Thankful for the Wacky Rig

[uglyasheck]

    I know there are fishermen that think this isn't bass fishing and I have been told that by some but  Wacky rigging is a fish catching machine. You can finesse it, power fish it, jig it or even use it as a top water bait. This year from Febuary thru June til the water got in the 90's my partner and I just wore them out on a wacky rig. One Saturday for a total of 5  hours I had 68 bass myself and the next Saturday I caught 65. During the week days after work he and I would fish together and  was catching up to 60 together in a few hours. We caught 28 one afternoon and was complaining about how bad the fishing was. LOL   These lakes we fish are 100 acres are less and heavly pressured. Yes sometimes we catch dinks but we also have caught some hawgs 10.3 being the largest this year with multiple 8's on down . We use finesse worms and finally dialed it in to one color one brand that work the best for us and weightless 95% of the time. I hope this next year is just as good . Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !!!!!!!!!

[Tucson]

Good for you!  I just started seriously fishing drop shot rigs and made out real well.

[TnRiver46]

Happy thanksgiving right back at ya!!! I mostly fish plastic worms but never wacky rigged, maybe one day. I just hook them regular ole weedless style 

[Aaron_H]

Wacky rigged worms (senkos for me, haven't tried trick/finesse worms with it yet) are an extremely effective presentation. Like you said, it's pretty versatile in how you can work it. My biggest on it went 8lb 7oz back in late spring 2019.

 

I feel like anyone who says a wacky rig "isn't bass fishing" is probably mad they're not catching anything.

[uglyasheck]

29 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Pride keeps us from catching fish sometimes.

[Captain Phil]

We have been using a slightly modified version of the Wacky Rig in Florida tournaments for years.   Traditionally the Wacky Rig is hooked sideways in the middle.   We rig them Texas style in the nose with no lead weight.  This makes the worm weedless.  We use a small black swivel about 18" above a Zoom Finesse or Trick worm.  Looks like a Carolina Rig without the sinker.  You can fish this rig in cover where you can't throw an open hook.  You can also fish it deeper.  Fished on 8 pound line, it has caught many a bag of fish.  Deadly on bedding fish in residential canals. 

[Smallies]

8 hours ago, uglyasheck said:

    We use finesse worms and finally dialed it in to one color one brand that work the best for us and weightless 95% of the time. 

Wow 68 and 65???  Man, that sounds amazing.

 

Ok, so you're killin' me here ... what's the worm and what's the color?  (I'm guessing your waters are pretty stained, though).

[Bluebasser86]

I fish a wacky rig a lot. I don't catch many big fish on it but it sure is a numbers bait. 

[Captain Phil]

The Wacky Rig (weightless worm) is one of the deadliest bedding bass baits there is. You should make long casts to keep from spooking fish off the bed.  By the time you see a bedding fish, it's often too late.   Back in the day, Southern boys had a trick they used during bedding season.  They carried a bunch of stiff straight sticks in their boat.  When they spotted a bedding fish, they placed the stick adjacent to the bed and left to give the bass a chance to come back.  When they returned, they made long casts to the stick.  When a weightless worm drops into the bed on light line, it's almost guaranteed to be picked up.

[LrgmouthShad]

50 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

The Wacky Rig (weightless worm) is one of the deadliest bedding bass baits there is. You should make long casts to keep from spooking fish off the bed.  By the time you see a bedding fish, it's often too late.   Back in the day, Southern boys had a trick they used during bedding season.  They carried a bunch of stiff straight sticks in their boat.  When they spotted a bedding fish, they placed the stick adjacent to the bed and left to give the bass a chance to come back.  When they returned, they made long casts to the stick.  When a weightless worm drops into the bed on light line, it's almost guaranteed to be picked up.

Ain’t wacky rigs and weightless worms good around bluegill beds also? That was a bit of a pattern for me in the post spawn this year

[BrianMDTX]

I’ve never gotten the disdain many show to the wacky rig. Yes, 95% of the time it gets bit on the fall. So some believe “that’s not really fishing” as they aren’t actually working the bait. Boo hoo. Like chucking and reeling in a spinnerbait is really “working” the bait lol. 
 

It’s a fish-catching machine. But you still need to determine the correct location and still need to cast accurately to catch bass. 
 

