Carolina rigs
Thread an egg or bullet sinker and glass or plastic bead (clacker with another bead optional) on the main line. Tie on a swivel. Attach a 12-to 20-pound fluorocarbon leader, measuring 18 to 36 inches for casting, four to eight feet for drifting. Texas rig a crayfish, craw, worm, or swimbait on a wide gap #2/0 to 4/0 offset or wide-gap worm hook.
How to fish it: Along bottom using a slow, steady retrieve or a drag-pause cadence. Drift while steadily dragging rig along bottom.
Where: Mid to deep water. Hard rock to soft bottom transitions, ledges, flats, points, current breaks in rivers.
When: Mid-summer to late fall.
Damiki (moping) rigs
Rig a fluke or a plastic minnow on a realistic, balanced jig head. Keep knot in centre of hook eye or slide forward to ensure a horizontal presentation.
How to fish it: Position boat over bass, then hang minnow several feet above fish. Keep bait still. If needed, use light quivers and slow, short raises to trigger fish.
Where: Deep offshore flats and mid-lake structures attracting smelt, shad, other baitfish, and, in turn, bass.
When: Mid-summer to late fall.
Ned rigs
Thread a 2.5- to four-inch stickbait on a mushroom-shaped jig head between 1/16 to 1/4 ounces, using the lightest weight possible. Finesse creatures, craws, and minnows also work.
How to fish it:
Swim it suspended through the water by reeling slowly or using a shake-fall-glide retrieve. Along bottom with drag-pause or reel-glide-fall sequence.
Where: Open-water areas, sparse vegetation, outer edges of thicker cover, shoreline points, drop-off ledges. Deeper structure in conjunction with heavier jig.
When: Anytime you need to finesse bass or want to catch numbers of fish.
Free rigs
buoyant plastics to see what fish prefer.
Thread a bell sinker on your mainline, anywhere from 1/8 to 1/2 ounce, depending on depth and whether going for a finesse or power fishing presentation. Tie on a worm hook and Texas rig a minnow, worm, creature — whatever you like.
How to fish it: Cast and let rig fall on slack line to encourage sinker to separate from bait. Slowly drag rig along bottom, add pauses.
Where: Flats, weed edges, points, beside brush, and other places you’d use a drop-shot, Carolina, or Texas rig.
When: Clear water, cold fronts, pressured fish. Times when you want to show bass something unique.
Tiny child (weedless Ned) rig
Insert a 3/32- to 1/4-ounce nail weight into the tail of a three-to four-inch finesse stickbait. Texas-rig worm at its nose (i.e., opposite the weight) on a size #2 to 1/0 finesse worm hook or Neko-rigging hook.
How to fish it: Hop, drag, and shake along lakebed. A large lift followed with slack line can make rig glide backwards and slide into cover.
Where: Logjams, timber piles, grass flats, weed lines, cabbage clumps, points, ledges, docks.
When to fish it: When you need to get a downsized finesse bait in and out of cover without snags. Scenarios requiring a long-casting finesse bait.
Double fluke (donkey) rigs
Use a heavier bait like a Strike King Caffeine Shad on the longer leader and a lighter fluke on the shorter one. This lets baits run at slightly different depths.
Tie a 12- to 15-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon leader to a ball bearing swivel and a #3/0 to 4/0 extra-wide worm hook. Make its total length around 14 inches and thread its swivel onto 15- to 30-pound braided main line. Make another leader 18 to 24 inches long and tie its swivel directly to braid. Texas rig a four- to five-inch soft jerkbait on each hook.
How to fish it: Just like a single jerkbait, imparting several slack line twitches before a pause to portray fleeing baitfish.
Where: Effective from shallow flats to mid-lake basins, this rig produces anytime bass are feeding high in the water column.
When: Great for covering water and triggering reaction strikes. Excellent when bass are schooling and/or feeding on baitfish.
Drop-shot rig
Tie a #1 to 2/0 drop-shot hook to six- to eight-pound fluorocarbon using a Palomar knot. Leave a six- to 24-inch tag end, making an overhand knot at the bottom and then clipping on a drop-shot weight suitable for the depth. Nose-hook a three- to four-inch minnow, or other finesse plastic.
How to fish it: Vertically over deep structure, lightly shake line to impart slight movements to bait. Cast to high-percentage spots, then shake and pull the rig along bottom. Don’t overwork it.
Where: Deep offshore structure, points, flats, sparse weed lines, drop-off ledges, river channels.
When: Scenarios involving neutral to inactive bass in clear water. Excellent sight-fishing option for smallmouth.
Texas rig
Thread a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce worm weight onto main line, tie on a #3/0 to 5/0 worm hook. Thread hook through nose of a worm, crayfish, creature, tube, or other plastic. Insert hook point back through body of the bait as shown.
