Carolina rig?

[fishingtx]

What do you guys Carolina rig?

I personally Carolina rig

zoom centipedes, blue watermelon

zoom super fluke, any color

zoom lizards, watermelon red

zoom z- craw, watermelon red

any rage craw

or creature bait like a sweet beaver

 

 

sweet beavers are to heavy

[WRB]

Don’t C-rig, I prefer Slip Shot rig using the main line direct to the hook and weight stopper to adjust length of weight from the hook.

90% worms 10% creatures.

Tom

[scaleface]

I dont do much now days but I used Lizards and French Fries  the most .

[Mike L]

Very rare that I’ll throw that but when I do it’s always a green Zoom lizard. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Very rare that I’ll throw that but when I do it’s always a green Zoom lizard. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

I learned to Carolina rig in 4-5 feet of water on Toho of all places.........

 

i was like “why are we throwing 1 oz sinkers in 4 feet” and my buddy says “grab this fish I’ve got” and it was big. We waxed em haha

[Captain Phil]

A Carolina Rig is great at finding fish holding structure like hard bottom, rocks and shell beds.  It allows you to cover a lot of water, so you can use it as a deep water search bait.  With experience, you can tell the bottom composition by the vibrations coming form the sinker.  In light grass, you can downsize the sinker.  Great way to fish bridge pilings.  The best Carolina Rig bait in my opinion is a Zoom finesse worm.  A MoJo Rig is a downsized Carolina Rig.  It's deadly on pressured fish.

[Catt]

[Mike L]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I learned to Carolina rig in 4-5 feet of water on Toho of all places.........

 

i was like “why are we throwing 1 oz sinkers in 4 feet” and my buddy says “grab this fish I’ve got” and it was big. We waxed em haha

Not surprising. 
The rig is not just a deep, hard bottom presentation. 
Sometimes we all get caught up in  thinking...“spinner baits only work if the water is churned up” or “big worms only work in the summer” or the infamous “bass won’t hit a frog after the sun gets over the trees”

Thinking back on it now, I’ve had success in the past throwing it but for some reason it just doesn’t occur to me any more to use it. 
 

Don’t ask me why

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

12 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Not surprising. 
The rig is not just a deep, hard bottom presentation. 
Sometimes we all get caught up in  thinking...“spinner baits only work if the water is churned up” or “big worms only work in the summer” or the infamous “bass won’t hit a frog after the sun gets over the trees”

Thinking back on it now, I’ve had success in the past throwing it but for some reason it just doesn’t occur to me any more to use it. 
 

Don’t ask me why

 

 

Mike

Because you are too busy loading the boat with cut R and speed worms???

 

the only thing I don’t like about c rig is its not exactly fast to tie on 

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Because you are too busy loading the boat with cut R and speed worms???

 

the only thing I don’t like about c rig is its not exactly fast to tie on 

Ha!!

Don’t know about loading the boat, but yeah...Love those things! ?

 

 

 

 

Mike

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

the only thing I don’t like about c rig is its not exactly fast to tie on 

I feel the same way .Having to tie three knots is a pita. I use a 3/4 to 1 ounce weight and rubber stops have not held the weight in place .  

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, scaleface said:

I feel the same way .Having to tie three knots is a pita. I use a 3/4 to 1 ounce weight and rubber stops have not held the weight in place .  

I just let the sinker slide and slam into a bead. Aka bass dinner bell and the bead protects the knot 

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I just let the sinker slide and slam into a bead. Aka bass dinner bell and the bead protects the knot 

I do too .

[Mike L]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

 

the only thing I don’t like about c rig is its not exactly fast to tie on 

 

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I feel the same way .Having to tie three knots is a pita. I use a 3/4 to 1 ounce weight and rubber stops have not held the weight in place .  

My frog rod will do triple duty whenever I throw the rig again. In the past I used those plastic “ Carolina Keeper” thingies on 50lb Power Pro and they worked just fine. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[fishingtx]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I just let the sinker slide and slam into a bead. Aka bass dinner bell and the bead protects the knot 

I thought that was how everybody did it?

that's the way I do it

[Mike L]

19 minutes ago, bass4life.... said:

I thought that was how everybody did it?

that's the way I do it

Nope, not necessarily. 
Some use bobber stop’s above and below the weight using only the main line. 
Some use the keepers I spoke of the same way. 
Others use a bead above and/or below the weight. 
And still others use a swivel and a leader with a bead. 
 

Point is there are many different ways
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Big Hands]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

Don’t C-rig, I prefer Slip Shot rig using the main line direct to the hook and weight stopper to adjust length of weight from the hook.

90% worms 10% creatures.

