What Defines A Texas Rig ?

[Mobasser]

Good info on my favourite bass bait. Novice anglers would do well to read up on this thread.               Whenever I read threads like this, it reminds of a seminar I attended many years ago by Larry Nixon. He. mostly talked about structure fishing, with various baits. At the end of his seminar he held up a plastic worm and said" learn this". Mr. Nixon was 100% correct.

[J Francho]

As a young man, I really admired his style. Just a few baits that covered all the water and really get to know them. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

So the Texas rig was redneck engineering. Science!

[papajoe222]

On 9/9/2021 at 9:55 AM, J Francho said:

A Texas Rig must have a sliding sinker above the hook and the bait is rigged weedless. Anything else is something else. 

The something else is called weedless rigging a plastic, but like a lot of terms used in this sport, others are used, like Texas rig. Regardless, if you're an avid basser, you understand exactly what the person is attempting to convey.

[J Francho]

I hear some say they rig it weedless, Texas style. I like that. It gives a nod to the origins. 

[Catt]

Let's see if I can explain this so it makes some semblance of sense.

 

From the late 50s to the early 70s bass fishing drastically changed. Bass fishing had always been regional, we had Florida & California holding all the limelight. Then came Texas lakes, TVA lakes, East coast, Northern lakes, & Mid-West lakes.

 

Late 60s to early 70s the anglers in these different regions started mixing. 

 

Example, Larry Nixon was famous for being a guide on Toledo Bend, part of the Hemphill Gang. Larry Nixon was not a Texan, before ever seeing Toledo Bend, Larry was an accomplished guide in Arkansas. When Larry came to Toledo Bend he brought his regional understanding of different lures & techniques.

 

This mixture of regional bass fishing took place on a massive scale. Dee Thomas brought Tule Dipping to flipping which lead to pitching. We had Alphabet Baits long before Square Bills.

 

[ironbjorn]

A Texas Rig can be many things these days.

 

But if you ask me to visualize my idea of a Texas Rig, it's a 7" plastic worm on a 4/0 hook with a 1/4oz bullet weight, with a medium heavy, fast action rod and 15lb line. 

 

There are always variations and innovations to anything.

[J Francho]

The Texas rig today is one terminal rig. It has nothing to do with line, rod, reel, or bait. It's nothing more. It solves the problem of getting a bait through the weeds and to the fish. The rig has a special place for me. A man on a bass boat caught two bass near our dock, in the weeds. I asked home how he did that. He showed me the rig, how to tie it up, and even gave me a few hooks and sinkers, and a bag of Culprit worms. My entire idea of bass fishing was turned on end and a whole bunch of water was unlocked by that. I was probably around 12. 

[Mobasser]

I think I was around 12 or 13 when I first learned about it. My brother and I had been fishing with plastic worms, but we were nose hooking them, and hanging up too much.                                                A guy that owned a hdwr store where we bought our plastic worms, ordered some eagle claw #95 hooks and bullet weights for us.                                              The rods we had were not the best for this, being a softer action, but it was a turning point.             We quickly realized that we could cast them all over the pond, without getting hung on weeds. 

[Tatsu Dave]

On 9/9/2021 at 10:35 AM, Mobasser said:

Dave, there's so many definitions out there anymore, it's hard to keep up with them all.

Good informative posts that answered my question, I now realize that I am primarily a plastic rig fisherman w/ weedless and weighted options as well as tons of swimming plastics to use. Its a very effective method that offers a lot of styles. 

[Boomstick]

This is a Texas Rig. Any questions?

 

On a more serious note, I believe anything with a weight and a hook where the point of the hook is transposed through the soft plastic would be a Texas rig.

[Catt]

3 hours ago, Boomstick said:

This is a Texas Rig. Any questions?

 

 

No sir that's a cricket ?

[huZZah]

Thought it was a donkey pump…

[Chris Catignani]

From: The Worm 

 

In the late 1950s, Creme noticed his company was shipping numerous baits to the Tyler, Texas, area and that requests for replacement worms without three-hook harnesses were skyrocketing.
He soon discovered that Texas anglers were using his replacement worms on Lake Tyler, which opened a few years earlier. Lake Tyler anglers threaded a single hook through the Scoundrel's head, rotated the hook, then buried the barb into the body to guard against snagging in the wood.
"We are convinced that Lake Tyler is where the first Texas rig was fished, although we still don't know who was responsible for creating it," says Kent.
Creme also discovered that anglers throughout Texas were falling in love with the plastic worm and the "Texas rig" they were using on other brush-filled lakes.
That prompted him to move his business to Tyler in 1960 and capitalize on the growing plastic worm market.

[QED]

13 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

From: The Worm [stuff deleted]

 

Nice find!  Thanks for posting the URL to the article.

[Catt]

15 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

In the late 1950s, Creme noticed his company was shipping numerous baits to the Tyler, Texas, area

 

According to Nick Creme 

 

In the late 50s, word of the soft plastic worm began to spread to bass anglers in the South. Many new reservoirs had been constructed in this region and the bassin' was gaining national attention. Creme decided to move his company into the center of the bass activity at the time, and built a plant in Tyler, Texas.

 

https://www.cremelure.com/about-us.cfm