Love and Hate Rocks

[JRez]

Few days ago I was getting owned fishing. Not even a single bite. I was dropping all the cranks I had and bouncing them off rocks etc. I almost gave up, but gave it one more shot with a carolina rig. I didn't have any slip weights so I just used a drop shot weight haha. I reversed the bad day to a good day. Almost a fish every cast. I decided to go get some some Tungsten weights to have an even better set up; however, I literally lost them all haha. I got them snagged on rocks like crazy. I still can't believe my braid broke so easily. There must of been a razor sharp rock edge. They felt great and I can see why people love them. After getting owned though, my eyes opened and realized the price point is pretty high and they might be a jinx. I'm still on the fence about them. 

[JustJames]

Why Carolina rig on rock when you can go streght to drop shot rig? That way you have just your weight lay on top off rocks not your braid.

[scaleface]

About the only time I peg a Texas rig is when I'm fishing rip rap . Then I make sure the bait is wider than the weight . 

[JRez]

44 minutes ago, JustJames said:

Why Carolina rig on rock when you can go streght to drop shot rig? That way you have just your weight lay on top off rocks not your braid.

Well I was pretty much feeling defeated. Not to mention is was hot as hell. I usually drop shot with a fluoro leader so I got lazy and didn't want to do my regular line to line knot, tie on my hook, and clip weight. I already had a pre-made leader with an offset worm hook. Just clipped my weight, quickly tied a swivel and clipped my leader. It was fugazi, but it worked that day. Been awhile since I used a swivel. 

[Cgolf]

I fish a lot of rock and to compound the issue it is on a swift section of river. The best way to fish it is tossing lures you know you could lose on the next cast, because it is a 50/50 probability you will. 

 

Generally I am lucky if I can get 10 fish on a Crankbait before I lose it. I just try to find a diving depth for cranks and weight for plastics that will polish the rocks, but not wedge in the rocks. Even then I still go through a lot of jigs and cranks. 

 

You just have to have the mindset that you are fishing throw away baits. For me that is cheaper plastics and cranks. I like the Bandit 100 a lot and have found enough on deal to have a solid stock pile affording me to lose a few. For others that may mean LCs and Megabass.

 

to fish them right you need to hit them, some of my hardest hits have come right after I have popped a lure of a snag. Don't give up they can be money especially if you have current over them as well 

[NHBull]

If your loosing CB, look to buy more boyant baits, and they are usually cheaper.

Also, you may want to choose a deeper diving bait, you real it is slower and often loose less because of the size of the bill and how it passes through the water.

Today I used a 15' in 10 ' and it ran like a champ

[scaleface]

Keep the weight smaller than the plastic and peg it . The plastic becomes wedged  not the weight . Because the plastic compresses it  can usually be pulled through . Tubes are real good at this .I lost  a hundred or so rigs before figuring this out .

[JRez]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Keep the weight smaller than the plastic and peg it .

You using tungsteon? Sucks losing them, but it's all part of the game.

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, JRez said:

You using tungsteon? Sucks losing them, but it's all part of the game.

Ive never used a tungsten weight . to expensive .

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Keep the weight smaller than the plastic and peg it . The plastic becomes wedged  not the weight . Because the plastic compresses it  can usually be pulled through . Tubes are real good at this .I lost  a hundred or so rigs before figuring this out .

 

I use slider spider heads on everything except Ned rigs and see similar results. So far they are the most snag free rig I have found, think it ends up being a similar case to what you are describing depending on the bait I am tossing. 

 

Have tried the stupid rigged tube and that seemed to work well, so maybe an internally weighted tube would work too since rock and weeds don't generally mix.

[scaleface]

9 minutes ago, cgolf said:

I use slider spider heads on everything except Ned rigs and see similar results. So far they are the most snag free rig I have found, think it ends up being a similar case to what you are describing depending on the bait I am tossing. 

 

Have you tried the belly  weighted hooks ? I havent but think they should work well .

[bigbill]

Rocks lol.  On rocky areas I use a jig n pig. On Rocks I use a spinnerbaits. A one split shot rig works too. A 24" Carolina rig with a 1/8 oz bullet weight with a senko or brushog. I may drop a non weighted worm in there too.

[Dorado]

Good suggestions so far.  When I fish riprap areas, I'm a fan of throwing finesse soft plastics (crappie Jigs, Gulp Alive minnows, tubes) on slip bobber rigs. When you know the average depth, you can adjust your bobber stop accordingly to hover over snags. 

[JRez]

51 minutes ago, cgolf said:

 

I use slider spider heads on everything except Ned rigs and see similar results. So far they are the most snag free rig I have found, think it ends up being a similar case to what you are describing depending on the bait I am tossing. 

 

Have tried the stupid rigged tube and that seemed to work well, so maybe an internally weighted tube would work too since rock and weeds don't generally mix.

Haha I've seen those rigged tube. Interesting how so much stuff can work. I swear the cheapest, basic stuff produces more for me. Soon as I get fancy, problems occur.

 

13 minutes ago, bigbill said:

On rocky areas I use a jig n pig

Yea I need to get one of those.