Weight?

[Wurming67]

 Besides trying to get thru  heavier vegetation what is the advantage of using heavier weight on your soft plastic Texas rigged baits?Thanks!!

[Bluebasser86]

Reaction strikes, better feel in wind or deep water. 

[CroakHunter]

Keeping your bait on bottom. Rate of fall you're trying to achieve. 

[Wurming67]

I gotta use a little heavier weight than I like to get thru the vegetation ,but I wonder if the heavier weight on a faster fall will spook them,seems a slower fall gives them a longer look at it.

[Mobasser]

Its really a balance thing for me. I rarely punch heavy weights through vegetation. I still try and use the lightest weight I can. A SLOW fall has always worked best for me

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Wurming67 said:

seems a slower fall gives them a longer look at it.

 

Sometimes giving them them a longer look at it allows them time to pick up on negative clues given off by your lure or you.

 

[Brad in Texas]

I used to bank fish Squaw Creek Reservoir, a power plant lake in Texas, and I'd make long casts to try to get out in a creek channel in the middle of a particular cove. To make longer casts, I'd use a slightly heavier weight. Most of the time in early mornings, I'd catch several bass where the T-Rig would hit the water and they'd be on it before it fell more than a few feet. I'd say if there is a bass in the area, feeding aggressively and competing with other fish, they react so fast that they can grab a 3/8s oz. weighted T-Rig before it falls much more than 5 feet. 

 

Hungry bass are super fast. I often forget how fast . . . but we've all seen it when we release one off the side of a boat and watch it flip its tail and move away at torpedo speed: one second it is there, a split second later, gone out of sight like a ghost.

 

Not that bass can't be spooked, but for every case where they are, I see other situations, like schooling bass where they are actually "activated" or "energized" by splashes in the water. When I am paddling in my kayak or canoe, I am convinced that the schoolers working in the area hear me and get "competitive."

 

Brad

[thinkingredneck]

If you don't peg, the bait will flutter behind the weight at a somewhat slower speed.  I find I get better feel with a 1/4 - 3/8 oz wt.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Again, mainly river fish but my average weight on a t-rig is 1/2ounce

 

In current and around structure you gotta get that bait on bottom and in front a fish quick, plus you want just enough weight to keep the current from dragging your weight or you'll be tieing hooks all day.

 

I also like the fact in a lake or a pond with a heavier weight I can drag bottom and mentally get a good perspective about how the bottom looks along with structure.

 

Some people shy away from heavier weight but I prefer it. My heaviest bass came out if 8ft of water on a 1/2ounce pegged t-rig.