TRig Issues

[huZZah]

I have never caught a fish on a T rig in my life. I have a setup dedicated to it, have spent hours with nothing but that, and I have never caught a single fish on it. I’ve watched videos, read forums, articles...I can catch on jigs pretty consistently.  I can catch on wacky rigged. I have caught on a cane pole with a worm.  All from bank. 
 

Help. Please.  I don’t know what I am/am not doing. I can’t bear the shame. 

[Jig Man]

What bait are you using?  What kind of line?  How heavy is the sinker?

[huZZah]

I’ve tried 15lb mono, 30lb braid, 20lb mono, currently 12lb floro. I was catching wacky rigged and decided to try Trig again the next day. 
 

1/8, 1/4, currently 3/16 with 3/0 wide gap. Has a yum stick worm currently. 
 

But I’m open to any suggestions. 
 

Amd sorry if I got the wrong part of the forum.  I thought the tackle one was discussing tackle, not necessarily techniques using that tackle. I’ve read a ton of them on here.
 

Lol it might just be me. But I don’t want it to be. 

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing-techniques?field_tags_target_id=168&items_per_page=20

[OkobojiEagle]

I suggest you give up slip-sinker fishing altogether and buy a few jigheads, 1/8 - 3/8 oz heads with 2/0 -4/0 hooks.  Some people will refer to these as "shakey head" jigs.  I'd buy a few that you fish hook exposed and a few you can tex-pose the hook. Drag/hop/swim them near bottom.  You're welcome.

 

oe

[huZZah]

Yeah I’ve read tons of the articles.  I’m doing it. I’m not even sure how to explain that I’m simply not getting fish following all the “directions.”
 

Is it because I’m dragging uphill toward the bank, is it cause I’m missing bites, is it cause I’m not 6’9”...

 

Like, do you have a top 3 reasons you see people screwing up their Trig?  I know I have it rigged fine. I’m actually pretty good at it. 

[roadwarrior]

#1 is fishing too fast.

[Jig Man]

I like craws and baby brush hogs trigged.

[00bullitt]

Perfecting your technique is mastering the presentation. 

Understanding the presentation means you need to visually see it and test it with various baits. I cut a 4' chemical cube in half. Its got some gravel in the bottom. I can see how the bait responds to the movement of my rod as well as the baits action.

 

The tank doubles as my outboard fake a lake. It has been priceless.

 

There are plastic baits I will not use after seeing their action in the tank.

[Michigander]

Would you give a detailed description of a typical cast and retrieve so we can maybe figure out what part of the puzzle you're missing?

[A-Jay]

55 minutes ago, huZZah said:

I have never caught a fish on a T rig in my life. I have a setup dedicated to it, have spent hours with nothing but that, and I have never caught a single fish on it. I’ve watched videos, read forums, articles...I can catch on jigs pretty consistently.  I can catch on wacky rigged. I have caught on a cane pole with a worm.  All from bank. 
 

Help. Please.  I don’t know what I am/am not doing. I can’t bear the shame. 

 

Consider revisiting the where & when and let the how rest a bit.

Perhaps throw the Texas rig in the same places & at the same time

you are getting bites on a jig.

A-Jay

 

[Michigander]

Are you fishing the Trig differently than the jig? If so, how?

[huZZah]

I typically cast out toward structure if there is any.  Watch my line while bait sinks. I vary between hopping along or dead sticking. Sometimes I just up down it. I typically count to 10 in summer before I move it at all. Winter I’ve been agonizingly waiting to 30. 
 

Pull up reel down to get most of the slack. Rinse repeat. 

1 minute ago, Michigander said:

And what lures/presentations are you catching bass on at your location?

1/2 oz and 3/8oz jigs. Some 1/8 as well. Smaller jigs I use grubs and chunks, bigger I go creatures or craws. The bigger local lake I do well with lipless crank bouncing off the rocks. Spinners/buzz airs produce well until water temp gets below 60. 

I would have to say I fish it slower. Cause I’m constantly aware that I’ve never had success ?. Although even in frustration speed I haven’t noticed a difference. 

[Bankbeater]

Your catching them on wacky rigs and not t-rigs?  What about weightless and split shot rigs, have you tried them?  Are you using the same bait for the wacky rigs and the t-rigs? 

[huZZah]

1 minute ago, Bankbeater said:

Your catching them on wacky rigs and not t-rigs?  What about weightless and split shot rigs, have you tried them?  Are you using the same bait for the wacky rigs and the t-rigs? 

