Wacky rig vs weightless Texas rig…..

[Billy - Curtiss]

I have always used a weightless Texas rig set up when fishing for bass. I plan on switching it up tomorrow. What are the merits of this technique compared to the other? Should I anticipate losing a greater amount of baits? Any insight would be grand!

[msp]

wacky rigs do work well but , yes you will lose lots of baits even with the o- ring. You have much less casting distance and it does not skip as well. I use 2 rods for senkos. One wacky and one texas. I save all my used up texas baits and put them on the wacky rig after.

[The Urban Fisherman]

What MSP said for the most part... except for the casting distance in my case. I fish it texas rigged on a baitcaster as the only time I'll fish it texas rigged in when I'm fishing it in heavy cover - ie: Lilly's, thicks weeds, trees etc... In this case I'm using heavy braid, usually tied direct to the hook and am usually targeting Largemouth. I'm also likely pitching at targets which is easier with a baitcaster.

 

Wacky style absolutely gives the bait more "wiggle". There isn't a stiff texas rigged hook going through the middle of hte bait so it wiggles from end to end... giving it an awesome lifelike action. This is pretty much impossible to fish around any sort of heavy cover, but I can get a lot more distance with my spinning rod, casting to far off rock breaks etc for smallmouth. I'll also cast along side weed beds, the edges of lily's, trees, or skip it up under docks and tree overhangs that don't don't have a lot of snags underneath.

 

If I can get away with it I'll always fish it wacky.... even if I'm going to lose more baits I'd rather that than to get less bites...

[Lape0019]

I wacky rig a lot and do lose a few more baits but I use worms that are designed for it so it isn't as bad as using ones like senko's that tend to split in have after a hard hit.

 

I use the powerteam lures sick sticks. They vibrate a lot and the scent brings the fish in. I also use a 1/16 to 1/8oz weighted wacky hooks to make the rig sink a little faster. It also helps when you twitch the bait as the two ends will almost touch each other and then go back to its natural state.

[The Urban Fisherman]

I wacky rig a lot and do lose a few more baits but I use worms that are designed for it so it isn't as bad as using ones like senko's that tend to split in have after a hard hit.

 

I use the powerteam lures sick sticks. They vibrate a lot and the scent brings the fish in. I also use a 1/16 to 1/8oz weighted wacky hooks to make the rig sink a little faster. It also helps when you twitch the bait as the two ends will almost touch each other and then go back to its natural state.

 

yeah the sick sticks fall to slow IMO to fish them weightless... good call on the weighted hooks.. Senkos, Bass Pro's Rip off version, and my favorites which are the berkley heavyweight worms all work great weightless... but if you want a quicker fall a weighted hook is a great idea

[OhioFisherman]

What others have said and confidence and equipment?

 

I liked to fish a soft plastic bait Texas style weightless in lily pads and wood, hard to do with a wacky style an exposed hook. Depending on the size of the bait used a 3/0 - 5/0 hook gave the lure a slow fall, more time in the strike zone?

 

Casting distance was never much of an issue for me, I usually fished out of a boat and always had an electric motor to sneak in closer. Also some specialized tackle, a closed face spinning reel on a flipping stick made for a spinning reel or 7 foot medium heavy action spinning rods that would handle bigger fish in cover. The reel I used would handle 17-20 pound mono very well and it allowed me to flip-pitch-or cast light weight baits easily.

 

There were enough moving parts on a 6-8 inch lizard that I wasn't too concerned about the loss of action from the hook.

[Tim Mills]

good thread, very informative,

 

FYI- SAIL has some cheap senko style plastics in bargain bins for $1.49,

[musky_hunter]

Angler's Choice Wart Hawg - best stickbait i've used.

[The Urban Fisherman]

Angler's Choice Wart Hawg - best stickbait i've used.

 

haven't had a chance yet to try it but htey make some awesome baits!!!!!

[d_paluch]

Angler's Choice Wart Hawg - best stickbait i've used.

 

 

 

haven't had a chance yet to try it but htey make some awesome baits!!!!!

