Question about using wacky rig in deeper water

[Esox pro]

I was wondering if when using a wacky rig in deeper water if i need to keep the bail open and let line out or if i can just close it as soon as it hits the water like normal. Sorry if this is a stupid question but im just curious as i have gotten fish in deeper water but at that time i was just letting sit at the bottom like live bait and now i cast it and watch slack to see if fish starts running with it

[BrianMDTX]

If you close the bail ASAP, the bait is going to glide towards the rod vs sinking straight down. 

[Esox pro]

Because i was fishing in eel bay last year and if i kept the bail open the back current got it and if I didn’t it didn’t seem like it was getting to he bottom of course I wasn’t using fluorocarbon then like i am now

Also i dont know if larger bass have the same feeding behavior as larger pike but since they both like cooler more oxygenated water are bass going to be lazy and perfer a deadsticked senko because  larger pike are lazy and perfer dead bait or if the twitching will work for the larger fish or if that just gets the smaller fish and should just reel in

[Captain Phil]

A wacky rig works best in shallow water. It's killer on bedding fish.  If you are going to fish in deep water, try fishing a Mojo Rig.  I fish a Mojo with 8 pound mono and a 1/4 oz. Mojo weight.   It's a finesse tactic that has won a lot of tournaments for me.  I like Zoom Trick worms for this type of fishing.  If the bite is tough, I will go to a 4" Zoom Finesse worm.  This rig works especially well if the lake bottom is covered with short grass.  

[Talio]

Weighted whacky hooks or split shot.  Split shot I think works better because you can vary the weight easier and the distance between it and the bait to give it a different action.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Weighted_Wacky_Hooks/catpage-WTWACKYHK.html

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Water_Gremlin_Bull_Shot_Bullet_Split_Shots/descpage-WGBSBSS.html

 

Edit:

Or a drop shot, if you're nasty!

 

Either way, the answer is weight or....patience.

[galyonj]

Near as I can tell…it depends.

 

I have better results fishing this rig weighted than I do weightless, especially in current like I was fishing Saturday. 

 

If you don't know how deep you're fishing, or you don't know where the fish are (in terms of both depth and relation to you and where the lure hit the water), just leave the bail open until the line stops coming off, then reel up your slack and start popping it back to you.

 

 

[Ian Collins]

Most times I will let some extra line out when it hits the water (like raise the rod tip all the way up to 12 o'clock) then close the bail and sort of "follow" the bait down to the bottom on a barely slack line. There are times though where if I know the fish are on the bottom I will just open the bail and let some extra line out and let it fall to the bottom on completely slack line. If you are fishing a sloping bank, like casting into 2 feet of water but sitting in 15 feet of water, then closing the bail when it hits the water may not be a bad idea. When you do that the bait glides back the boat, like a pendulum swing, where the closer to the boat it gets the deeper it falls. Hope this helps!

[Finessegenics]

Try fishing it on the back of a Carolina rig. Use a long mono leader to get the most out of the bait. It’s not going to be the same look as the standard WR but it might work.

[Catt]

Make no mistake about it a Wacky Rig is an extremely deadly technique in 12-18' of water.

 

I throw two setups

 

The first comprises  of a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse Hook Weedless 1/0, a nail weight in the nose, & plastic of your choice. I like Bass Assassin's Tapout Worm, it thicker than a Trick Worm giving me additional weight for longer cast.

 

The second comprises of a weightless Texas Rigged straight tail worm & this time the nail weight is added to the tail giving me a horizontal fall.

 

As to your original question, with any bottom contact technique in deeper water I'll make a long cast, strip 2-3 arms length of line allowing it to fall vertically.

[Esox pro]

2 hours ago, Talio said:

Weighted whacky hooks or split shot.  Split shot I think works better because you can vary the weight easier and the distance between it and the bait to give it a different action.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Weighted_Wacky_Hooks/catpage-WTWACKYHK.html

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Water_Gremlin_Bull_Shot_Bullet_Split_Shots/descpage-WGBSBSS.html

 

Edit:

Or a drop shot, if you're nasty!

 

Either way, the answer is weight or....patience.

Will be adding weight with jighead

2 minutes ago, Esox pro said:

Will be adding weight with jighead

Curious if i need to keep bail open to let out more line in deeper water  or if i can close like normal

15 minutes ago, Catt said:

Make no mistake about it a Wacky Rig is an extremely deadly technique in 12-18' of water.

 

I throw two setups

 

The first comprises  of a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse Hook Weedless 1/0, a nail weight in the nose, & plastic of your choice. I like Bass Assassin's Tapout Worm, it thicker than a Trick Worm giving me additional weight for longer cast.

 

The second comprises of a weightless Texas Rigged straight tail worm & this time the nail weight is added to the tail giving me a horizontal fall.

 

As to your original question, with any bottom contact technique in deeper water I'll make a long cast, strip 2-3 arms length of line allowing it to fall vertically.

Actually did that when i got a tangle and got a fish just ive also had a smallmouth follow my senko to surface from 60ft of water So i dont want to risk gut hooking

As for a dropshot because of what color senko im using it wouldn’t look right

basically figured out using a specific senko color wacky rigged in deepwater for big smallmouth trying to hide details

[Talio]

I like to just cast till it hits the water, leave my bail opened, pull a bunch of line out by reaching my rod tip over my head and then letting it fall that way.  You can just leave the bail open as well, but I personally find it harder to detect strikes.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, Esox pro said:

Curious if i need to keep bail open to let out more line in deeper water  or if i can close like normal

If you want it to drop straight down...leave the bail open for a bit. Closing the bail too early will create a pendulum effect...it'll swing towards you as it drops.