It’s one of my favorite presentations. You can drop it in silently, skip it under brush or docks, drag it across beds, or just dead stick it and give it a slight twitch. It’s versatile and effective. I could walk around a pond with a M/F spinning rig, a pack of #956 Senkos and some 1/0 octopus circle hooks and have a great day. 

[B-Gee]

16 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

We have been using a slightly modified version of the Wacky Rig in Florida tournaments for years.   Traditionally the Wacky Rig is hooked sideways in the middle.   We rig them Texas style in the nose with no lead weight.  This makes the worm weedless.  We use a small black swivel about 18" above a Zoom Finesse or Trick worm.  Looks like a Carolina Rig without the sinker.  You can fish this rig in cover where you can't throw an open hook.  You can also fish it deeper.  Fished on 8 pound line, it has caught many a bag of fish.  Deadly on bedding fish in resident canals. 

You say you rig them Texas style in the nose. A Texas rigged worm is not a wacky rig is it? I guess I don't follow your explanation but it does sound interesting. Could you elaborate a little, please?

19 hours ago, uglyasheck said:

    I know there are fishermen that think this isn't bass fishing and I have been told that by some but  Wacky rigging is a fish catching machine. You can finesse it, power fish it, jig it or even use it as a top water bait. This year from Febuary thru June til the water got in the 90's my partner and I just wore them out on a wacky rig. One Saturday for a total of 5  hours I had 68 bass myself and the next Saturday I caught 65. During the week days after work he and I would fish together and  was catching up to 60 together in a few hours. We caught 28 one afternoon and was complaining about how bad the fishing was. LOL   These lakes we fish are 100 acres are less and heavly pressured. Yes sometimes we catch dinks but we also have caught some hawgs 10.3 being the largest this year with multiple 8's on down . We use finesse worms and finally dialed it in to one color one brand that work the best for us and weightless 95% of the time. I hope this next year is just as good . Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !!!!!!!!!

Unless it is a secret I would be interested in more info about the worms you use, like are these Zoom Trick Worms and what is that favorite color?

[BrianMDTX]

14 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

You say you rig them Texas style in the nose. A Texas rigged worm is not a wacky rig is it? I guess I don't follow your explanation but it does sound interesting. Could you elaborate a little, please?

Unless it is a secret I would be interested in more info about the worms you use, like are these Zoom Trick Worms and what is that favorite color?

Yeah, I’m not sure what he’s describing, either. Maybe rigged with a WR hook in the nose? Otherwise I’d call it a simple weightless TR. Lately I’ve been catching 90% of my bass on a 4” Senko rigged as a weightless TR. 

[MN Fisher]

13 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

You say you rig them Texas style in the nose. A Texas rigged worm is not a wacky rig is it? I guess I don't follow your explanation but it does sound interesting. Could you elaborate a little, please?

Nope - that's a weightless T-Rig.

14 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

Unless it is a secret I would be interested in more info about the worms you use, like are these Zoom Trick Worms

Zoom also has a Finesse Worm - shorter and slimmer than the Trick Worm...I use Finesse Worms for both wacky and drop-shot/split-shot

[B-Gee]

19 hours ago, uglyasheck said:

    I know there are fishermen that think this isn't bass fishing and I have been told that by some but  Wacky rigging is a fish catching machine. You can finesse it, power fish it, jig it or even use it as a top water bait. This year from Febuary thru June til the water got in the 90's my partner and I just wore them out on a wacky rig. One Saturday for a total of 5  hours I had 68 bass myself and the next Saturday I caught 65. During the week days after work he and I would fish together and  was catching up to 60 together in a few hours. We caught 28 one afternoon and was complaining about how bad the fishing was. LOL   These lakes we fish are 100 acres are less and heavly pressured. Yes sometimes we catch dinks but we also have caught some hawgs 10.3 being the largest this year with multiple 8's on down . We use finesse worms and finally dialed it in to one color one brand that work the best for us and weightless 95% of the time. I hope this next year is just as good . Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !!!!!!!!!

Also could you tell me if you are able to catch more than one fish on one Finesse worm and, if so, how?

[Captain Phil]

44 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

You say you rig them Texas style in the nose. A Texas rigged worm is not a wacky rig is it? I guess I don't follow your explanation but it does sound interesting. Could you elaborate a little, please?

Unless it is a secret I would be interested in more info about the worms you use, like are these Zoom Trick Worms and what is that favorite color?