I do weightless wacky with success. Have caught very few weighted wacky. 
 

I use stick senko wannabes for wacky always.  That’s why I tried it Trig. 
 

There are places I try Trig with nothing and then work my way back with jig and boom, fish. 

[galyonj]

Have you tried just going weightless on your texas rig? If you're catching on wacky, I'd be willing to bet your lure's falling too fast, regardless how long you wait before you move it once it's on the bottom.

[huZZah]

Uhhh. I have not, but I will. That’s slightly embarrassing. Thanks!
 

Thanks for the help everyone. I really have learned a lot reading the forum. This is one area I am frustratingly at a loss. 
 

 

[Deleted account]

You say you catch them on a jig. Grab your favorite jig (the one you have the most confidence in). Take the trailer off it and T-rig it with a skirted worm weight of the same weight and color as the jig. Fish that with the same setup you fish the jig (when you would fish the jig) rinse and repeat. Sounds like a confidence thing at this point rather than something you are doing wrong. I am available for adult bike riding lessons...

[evo2s197]

Try a 6 inch fat roboworm in mmiii or oxblood light red flake, with a 1/4 bullet sinker, a roboworm rebarb hook in 1/0, and fish it by "stitching" the worm.

 

Retrieving the line slowly with your hand by pinching and pulling with your thumb and index finger only do not use your wrist or arm to pull, each pinch and pull takes up about a inch to 1.5 inches, take up about 1 foot of line in front of the reel and then reel in the slack, repeat until the worm is back at the boat or shore.

 

Been doing this for years and have had incredible success in all weather conditions.

[Fishes in trees]

Back when I was a bank bound bush hippie, I found that for me jig worms, {aka shakey heads} to be much more effective from the bank for me.  Either tx rigged on a jig head like a Brewer Slider or any of a number of shakey heads to going exposed hook on an old time Pow-R head jig, any of those presentations worked better for me that the tx rigged bait with a worm weight.    It got into my head enough that I quit using a sliding weight tx rig for a number of years.  After a while, rather than constantly mull over my inadequacies, I just went with it, left all the worm weights at home and went with the jig worms, of some style, all the time.   My issue with the tx rig was that I wasn't ever certain where the weight was in relation to the hook & bait, where with the jig worm I KNEW where the hook was in relation to the bait & weight - just one less thing to worry about.

 

Now that I've fished out of a boat for a few decades, I'm of the opinion that the tx rig is a better boat bait than it is for bank bound fishermen.   These days, I tx rig various soft plastics, generally I'm pitching them to various objects.  I think that day in and day out a jig worm option gets bit more than a tx rig does for me.

 

If covering water is a tx rigged bait is the plan, I think that a Biffle Bug is a better option than a worm weight, because it more or less works like a crank bait that always sticks to the bottom and is less likely to slip into crevices than a pointy headed worm weight might.

 

 

[DitchPanda]

I can tell you from experience a few things I've seen help people learn T rig fishing...when I taught my girlfriend these are some things I had her do that gave her some success.

1) start with a smaller bait...they seem to get more bites and this will boost your confidence. 4in power worm,baby brush hog, zoom ultra vibe speed craw. Once you get the knack for it then step up in size.

2) This is one @roadwarrior mentioned above and it is of critical importance...slow down. I see people fishing bottom baits in general way to fast. I'm not saying there isn't a time and place for working a Trig or jig faster but in my 20 years of bass fishing I'd say 90% of my bottom bait fish have been caught on a slow methodical approach.

So there you go...try some smaller baits and SLOW DOWN!

Good luck to ya.

[scaleface]

All lures work . Texas rigged soft plastics excel where the bass like to hang out , snags . Keep putting them in the snags and pay attention to how it feels . If it feels funny or you feel a tap as the lure is dropping reel down and set the hook . 

[WRB]

If you catch bass on jigs a bullet weight Texas rigged worm shouldn’t  be any different. Don’t over think this.

My guess it’s more to do with using stick worm then T-rigging. My suggestion is use 7” to 8” straight or ribbon tail worms like Berkley Maxscent Power power worm in similar colors and technique as the jigs you are successful using .

Tom

 

[huZZah]

Thank you all for the help. Now I’m ready for it to thaw out so I can get to the lake. 

[Deleted account]

2 hours ago, 00bullitt said:

Perfecting your technique is mastering the presentation. 

Wax on, wax off...