Tom

I use both. I fished mostly slipshot rigs for many years, and have probably caught more bass with it than any other technique I have fished. I also caught my first ten pounder on a slipshot rig with 6 lb monofilament line. I use a 3/32" rubber band tied in two overhand knots around the line for a stopper. Stops the weight from sliding better than anything else I have tried, yet can be easily adjusted and will slip before the line fails. 

 

But, I have found that there are certain situations that the carolina rig excels in, and there are times I can't get the casting distance with slipshot that I can with a full blown carolina rig. In my mind, I see at them as two different versions of the same technique, with the slipshot being the finesse version of a carolina rig.

 

A heavy weight on a carolina rig keeps the bait in the strike zone of the weeds in the lagoon and produces better for me in that situation. It's also easier to fish in windy conditions.

 

Recently, the bait that has been great for me on the carolina rig has been the Keitech Swing Impact in 3", 3.5" and 4", and the Keitech Sexy Impact 3.8" (a bait that people seem to have been sleeping on). I know that the Swing Impact is not really meant or designed as a carolina rig bait, but I tried 'em and they worked very well for me.

 

If I lived in Texas like the OP does, I would try just about anything as a bait on a carolina rig. Those bass eat all kinds of crazy plastics. 

[WVU-SCPA]

Only use them on one highly pressured super clear lake during the summer.  After the early morning bite, any decent sized fish has moved to 15'+ of water. 

 

Using a maxscent creature or lunch worm and dragging as much structure in the 12'-22' as possible is about the only consistent bite I've been able to find after 9:00 am.

 

Best of luck finding a decent supply of them right now.

[lo n slo]

now y’all got me wanting to throw a carolina rig again. i haven’t thrown one since forever. i always had trouble with not setting the hook properly or gut hooking the fish. i suppose i’ve got too much texas rig in my blood.

[flatcreek]

Ive usually got two Carolina rigs on my deck,

must have on Savannah River Lakes.i rig em with 3 knots and don’t think nothing about it.i triedKeepers and just don’t like em.just stubborn I guess but it works

[river-rat]

I use either a standard size Zoom Brush Hog or a Baby Brush Hog when I use a Carolina Rig. And I use watermelon red glitter or watermelon gold glitter 90% of the time. 

[Bazoo]

An interesting thread and full of information, thank you all for sharing. I'm learning Carolina riggin' and I've had a little success so far, enough that I think it's going to be a great addition to my arsenal. Thanks all again.

[bowhunter63]

Really like the Zoom Brush hog or Brush Craw. Been using the lindy walking sinker lately. Did my really get hung much 

[BucksBasser]

Was on Erie on time when the wind kicked up and we couldn't stand up in the boat.

I decide to drift while dragging a Carolina Rig with Kalin salt and pepper curly tails.

We caught a load of smallies all in the 5 to 6 lb range.

That made me a believer in both the rig and curly tails for smallies.

 

Closer to home I often use Carolina rigs to fish larger flat expanses on lakes from shore.

I'll use craw shaped plastics, floating worms, or small flukes depending on what I see in the shallows.

 

[king fisher]

I was slow to try the C Rig.   I fished it for the first time two years ago.  Now I fish it almost every day.  The only time I don't give it a try is when the water is high and muddy, and I'm pitching baits into heavy cover in 4 feet or less water.

 

I fish the C rig mostly on points and humps in deeper water.  I  fish it in the same way many people fish a wobble head, reeling at a medium speed keeping the sinker contacting the bottom.  I usually try a deep crankbait first, but always throw the C rig out to see if I have missed some with the crankbait.

 

Because I have zero patience while fishing, I prefer to rig my C rig the classic way with a heavy weight( 3/4 or 1 OZ.), barrel swivel, and bead.  I like the heavy weight because I like to make bomber casts, and get my bait down quickly not caring about getting bites on the fall.  If I am trying to get bites on the fall I will use a T rig.  Once on the bottom I work the bait back fairly quickly until I feel the heavy weight hit something different on the bottom.  Then I slow down and give the bass some time to investigate.  I can cover almost as much water as with a crankbait, but pick off bass that want something more subtle than a crankbait, but far from needing to go the finesse rout.  When I get a bite I reel until a feel the weight of the fish, then make a big sweeping hook set while continuing to reel, and backing my Kayak up at the same time.  My hook up ratio is as good as any other technique I use.  I use the C rig as much as deep crankbaits now which would have been complete crazy talk a few years ago.  I may be slow to change, but change is not impossible.  Maybe I will even be talking up the split shot rig in a couple  years.  I will at least have to give it a try.

 

I fish three baits on my C rigs. 

1. Zoom Ole Monster.

2. Strike King Magnum Rage Bug.

3. Zoom Magnum Trick worm.