Texas Rigged Plastics in wood

[ajschn06]

What's my best option for rigging plastics and throwing into wooded areas?  Bullet Weight (pegged or screwed)?  Fixed head (I've been using the VMC Ike Rugby head, not sure if there are other/better options)? Standard jighead with a weed/brush guard?

[Dens228]

I peg the weight and bury the hook in the plastic I'm using.  

If there's a lot of wood I tend to go with a jig,,,,,it seems to get through and around much easier than a pegged weight t-rig for me. 

[scaleface]

If its brush piles or fallen trees with a lot  of small limbs I peg . If its older wood with mostly large limbs I dont peg . If I'm encountering both , I just go ahead and peg . If using a bobber stop , the bead can be moved up a few inches for an unpegged worm . Just dont move it up so far that it gets past the tip eye or  you will be casting and wondering what that little catch was .

[jbsoonerfan]

Well, I fish a TON of wood. The lake I fish is covered in it so I have a little bit of experience. Here is what I have found. If you are going to fish a texas rigged soft plastic with a bullet weight you need to use the smallest weight you can get away with to get you into the cover. Sometimes for me this is 1/8 up to 3/4 depending on the wind, depth of water, etc. I ALWAYS peg my weights and put the hook into the bait without exposing the point. The smaller the weight the less likely to get "caught" on something. IMO the most important thing to fishing wood is your line. Braid just loves to get down into the "bark" of old timber whereas mono or fluoro tend to not be as bad. I have bumped up to 18lb Sniper for fishing a soft plastic or jig in cover as it really shines for me. As far as a jig vs a texas rigged soft plastic. For me, it's all about the profile and what I think the fish want. I ALWAYS have 2 jig rods set up and 4 texas rig rods set up ready to go. All with different weights and I can just try a few till I find what is working (sometimes it's nothing LOL).

[scaleface]

7 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Sometimes for me this is 1/8 up to 3/4

I have a hard time using a light weight because I cant pitch them adequately unless I make up for it with a heavier worm . 90 percent of the time I have a 1/4 ounce on just so I can present it  satisfactorily .

[the reel ess]

I like the Gamakatsu EWG superline hooks for this. The regular flipping hooks will eventually expose the point. But the light wire hooks can bend out enough to let big fish off. The regular flipping hooks are better in grass, but they'll catch on wood. I like a pegged bullet weight using a bobber stop. High dollar weights are not necessary. If you put a bead between your weight and hook it will add a little rattle.

 

You can put that craw on a plain weedguard jighead. Fish will eat it up and you'll probably get more bites due to the smaller profile. I've caught big fish doing that.

[jbsoonerfan]

18 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have a hard time using a light weight because I cant pitch them adequately unless I make up for it with a heavier worm . 90 percent of the time I have a 1/4 ounce on just so I can present it  satisfactorily .

I should have mentioned that. I will only use a 1/8 oz if I am throwing a 5 or 6 inch senko or a big 11 or 12 inch worm. I want the weight of the bait to make up for the weight of the weight lol

[Catt]

Weight: Rate Of Fall ?

 

If you're fishing a Texas Rig or Jig-n-Craw ROF is essential to getting the most bites...ever heard of reaction strikes!

 

Hook style...dealer's choice!

 

Pegged or unpegged...I do both!

[Todd2]

I've found myself leaning toward a pegged Trig over the jig the last year or so. I still have a jig tied on, but the Trig gets the lions share of my time in the brush. I think I get more bites.

[ajschn06]

10 hours ago, the reel ess said:

You can put that craw on a plain weedguard jighead.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to doing something like that when you're comparing it to a texas rig?  Something weird like they spit out a jighead faster because they can feel the weed guard.... 

[the reel ess]

34 minutes ago, ajschn06 said:

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to doing something like that when you're comparing it to a texas rig?  Something weird like they spit out a jighead faster because they can feel the weed guard.... 

Nah, they'll bite it and swim around all day with it. I usually use a 1/2 oz jig and notice a good many bites because the jig starts swimming off sideways. The jig is easier to skip under obstructions. I fish a lot of overhanging limbs and the jig can get back 10 or more feet under them. I do feel you get more bites on the retrieve with the T-rig. Usually, if they don't bite the jig on the initial drop into heavy cover, that cast is over. The T-rig is more weedless than the jig. But lighter jigs are more weedless than heavier ones.

[papajoe222]

I keep my decision simple. Worms and tubes get T-rigged and peg the sinker. Craws and beavers go on a skirted jig, or weighted hook. Creature baits are a toss-up, so I decide based on how fat the body is. 

[GReb]

I’m not a fan of pegging around wood. If I need a fixed weight I’ll throw a jig 90% of the time.  Otherwise I throw as light of weight as possible and slowly pull the worm through the brush. Typically I will let the weight fall over the cover a second or two before pulling the plastic over. It slows the fall and keeps the bait in the strike zone longer. 
 

Also I prefer shorter plastics around wood. Typically I go with a creature/craw style bait

[Bluebasser86]

I like a pegged weight for fishing wood. If it's really thick, I switch to a slither rig.

[Fishes in trees]

Most of the time I'm fishing wood I'm throwing a 10" power worm, (more often than not blue fleck)  5/0 hook with either a 5/16 or 3/8 ounce tungsten - 17 or 20 lb Seagaur Abrazx.  I start out with it pegged but after multiple casts the peg tends to move up the line some, not an issue until it gets too far up the line  then you reset.   Vast majority of the strikes come on the initial fall, but I fish clear-ish water most of the time, so I might hop it or dead stick it for a few moments when the bait reaches the bottom.  I'm more likely to dead stick it if I think that the bait landed pretty close to the exposed root wad at the base of the tree.

 

I also carry an assortment of  6" stick worms and 7 or 8 inch paddle tail worms for when I think that the fish are in the trees but for some reason they don't want the power worm.  This year, I haven't gotten into that bag very often.

 

In the distant past, my favorite wood soft plastic was a Berkley powerbait Pulse worm in the 6" size.   They have been discontinued for a while now and over the years I'm close to out of my favorite colors, so they ain't really an option any more.

[ajschn06]

6 hours ago, Fishes in trees said:

Most of the time I'm fishing wood I'm throwing a 10" power worm, (more often than not blue fleck)  5/0 hook with either a 5/16 or 3/8 ounce tungsten - 17 or 20 lb Seagaur Abrazx.  I start out with it pegged but after multiple casts the peg tends to move up the line some, not an issue until it gets too far up the line  then you reset.   Vast majority of the strikes come on the initial fall, but I fish clear-ish water most of the time, so I might hop it or dead stick it for a few moments when the bait reaches the bottom.  I'm more likely to dead stick it if I think that the bait landed pretty close to the exposed root wad at the base of the tree.

 

I also carry an assortment of  6" stick worms and 7 or 8 inch paddle tail worms for when I think that the fish are in the trees but for some reason they don't want the power worm.  This year, I haven't gotten into that bag very often.

 

In the distant past, my favorite wood soft plastic was a Berkley powerbait Pulse worm in the 6" size.   They have been discontinued for a while now and over the years I'm close to out of my favorite colors, so they ain't really an option any more.

Welp- I suppose you’d be the one to listen to on the topic!