Wacky Rig AGAIN

[BadContrakt]

Decided to head out for 3-4 hours this morning for some casual pre-work fishing on a lake I've never been to before.

 

I live in Minnesota so I'm blessed with the ability to visit tons of new lakes every season. It would take a long time to cover them all!

However, along with that blessing comes a curse. Small Bass. My PB is 4lb 11oz and that's a seriously seriously quality fish for Central Minnesota.

Got to the lake and, of course, it's filled with carp like all the lakes in the St. Cloud area. I find that if there are carp in a bay, the bite is tough in that bay. Does anyone have any experience fishing carp-heavy lakes? Please let me know your findings or techniques for those lakes!

Anyway. It was a successful 3.5 hours because I caught a lot of really healthy really quality bass. Tried a few baits but the only thing they wanted was a wacky worm. Water temp was 72.9 degrees with overcast and windy/sprinkling rain conditions. I stayed in 3 foot or less of water, fished the wacky rig along docks and reeds and smoked 'em this morning! Oh and I got a respectable (ballsy) Sunny to grab my worm as well. He nailed it like a bass.

I'm finding that the only way to catch bass in Central Minnesota where the lakes are pressured SUPER HARD every day is with the wacky rig. Seriously. It's the only set-up I can reliably catch fish on.

Disclaimer: These were all taken with my front-facing camera. I was solo this morning and had no cameraman. Sorry the pics are sideways, but for some reason the internet wants to register them this way. 

[Evan K]

Wacky rig gets em every time. My fishing buddies and I joke that we're sponsored by it.

[IgotWood]

That's a nice day of fishing! I am a wacky rigger too. I may just get rid of all my gear and invest the money into Senkos and wacky hooks

[davecon]

Have you ever tried the magnum trick worm (I think that's what they call it) ?

Seems to catch larger bass, not that the ones pictured are dinks.

Talked to Doug Hannon on several occasion , we lived within 40 miles of each other, and with all the big bass he caught on artificials, a straight tailed 8 inch worm on a 1/16th slip sinker Texas rigged was the most productive.

I use that setup often. I don't understand why it works but it really does.

[buzzed bait]

all nice looking fish there man!

[BadContrakt]

On 7/15/2016 at 7:10 PM, IgotWood said:

That's a nice day of fishing! I am a wacky rigger too. I may just get rid of all my gear and invest the money into Senkos and wacky hooks

Yeah seriously lol.

On 7/15/2016 at 9:06 PM, davecon said:

Have you ever tried the magnum trick worm (I think that's what they call it) ?

Seems to catch larger bass, not that the ones pictured are dinks.

Talked to Doug Hannon on several occasion , we lived within 40 miles of each other, and with all the big bass he caught on artificials, a straight tailed 8 inch worm on a 1/16th slip sinker Texas rigged was the most productive.

I use that setup often. I don't understand why it works but it really does.

I actually have some 10 inchers that are a bit thicker and heavier that I use for Carolina rigs. I could maybe try those. Would definitely weed out some of the 6 ounce bass lol!

On 7/18/2016 at 10:06 AM, buzzed bait said:

all nice looking fish there man!

Thanks! This year I'm never returning to the same lake twice (unless it's large) and I'm scoping out the land of 10,000 lakes. This will definitely be a lake I'll return to next year.

[Fishin' Fool]

Those are quality fish. If they want it wacky rigged give it to them wacky rigged. If you come out and fish in April or October I guarantee wacky rig won't be what they want. I live in Michigan so our weather is comparable