 

Here in Florida, we have more and thicker underwater weeds than you may find in a Northern Reservoir.  A traditional Wacky Rig with the worm hooked through the middle is often difficult to fish because of the exposed hook.  By hooking the worm "Texas Style" without the weigh, you can pull it without fear of it hanging up in the cover.  What makes a weightless worm effective is the slow natural action.  Very few bass can ignore a slow falling or gliding straight tail plastic worm.  A weightless swimming worm also works well.  I once fished a Federation tournament in Toho with a guy who swam a worm rigged with a bend to make it spin.  I thought he was nuts until he started pulling in fish after fish. I later learned he was the Top Rod in his club.

 

For this type of fishing, I prefer Zoom 8" Trick Worms.  My favorite color is June Bug Red.  I have successfully used everything from watermelon to bring pink, even merthiolate.  I use 8 pound mono on a spinning rod for this fishing.   Anything thicker dampens the action and I don't get as many strikes.  The 4" Zoom finesse worm is  a killer when the fish are pressured.  I won a local classic fishing them on a Mojo Rig against a field of outstanding anglers.  When fishing gets tough, downsizing is the way to go.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

 

Here in Florida, we have more and thicker underwater weeds than you may find in a Northern Reservoir.  A traditional Wacky Rig with the worm hooked through the middle is often difficult to fish because of the exposed hook.  By hooking the worm "Texas Style" without the weigh, you can pull it without fear of it hanging up in the cover.  What makes a weightless worm effective is the slow natural action.  Very few bass can ignore a slow falling or gliding straight tail plastic worm.  A weightless swimming worm also works well.  I once fished a Federation tournament in Toho with a guy who swam a worm rigged with a bend to make it spin.  I thought he was nuts until he started pulling in fish after fish. I later learned he was the Top Rod in his club.

 

For this type of fishing, I prefer Zoom 8" Trick Worms.  My favorite color is June Bug Red.  I have successfully used everything from watermelon to bring pink, even merthiolate.  I use 8 pound mono on a spinning rod for this fishing.   Anything thicker dampens the action and I don't get as many strikes.  The 4" Zoom finesse worm is  a killer when the fish are pressured.  I won a local classic fishing them on a Mojo Rig against a field of outstanding anglers.  When fishing gets tough, downsizing is the way to go.

So, just to clarify, you are fishing them as a weightless TR with a offset or EWG worm hook? Not a WR hook? 

[NorcalBassin]

A couple years ago I caught my PB on a wacky rig. Had been throwing a big swimbait most of the morning with no luck, switched to a wacky rig, and BOOM.

[BrianMDTX]

Nice bass!

[Darth-Baiter]

My 2021 PB was on a wacky rig. I’ve luckily honed it down to a single SENKO color.  So now I only buy two colors ever.  Makes life easier. 
 

I need to use the same rig but weighted into a neko and see if I improve my stats in that dept. 

[B-Gee]

2 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

My 2021 PB was on a wacky rig. I’ve luckily honed it down to a single SENKO color.  So now I only buy two colors ever.  Makes life easier. 
 

I need to use the same rig but weighted into a neko and see if I improve my stats in that dept. 

What color or is it a secret?

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Robert C. Gates said:

Also could you tell me if you are able to catch more than one fish on one Finesse worm and, if so, how?

I can usually catch about a dozen on a finesse worm before I lose it to a snag. The key for me is don’t wacky rig it haha

 

the reason I don’t wacky rig is two fold. First of all, it gets stuck. Secondly it makes the worm fly off the hook. Yes I’ve heard about all the o rings and various tricks but I don’t care to fool with all that jazz . They will still eat a weightless worm hooked straight I promise 

[Skunkmaster-k]

8 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

A couple years ago I caught my PB on a wacky rig. Had been throwing a big swimbait most of the morning with no luck, switched to a wacky rig, and BOOM.

That fish looks like an 8 pounder. Am I low or high ?

[N Florida Mike]

I would never look down on someone using a WR. I had a friend come over once and he did very well using nothing but the wr with a senko. I primarily used a fluke, and as I recall I caught 10 to his 9. in a few hours.

That being said , I have never done well with one, but my interest in it has risen again now. Im going here in a little while snd will try it again today…

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

That fish looks like an 8 pounder. Am I low or high ?

I’m going to go 10.5