TRig Issues

[Luke Barnes]

My best luck with a t rig is throwing it into the thickest, snaggy bushes and spots that most people wont throw to. 

[RDB]

Great suggestions

A t-rig is generally a bottom contact bait.  If you are catching them on a jig, there is no reason you shouldn’t be catching them on a t-rig.  As a matter of fact, you should typically get more bites though the quality is often better on jigs.

 

I’m not sure the depth you are fishing but assuming there are fish, I would go up in weight (min. 3/8 oz.), dump mono & stick with Fluoro (sinks), peg my sinker, and pretend it’s a jig.  It’s likely not the bait choice (stick worms are fine) but in your setup.

 

If you are talking about casting and dragging, there are better options like a c-rig, split shot, football jig.  Also, with the light weight you are using, I would be surprised if you are keeping bottom contact while dragging your t-rig anyway.  

 

When you are fishing a wacky rig, you will typically be catching fish higher in the water column (on the fall) so the fact that you catch on wacky but not t-rig doesn’t really mean anything (different techniques & applications).

[ironbjorn]

I'm with WRB. I really think your problem is the bait. Stick baits can be Texas rigged with a weight and people can and do catch fish this way, but it's not the ideal way to fish the bait. Stick baits are meant to be fished weightless, either Texas rigged or wacky rigged. They have a slow fall and shimmy on the way down, enticing the bass to bite. When you add weight to it you're messing up the action of the bait and it's dropping way too fast. When it's on the bottom it has virtually no action. It's just a turd that does nothing at that point. Using a curly tail worm, the tail has a lot of action on the fall, and then when it's being dragged or hopped. With craws and creature baits, the appendages have a lot of action on the fall and the water movement gives them life on the bottom. 

[scaleface]

18 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

I'm with WRB. I really think your problem is the bait. Stick baits can be Texas rigged with a weight and people can and do catch fish this way, but it's not the ideal way to fish the bait. Stick baits are meant to be fished weightless, either Texas rigged or wacky rigged. They have a slow fall and shimmy on the way down, enticing the bass to bite. When you add weight to it you're messing up the action of the bait and it's dropping way too fast. When it's on the bottom it has virtually no action. It's just a turd that does nothing at that point. Using a curly tail worm, the tail has a lot of action on the fall, and then when it's being dragged or hopped. With craws and creature baits, the appendages have a lot of action on the fall and the water movement gives them life on the bottom. 

Bryan New just won the St Johns Elite tournament on a weighted Texas rigged Zoom Zlinky stick worm . I t-rig them all the time . They are great fished like that .

[BrianMDTX]

Zoom Trick Worm. Weightless. 3/0 round offset hook. Texposed. 

 

Cast it. Let it sink (it does but slowly). You may get strikes on the fall. If it hits bottom, turn reel 1-1/2 turns and stop. Wait a few seconds and repeat. Crawl it across the bottom. I will come as close to a guarantee that you will get strikes. 

[Catt]

Despite what you've heard fish the Texas Rig exactly the same as your jig.

 

Many people say the two are totally different but I believe they are very similar.

 

Use your sense of feel in detecting jig bites to feel Texas Rig bites.

 

You're just backwards!

 

Most anglers get the Texas Rig first & struggle with a  Jig-n-Craw.

[RDB]

There are many ways to fish soft plastics.  The OP said he was using a t-rig with a weight and a stick bait which is very common, especially when fish are relating to the bottom and you need something a little more subtle.  At the end of the day, your weight size is going to depend primarily on the water depth, cover, and the rate of fall needed.

 

Like Catt said, most people pick up the t-rig before the jig.  The good news is that in my opinion, the jig is the more difficult of the two to master.

[Catt]

8 hours ago, huZZah said:

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. 

 

How ya working your Jig-n-Craw?

 

Ya casting it? Ya flipping it? Ya pitching it? 

 

Ya dragging it? Ya hopping it?

 

Do the exact same things with the Texas Rig!

 

Fishing a Jig-n-Craw & a Texas Rig is a mindset, it's a commitent to being totally aware of what you're lure is doing.

 

Feeling the bite, again think of your jig bite!

 

When you get a jig bite do the crush it everytime?

 

Oftentimes a jig bite is very subtle, almost like it's hung on something.

 

Texas Rig bites will feel the same ?

[TBAG]

Yeah, it might work but I would start by ditching your "stick" worm.

 

They're designed to be fished weightless or wacky rigged as others have said.

 

There are tons of better options out there for texas rigging with a weight.

[J Francho]

Fishing a senko on a Texas rig using a light, pegged weight causes them to do loopty-loops when skipped under docks. Pete Guzik won a few bucks doing this on Cayuga. 

[TBAG]

6 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Fishing a senko on a Texas rig using a light, pegged weight causes them to do loopty-loops when skipped under docks. Pete Guzik won a few bucks doing this on Cayuga. 

 

That might be the case but OP is bank fishing, not skipping under docks from a boat.

 

I'd be willing to bet if he switches up his "stick" worm to something else he will have much more success.

[michaelb]

Just to state the obvious, and maybe this is already clear, but are you buying actual name brand senkos (in some version of black), and t-rigging those weightless? I would try that first before anything else. There is a thread here on how to catch bass and I think it starts with this.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, TBAG said:

That might be the case but OP is bank fishing, not skipping under docks from a boat.