[Esox pro]

10 minutes ago, Talio said:

I like to just cast till it hits the water, leave my bail opened, pull a bunch of line out by reaching my rod tip over my head and then letting it fall that way.  You can just leave the bail open as well, but I personally find it harder to detect strikes.

Only concern 

Say im using a 1oz jig

Also idk but i see other guys fish it their line stays straight while mine comes off it looks like curly fries

[MN Fisher]

14 minutes ago, Esox pro said:

Only concern 

Say im using a 1oz jig

Also idk but i see other guys fish it their line stays straight while mine comes off it looks like curly fries

Are you using this? I use it on all my non-braid line and it really helps the curl-factor.

[Esox pro]

No it doesn’t tangle but there is no tension at all 

Completely slack 

Of course it’s supposed to sink when slack

[Dens228]

Keep the bail open and watch your line.

When using a jig up against steep drops on bluff faces and such with a baitcaster I'll often cast up against the bluff and then peel line off the spool so the jig drops straight down rather than pendulum back towards me.   Same principle. 

[Talio]

1 hour ago, Esox pro said:

Only concern 

Say im using a 1oz jig

Also idk but i see other guys fish it their line stays straight while mine comes off it looks like curly fries

1oz jig is a whole other thing.  That's punching weight, so normally you're like pitching that with a vengeance to try to bust through a weed mat.

 

I'm assuming if you're having that effect you're using a spin rod.  When you get all that coil coming off, you probably tried to cast the lure way too hard and too far.  That means that slightly more line has come off the reel than the distance you cast.  In that case, just close the bail and it should fall naturally.  You can mitigate this by either using your index finger of your casting hand to feather the line as it comes off the reel or you can use the thumb on your opposite hand.  Either way, on any spin cast, you want to control the line coming off the reel the same way you would with your thumb on a casting rod.  It's tricky, but you can do it.

 

Edit:  In general, I feel like a good rule of thumb is to keep spin casts within 50' of you.  I consider it to be a short distance presentation.  Casting rods do a much better job at casting lures a long distance and managing the slack.  Spin reels are slow, so taking up the extra slack from a boat can be a challenge.  Plus, on the caster, the reel spins where with a spin rod it's stationary.  The energy from the cast is just going to keep peeling off line. An object in motion, tends to want to stay in motion.  So even though you CAN feather a spin rod, it's still an easier task on a shorter cast.

[J Francho]

Use a drop shot rig with a 4-6' dropper.  Let the weight settle and then slowly dip your rod tip, to let the senko do its weightless thing for the last several feet.  You'll waste a lot less time waiting for it to sink through empty water column, and you'll have batter accuracy where it drifts to.  No special equipment - use the hook you always wacky rig with, but leave a long tag.  Clip on a weight and go.  It isn't even that important to run the tag back through the hook.  This isn't as touchy as a DS rog.

[Esox pro]

On 9/14/2020 at 1:07 PM, J Francho said:

Use a drop shot rig with a 4-6' dropper.  Let the weight settle and then slowly dip your rod tip, to let the senko do its weightless thing for the last several feet.  You'll waste a lot less time waiting for it to sink through empty water column, and you'll have batter accuracy where it drifts to.  No special equipment - use the hook you always wacky rig with, but leave a long tag.  Clip on a weight and go.  It isn't even that important to run the tag back through the hook.  This isn't as touchy as a DS rog.

Actually thought about that but the problem is i want the bait to fall and stay on the bottom which in the st Lawrence is why im using such heavy weight 

[MickD]

On 9/14/2020 at 9:17 AM, Talio said:

Or a drop shot, if you're nasty!

Wacky drop shot is a great deep water presentation.  

 

With current you have to have extra weight, whatever is appropriate to get it down where you want it.  One advantage of drop shot is that you can use a lot of weight and still have a relatively free bait.  Probably hard to make work if the current is really strong.

[Esox pro]

3 minutes ago, MickD said:

Wacky drop shot is a great deep water presentation.  

 

With current you have to have extra weight, whatever is appropriate to get it down where you want it.  One advantage of drop shot is that you can use a lot of weight and still have a relatively free bait.  Probably hard to make work if the current is really strong.

True but it keeps the bait suspended in which the forage im imitating stays on the bottom 

[NHBull]

If you throw a wacky deep, use a weighted hook or nail weight the tail (NEKO). Weightless it takes to long to get in the zone

[Esox pro]

4 minutes ago, NHBull said:

If you throw a wacky deep, use a weighted hook or nail weight the tail (NEKO). Weightless it takes to long to get in the zone

Trust me im using a 1 oz jig

gamakatsu football 24 in 1oz unless there’s another jig made by Gamakatsu ideally that you guys recommend 

[ww2farmer]

2 hours ago, Esox pro said:

Trust me im using a 1 oz jig

gamakatsu football 24 in 1oz unless there’s another jig made by Gamakatsu ideally that you guys recommend 

Wat???

[roadwarrior]

Well...