How to fish it: Pitch into cover to dissect spots, or fan cast to work open water areas. Lift rig up a couple inches to foot off bottom, let it fall. Drag, hop, and shake along bottom. Pause.
Where: Shorelines, weedbeds, weedlines, beneath floating mats, sunken timber, laydowns, docks, flats with sand and grass, points, etc.
When: Effective whenever bass are relating to bottom or tucked into cover. It’s very versatile.
Punching rig
Slide one or two sinker stops on 50- to 65-pound braid, followed by a 3/4-ounce (or more) tungsten bullet or punching weight, and a punch skirt (optional). Tie on straight shank, heavy-duty #3/0 or 5/0 hook, and Texas-rig a 3.5- to 4.5-inch punching craw.
How to fish it: Make an underhand cast but stop the casting reel’s spool above the target to stall the rig in mid-air to make it fall vertically, and weight first, into the cover. Raise and lower the rod tip to yo-yo the bait up and down, and/or shake the rig a few times.
Where: Slop, thick mat, cut-weed blown against lily pads, bullrushes, undercuts, docks, coontail and other thick vegetation folded over on the surface.
When: Whenever largemouth are relating to heavy vegetation cover. Bright, high-sun conditions when bass hold tight to cover.
Tokyo rig
Thread bait onto store-bought Tokyo rig as shown. Thread a tungsten bullet or punching weight onto the rig’s dropper wire, then bend the wire to prevent the sinker from sliding off. Tie rig to main line.
How to fish it: Pitch rig into cover, let it get to bottom, shake lightly. Work along bottom and out of cover, if possible. Otherwise reel in and pitch to next target. Cast open areas, using drag-pause or reeling to work it along bottom to cover water.
Where: Similar scenarios as Texas and punching rigs — points, deeper flats, offshore structures.
When: When bass are bottom oriented. As an alternative to traditional rigs, or when difficult to penetrate cover with Texas rig.
Neko rig
Neko-specific hooks are worthwhile and available in weedless versions.
Insert a nail weight or mushroom style nose weight into one end of a five- to seven-inch worm (crawfish and small creature baits also work). Position an O-ring/band at bait’s centre, thread a #1, 2, or 1/0 hook underneath, point facing upwards.
How to fish it: Semi-slack line on the fall keeps worm straight so it drops quickly. Drag and hop along bottom, adding light shakes and pauses. Twitching rod to lift bait off floor, then letting fall on semi-slack line makes worm reverse-fall back to bottom.
Where: Shorelines, inside and outside weedlines, lanes in weedbeds, docks, rock piles, rip-rap, drop-off ledges, bottom transitions.
When: All season long. Excellent drop- shot, shaky head, and wacky rig alternative.
Shaky-head rig
Weedless rig a 4.5- to seven-inch straight tail worm on a specialty shaky-head jig, typically 1/8 to 1/4 ounces. Go heavier for a power-fishing slant. Craws and creature baits can also be used.
How to fish it: Drag, shake, and pause rig along bottom. Jiggle semi-slack line to give bait action without pulling rig forward teases strikes from onlookers.
Where: Sparse grass, weedlines and adjacent open water, shell beds and rock strips on flats, ledges, points, rocky reefs, humps, docks, laydowns.
When: Anytime conditions require finesse, but especially good during August and September doldrums, and cold fronts.
Wacky rigs
For maximum longevity, slide an O-ring (or band) onto a four- to seven-inch stickbait. Thread a wacky or Neko style hook behind the ring.
How to fish it: Cast and let rig fall without tension on the line to encourage quivering action. Lift anywhere from a foot to four feet off bottom, then let fall again. Repeat as needed to work a specific area, then reel in and cast again.
Where: Specific targets (e.g., rock pile, pencil reed patch on sand flat, cabbage clumps, rocky points, outside bends along a weedline, inside weedlines). Excellent mop-up option following a bass feeding frenzy on schooling baitfish. Effective skipped under docks, laydowns, or other shallow cover.
When: For hitting specific spots — not recommended for covering water. Bass are triggered by the slow falling bait.
Split-shot rigs
Using six- to eight-pound fluorocarbon leader, Texas-rig a three- to four-inch finesse worm or creature bait on #1 or 1/0 worm hook, or a grub threaded on an Aberdeen hook. Crimp a split shot 18 to 24 inches up the line.
How to fish it: Reel slowly with sinker tapping bottom or use a drag-pause retrieve (think micro/finesse Carolina rig).
Where: Flats, sand bars, points, bottom transitions, snag-friendly shorelines.
When: Finesse scenarios. To show bass something different due to horizontal movement of bait hovering just off bottom. Killer on flat, calm, high pressure, sunny days.
Originally published in the July 2023 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS
Leave A Comment