 

1 hour ago, TBAG said:

They're designed to be fished weightless or wacky rigged as others have said.

 

That actually isn't what they were designed for.  It just worked out that most use them that way.  It was designed to be a jerk bait.

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/gary-yamamoto.html

 

1 hour ago, TBAG said:

I'd be willing to bet if he switches up his "stick" worm to something else he will have much more success.

Maybe one day, yes.  Another, no.  

[Catt]

If ya want a deadly worm throw Mr Twister's Phenom Worm.

 

Something about that little curl tail bass of every size can't resist!

[TnRiver46]

Judging by your results I’m guessing you are fishing ponds or small lakes from the bank. in these scenarios a worm always works better without a sinker for me , Which might explain why the wacky works and the Texas rig doesn’t. Like someone else suggested rig your worm like you would a Texas rig but try it without the bullet weight. Growing up fishing ponds my cousin used to out fish me badly with a weightless lizard. I never got any bites with a bullet weight 

[OkobojiEagle]

Try something a little different... use a nail weight (ala Neko rig) in the head and Texas rig the tail...

 

oe

[Ravox]

I use stick worms all the time with bullet weights and catch fish... not sure if is correct or not.... but the weight in this case is not an issue, maybe is the retrieve, you need to reel the line really sloooow

[Team9nine]

Your T-rig issues are all in your head  Tons of advice above, but if you just keep throwing and fishing worms, you'll eventually start catching fish on them. Sometimes too much advice only makes things worse. Once you catch a few, you'll have broken through the "mental gate" and you'll have no more issues after that. They work everywhere - keep winging 'em

[huZZah]

Thanks everyone. I’m a nerd so I made a list. 

[Darth-Baiter]

On 2/14/2021 at 7:22 AM, roadwarrior said:

#1 is fishing too fast.

This. Tex rig fishing is almost so slow it’s boring to me.  Sloooow.  But I love feeling the bait translate the bottom back to me.  “Was that a stick?  Freeze!  Yup a stick...”. It’s when that stick taps you back while your frozen.   Boom. 
 

‘’I was a kid (relative kid - college) when a guy taught me the t-rig on a lake in Mexico. My brother and I got skunked on day one.  Everyone else got hundreds.  They handed us terminal tackle (before I knew it was called terminal tackle) and a few bags of motor oil colored worms and lizards and verbally explained the technique. I’ll never forget that first tap tap tap.  My Mexican guide knew zero English but he somehow convinced me to set the hook when I said, “I think I felt something”.   My brother and I learned something that trip.  
 

I just t-rig several bass on the California Delta last week.  Brought back fond memories.   I’m gonna go old school lizard t-rig this spring.  Motor oil color!

 

 

My bank fishing lake.  I need weedless.  I fish a t-rig with a TRD stick bait behind a 3/8 sinker pegged to mimic a Ned rig. I even use a wire worm hook 1/0.  
 

slow!  I envision the bait floating up mimicking something feeding on the bottom.   I’m gonna try the big TRD next time. 

[MGF]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Judging by your results I’m guessing you are fishing ponds or small lakes from the bank. in these scenarios a worm always works better without a sinker for me , Which might explain why the wacky works and the Texas rig doesn’t. Like someone else suggested rig your worm like you would a Texas rig but try it without the bullet weight. Growing up fishing ponds my cousin used to out fish me badly with a weightless lizard. I never got any bites with a bullet weight 

Sometimes a bait disappears in a soft silty bottom.

[TnRiver46]

14 minutes ago, MGF said:

Sometimes a bait disappears in a soft silty bottom.

That’s a better explanation than anything I could come up with 

[roadwarrior]

25 minutes ago, MGF said:

Sometimes a bait disappears in a soft silty bottom.

 Not in Tennessee...Our rocks eat them first!

 

Does TVA report water temp like it does the flow? I can’t find it on their site.

No

[RDB]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Your T-rig issues are all in your head  Tons of advice above, but if you just keep throwing and fishing worms, you'll eventually start catching fish on them. Sometimes too much advice only makes things worse. Once you catch a few, you'll have broken through the "mental gate" and you'll have no more issues after that. They work everywhere - keep winging 'em

^^^This^^^
The question was about success using a t-rig with a weight.  There are a lot of techniques out there but that wasn’t the question.  When people say I caught them on a Texas rig, they typically mean a hook with a pegged or sliding weight.  Sure a Texas rig is a way to attach a bait to a hook but we don’t call fishing a fluke, Carolina rig, Neko, weightless senko, Tokyo, etc., etc., etc. Texas rigging even though they typically are Texas rigged.
 

Bottom line is a t-rig works with all kinds of baits.  Bait choice and presentation is often determined by fish mood which is influenced by many factors (environmental, fishing pressure, etc.) which can influence many choices (bait size, type, rate of fall, color, etc.). Nobody on here is going to be able to tell you what is the best choice.  Let the fish tell you what they want and don’t think only one bait or style can be successful.  You said you have had success with a jig.  Look at how many choices and presentations there are with jigs (hop, crawl, stroke, dead stick, swim, etc.).  
 

Chances are you just haven’t gotten the feel for it yet but it will come.  Stay open minded, experiment, and don’t overthink. 

 

 

 

 

[optimator]

I caught my first bass on a Texas rigged Producto Lure Tournament worm. It was all I fished for a long time after that. It's still my #1 confidence bait.