 

Love the wart hawgs as well. There's a pic of a simcoe largie that I caught on their product page! Purple flake and baby bass are my go-to's

 

 

Speaking of, hope to be throwing some wart hawgs under docks on cooks bay this coming weekend

Edited August 1, 2014 by d_paluch

[adempsey]

Couple of wacky rig tips:

 

1) Stick a finishing nail in one end to alter the action;

2) Attach a split shot to the hook for weight instead of buying expensive wacky jigs;

3) Cut a tube jig to make your own O-rings (B below)

 

[BassHunterOttawa]

good thread, very informative,

 

FYI- SAIL has some cheap senko style plastics in bargain bins for $1.49,

 

Agreed. I was wading in 2 feet of water earlier this year - fishing lures like I do - and caught some old line. At the end of it, wedged between some rocks was a wacky rig. Until I came across this thread, I thought it was just from some nutter who hadn't a clue what he was doing. Turns out, I'm the one without a clue! What kind of results to the soft plastics get you? Are they really worth it? I'm a way bigger fan of lures/topwater if and when possible - otherwise I'll use live bait (ie worms).

[Lape0019]

I throw a mixed bag if jigs, top water, spnnierbait/buzzbaits and soft plastic tubes and worms. The wacky rig was almost exclusively what I used last year and had many 10-20 fish outings in 3-4 hours on the water (2 people fishing). It flat out works and does so especially well when nothing else is.

[Oryx]

Wacky works....recently went to Georgian Bay. Hammered the smallies.

I would post pics, but have no idea how to shrink pics on an ipad

[Billy - Curtiss]

Thanks for all of the excellent tips folks. Much appreciated!

[singingdog]

You can get a lot of fish on one senko if you use shrink wrap tubing instead of o-rings. Put the hook through the shrink wrap tubing, not under it. I have landed over a dozen big smallies on one senko rigged like this.

 

2 hooks that will allow you to wacky rig in fairly heavy cover, an still hook-up well are the Gammy weedless finesse hook an the Northland weighted wacky hook The Northland hook is one of my faves.

[OhioFisherman]

 

Agreed. I was wading in 2 feet of water earlier this year - fishing lures like I do - and caught some old line. At the end of it, wedged between some rocks was a wacky rig. Until I came across this thread, I thought it was just from some nutter who hadn't a clue what he was doing. Turns out, I'm the one without a clue! What kind of results to the soft plastics get you? Are they really worth it? I'm a way bigger fan of lures/topwater if and when possible - otherwise I'll use live bait (ie worms).

Consider soft plastics tools, you don't want to leave them at home if you have a job to do. The water exploding when a fish hits a top water lure is cool, but it's not always the best way to fish an area? I have caught far more bass fishing soft plastic lures, even at night.

 

I have never noticed a bass having any difficulty finding a 4 inch plastic worm on a pitch black night, they even seem to find them with the rain hitting the water.

 

 

I have had many 60 plus bass days fishing soft plastics with a partner, and some days nothing seems to work real well, that is when you try to make each bite count, it may be your last.

[fishindevil]

. Yes same way I always do it wacky rig weedless hook !!!! Pretty simple & deadly all the time sometimes weight the hook sometimes don't or just use a 1/8oz jig head and the little rubber 0 ring all the time !!!!

[singingdog]

Here is the shrink wrap rig. This one is on a jighead, but it works just as well weightless. I find that the shrink wrap lasts 4-5x longer than an oring.

[aero_ball]

Apparently I'm not the only one using heat shrink tubing for wacky rigging! Good to know!

 

Sometimes I don't shrink the tubing all the way and leave it just a little loose, that way it's possible to slip on a new senko without much effort. Especially good when trying to dial in on color choices.

 

I prefer it over O-Rings (I do use both setups though) because it fishes the wacky worm horizontally when using a weighted hook. Using an O-Ring turns the rig 90 degrees. I don't have stats to back it up but I just feel that it fishes more naturally this way.

[Bernie66]

I am interested in trying the shrink wrap tubings. Where can I get some?

[OhioFisherman]

Any electric supply outlet and even home depot or similar places should have heat shrink tubing.

[Paudash]

best read we have had in a while, please keep it going

[Tonkpils]

I have been having some success with the weightless Texas rig, however I am loosing a senko every fish. Any advice to avoid this?

[singingdog]

I have been having some success with the weightless Texas rig, however I am loosing a senko every fish. Any advice to avoid this?

Switch to a wacky-rig with shrink-wrap. You can get 10 or more fish/senko.