Texas Rig Retrieve

[Josh254]

Hey everyone, I hope all is good with ya. Lately I've been wondering about the T-Rig retrieves and I forgot how to fish it, so naturally I have a couple of questions that I need answering by you great fisherman.

 

1) Do Bass hit it more on the fall or is it by dragging on the bottom?

 

2) If I'm doing a lift and drop technique as far as moving the rod, would I use forearm or wrist to do it? If dragging, would it be steady slow wrist motion upwards or just drag to the side?

 

I appreciate you guys' input and can't thank you enough for answers.

[A-Jay]

When it comes to a Texas Rig,

you really can't fish it wrong as long as you fish it slow. Including a few sublte  hops, drags and pauses can't hurt.

Something I like to do is to work it back "without" trying to draw attention to the bait. 

Basses food rarely wants to get eaten, yet it does.  

Sneak it back. It's  her world, she knows its there.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

[GaryH]

☝️☝️☝️
follow that advice and you can’t go wrong.

[Josh254]

I appreciate the advice, but the big question is how to raise the rod tip. Is it better with forearm or wrist??

 

[T-Billy]

52 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Something I like to do is to work it back "without" trying to draw attention to the bait. 

Basses food rarely wants to get eaten, yet it does.  

Sneak it back. It's  her world, she knows its there.

For sure. They find it with ease in stained water and at night without the angler shaking the crap out of it. Generally, I just crawl it along with short slow pulls, or I'll give it a subtle pop or two and let it glide back to the bottom on a semi slack line. 

6 minutes ago, Josh254 said:

I appreciate the advice, but the big question is how to raise the rod tip. Is it better with forearm or wrist??

 

I use my wrists. I want my elbows and forearms down ready to set the hook.

I try not to raise my forearms or rod tip past 10 o'clock while working the bait. This keeps me in position to set the hook as soon as I feel the bite.

[Wprich]

Slow pulls is what I typically do drag and reel in slack repeat.  I do also get bites on the fall from the initial cast more so when I'm using a lighter weight.

[CrankFate]

2 hours ago, Josh254 said:

 

1) Do Bass hit it more on the fall or is it by dragging on the bottom?

 

2) If I'm doing a lift and drop technique as far as moving the rod, would I use forearm or wrist to do it? If dragging, would it be steady slow wrist motion upwards or just drag to the side?

 

Sometimes.

[Josh254]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it alot.

[Bass Rutten]

3 hours ago, Josh254 said:

I appreciate the advice, but the big question is how to raise the rod tip. Is it better with forearm or wrist??

 

It doesn't matter as long as the rod moves where you want it to. That said I tend to lift with whole forearm and wrist as one unit which recruits the bicep and maybe a little shoulder, using your wrist only would be extremely inefficient due to the very small muscles used for that motion and you'd fatigue them fast, the more muscles used the longer it will take to fatigue. 

[Catt]

I'm old school, y'all call it hopping, I stroke it!

 

After bottom contact I let it sit for 15-20 seconds & then stroke 3 times in rapid succession. The hight of the stroke is determined by the depth of the water. In 2' of water or less it may just be like working a Shaky Head.

 

I'll let that soak for 15-20 seconds & repeat.

 

This imitates two things, a dieing shad struggle to stay of the bottom or a spooked crawfish fleeing.

 

FYI: I work my Jig-n-Craw the same way.

[Mobasser]

I like to cast, and let my t rig fall to the bottom on a slack line. I keep my rod tip up- at around 10:00 position, and slowly raise the rod to 12:00 position. Drop back down to 10:00 and take up some slack then repeat. I'm always looking for strikes on the fall. Sometimes let the rig sit for a few seconds before I lift it again.

[TcRoc]

I don’t fish them much different than a lot of jigs I throw .. minus swim jigs . Just depends where they r getting tossed. 

[scaleface]

4 hours ago, Josh254 said:

I appreciate the advice, but the big question is how to raise the rod tip. Is it better with forearm or wrist??

 

I dont know . I just raise it . You are over-thinking .

[LrgmouthShad]

14 hours ago, Catt said:

I'm old school, y'all call it hopping, I stroke it!

 

After bottom contact I let it sit for 15-20 seconds & then stroke 3 times in rapid succession. The hight of the stroke is determined by the depth of the water. In 2' of water or less it may just be like working a Shaky Head.

 

I'll let that soak for 15-20 seconds & repeat.

 

This imitates two things, a dieing shad struggle to stay of the bottom or a spooked crawfish fleeing.

 

FYI: I work my Jig-n-Craw the same way.

A fisherwoman friend of mine uses nothing but a rough imitation of this technique with a plastic worm t rigged. I just try not to get outfished 

[Deleted account]

Yes.

[Bankc]

16 hours ago, TcRoc said:

I don’t fish them much different than a lot of jigs I throw .. minus swim jigs . Just depends where they r getting tossed. 

I'll fish them like a swim jig from time to time.  Speed worms work great for this.  Especially with a brass bullet weight and a glass bead.  

 

The only wrong way to fish a T-rig is the way the fish won't bite.  So be prepared to try anything.  Fast, hard jerks off the bottom.  Slow drag.  Small, slow hops.  Fast swim across the top like a buzzbait.  Fast swim in the middle of the water column with frequent pauses.  It all works, just not all on the same day.

 

As for wrist or arm, either or both.  I'll frequently switch up and just go with whatever is most comfortable.  I don't give it much thought.  Sometimes I'll even hold the rod kind of loose and just use my finger tips to vibrate the rod tip.  Almost like tapping out a drum beat on a desk.  

[Kenny Yi]

wrist for up and down

arm for side to side

 

but to be fair, I honestly don't know what I actually do

[Josh254]

Another question I have about this is when I'm fishing a small lake/pond, would it be a good idea to peg the weight?? In these ponds and lakes around here in Texas there is a lot of weeds/moss I guess under the water that doesn't grow above the surface. I would use a 1/4 oz. bullet sinker maybe a 3/16 for a slower fall. 

[The Baron]

Thank you for posting this and to all for the great replies.  I was fishing a TR worm today, which is pretty new to me, and got to wondering if I was fishing it “correctly”.  Sounds like I need to slow it down quite a bit.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I try to avoid pegging the weight whenever possible.  The peg helps the rig get through cover or grass easier.