "O" ring placing the ring in the middle of the bait. For best results, the "O" ring should have an inside diameter of 1/4" inch to keep a firm hold of the bait. The angler will then slip the hook under the "O" ring and you're ready to fish. Using the "O" ring on the bait is a real money saver in that the hook is never actually inserted into the worm, eliminating any tearing of the bait while the angler is battling a fish, allowing the angler to reuse the same bait time and again. It is possible to catch 10-20 fish with out having to rig a new bait.
Tip: When using this method it is good to have an assortment of "O" rings in varying diameters to accommodate different makes / models of baits. The "O" ring should fit the bait snuggly to avoid the bait slipping out during casting or should the fish grab the bait without taking the hook in its mouth.
In the second method to use when assembling this rig, an angler will insert the hook into the worm, with the hook pointing towards one end of the worm. To do this, the angler inserts the point of the hook into the top of the worm, stopping about mid way, then bring the hook through the worm so that the hook exits back through the top. Bring a lot of worms with you should you choose to use this method as almost every fish brought to the boat will result in the bait tearing off the hook, rendering the bait useless.
The third method, and the one I employ most frequently, is to insert the hook in one side of the worm, passing straight through the bait, exiting on the opposite side of the worm.
With method three you get the best of both worlds. 1) The hook is actually inserted into the bait and.
2) Hooking the bait this way creates a hole in the bait that has the tendency to make the bait slide up your line rather than tear off, when fighting a fish. This method works with all baits but for best results I?ve been using a 5 inch Strike King zero in the company?s 3X line of baits. These baits are practically indestructible, I?ve yet to use more than two baits in a whole days fishing. Strike King?s line of 3X cyber flexxx baits come in a wide array of colors and designs to suit most anglers after these favorite bronze fish.
Two presentations to put more Bass in your boat.
The first presentation is somewhat of a scaled down, lighter version of a carolina rig. Using a 6'6 to 7'0 spinning outfit you'll need a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce bullet weight, a glass or plastic bead, swivel and leader material. The bullet weight I find works best in our Canadian waters as it pulls through the many varieties of sand grass and other weeds with relative ease when compared to this rigs larger cousin utilizing a large egg sinker. Also, I go heavy on the leader material, typically using 20lb fluorocarbon to get the job done. This is personal preference only, I've experimented with different material, even so far as using a piece of flame green superline as leader material in clear water with no negative effects when it comes to bass fishing. So experiment with different materials to find what works best for you. When it comes to leader length. I use about a 24-30 inch leader most of the time, depending mostly on how the fish are positioned on bottom or what ever structure / cover I happen to be fishing. A longer leader will get the bait farther off bottom, allowing you to keep the bait above submerged vegetation or allowing you to fish the bait through that much more of the water column. Fish this set up by either dragging the rig across the bottom or by reeling down and lifting the bait off bottom and letting it settle again. So far sounds like just fishing a regular old carolina rig right? Here's the twist. First, by rigging the bait wacky style, the bait has less of a tendency to keep moving forward when you stop moving the weight, keeping the slack out of the leader for better strike detection. Second, hook the bait a little off center, keeping the weight of the bait a little more to one side than the other. The result is a bait that will glide off to one side or the other as opposed to falling vertically , allowing the bait to hunt off to one side as much as 2-3 feet depending on leader length.
Try using this rig around deep water humps, main lake points, fast breaking shorelines , deep water flats and any transition areas you may find around these areas I have listed. This rig will work all season long, from post spawn to ice up. I have personally caught smallies on this rig in water down to 40F. All you have to do is find the fish? Easy right? This is where the importance of owning good electronics and knowing how to use them comes in. When searching these deep water areas, be sure to cover every inch of the structure with your sonar, making passes at different angles to be sure you aren't missing any important features such as ledges, or maybe a cut or bend in the structure fish may use as a means of moving from deep to shallow water and vise versa. More often than not you'll also find that fish holding on these types of structure will hold to one small area of it, congregating together around the piece of structure as the day moves on. So be sure to take the extra time to really go over an area before moving on or you may spend more time riding around in the boat than fishing. Once you find one fish there will be more in the same area.
Now we all know the popularity of the tube jig, toss this bait out into the water and its slow tantalizing downward spiral drives fish and fisherman alike into an out right frenzy. What if I told you, you could pretty much get that same action with a wacky worm? For the second presentation you'll need a 6'6-7'0 med to med heavy action spinning outfit depending on application, a size 2 octopus style hook and your favorite bait for wacky rigging. A med action rod will work for most applications, but I'll often upgrade to a med heavy rod when fishing around cover such as docks, boat houses or heavily wooded shorelines.
Next we'll rig the bait the same way as method 3, in one side and out the other, but like the before mentioned presentation, we'll hook the bait just a little off center, keeping a little more weight on one side of the hook than the other. The bait, when thrown out on a slack line will start to glide off to one side as it starts to sink. Once the bait starts to run out of slack, the bait will turn and start to head back the direction it came from due to the weight forward style of rigging. More of a zigzag than a spiral really, but produces the same results. The best part of this presentation is rather than covering the 2'-3' feet you would soaking a tube jig, you now are covering up to 6' or 7' feet with the wacky worm. Quietly cast this rig up around a dock or boathouse and watch that worm glide right up under it. No more skipping, splashing or hitting the dock spooking fish. A good thing to know when the bass have seen every tube and jig in the country thrown at them. As already mentioned, I use this setup around shallow cover such as docks and trees, but is also effective in water of depths up to 15-20 feet, think deep weed edges, fast breaking shorelines and main lake points where fish can sometimes be positioned part way down the drop off or bass busting bait fish on the surface. This rig is so easy to use my two young sons use nothing else all season long. Try this presentation from the beginning of July through the end of September for best results. You may even want to hit the gym before you hit the water next bass season as fishing these two rigs often leads to sore heavy arms and great big grins as many have already found out. So there you have it. I've had a lot of fun with these two presentations the past couple of years. Given the chance I know you will too. Just a hook and plastic worm, yet so many possibilities .
Tight lines and Good luck.
Les Culp Jr.
Popular Colors: white , watermelon
Clear / silver flake , Black/red flake
Green pumpkin , Bubble gum.
Read articles like this and more in Canada's Tournament Angler News.
WWW.EXTREMEANGLERTV.COM
| Smallmouth Bass | Largemouth Bass | Pike | Musky | Walleye | Trout | incredible wacky rig |
| Return Home | Fishing | Area Lakes | The Great Outdoors | Successful Hunts | Gallery | About Us | Contact Info |
|
|
