Peg your T-Rig?

[Bankbeater]

I use to peg my weights, but I never noticed any difference in the bite or the action.  Now I never peg weights.

[Log Catcher]

I always peg my sinker. I feel like I get hung up less with it pegged. I rarely use anything heavier than an 1/8 ounce sinker.

[Choporoz]

Never

[LonnieP]

Never

[padlin]

I peg when using a small enough weight that fits thru the tip guide, drives me nuts when I reel in and it goes thru.

[GReb]

Not my preference but around thick grass it does help 

[Boomstick]

I rarely ever peg it, pretty much only for a punching rig.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Earlier this Spring I heard a pro say that pegging your creature during the spawn is the way to go because you don't want those fish hitting the weight first.   

 

Then I notice all the pros on the elite level, and the guys I'm following on youtube doing it when either directly bed fishing by sight, or fishing for bedding fish but not by sight, just pitching to high percentage bed locations.  

 

Then I peg D Bombs and start pitching to high % bed locations, and my 5lb+ valve magically turned on.   Could it have been just the D Bomb T-rigged alone, sure, maybe even likely.   Will I ever throw anything in the spring that's not pegged in the future, nope.    Confidence has been established, snake oil in my head has been created.    Take this reply for what it's worth ?

 

 

[Pat Brown]

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Earlier this Spring I heard a pro say that pegging your creature during the spawn is the way to go because you don't want those fish hitting the weight first.   

 

Then I notice all the pros on the elite level, and the guys I'm following on youtube doing it when either directly bed fishing by sight, or fishing for bedding fish but not by sight, just pitching to high percentage bed locations.  

 

Then I peg D Bombs and start pitching to high % bed locations, and my 5lb+ valve magically turned on.   Could it have been just the D Bomb T-rigged alone, sure, maybe even likely.   Will I ever throw anything in the spring that's not pegged in the future, nope.    Confidence has been established, snake oil in my head has been created.    Take this reply for what it's worth ?

 

 

 

 

For what it's worth, I do think you get some diminishing returns with really bulkier plastics and super compact plastics.

 

Weight separation seems to kick in more with longer thinner plastics and more when I'm horizontally dragging which is most of the time with t rigs.

 

I prefer jigs for the bulky compact one shot meal.  I don't think there's a wrong way to do it.

 

I actually do like pegging smaller weights with beaver style baits because I feel it helps to present them more naturally, especially if you're skipping them.

 

But I pitch and flip worms or jigs 99% of the time.

[Catt]

Some of y'all need to watch under water footage of a Texas Rig & see for yourself how much separation is actually taking place.

 

Once you start "working" the Texas Rig that distance closes & does not open again.

[Cbump]

22 minutes ago, Catt said:

Some of y'all need to watch under water footage of a Texas Rig & see for yourself how much separation is actually taking place.

 

Once you start "working" the Texas Rig that distance closes & does not open again.

So what you’re saying is it’s fine that I peg my weight because It basically pegs anyway lol. 
 

What I don’t want to happen, regardless of it’s actually likely to happen or not, is my weight to be on one side of a limb and my bait on the other side. I pitch my Texas rigs into nasty brush. 

[Dakotabowhunter]

Long time forum reader but first time posting. I've been fishing 30+ years and have always pegged my sinker, I've usually had good luck this way. What will I gain by not pegging the sinker? I would guess that I'll get hung up more often as the bait and the sinker separate in cover? I guess I'm now curious and will have to experiment a little bit to see if the lure action changes one way or the other. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

90% of the time I'm not using a peg.  Even with baits that have action it takes a little while for that weight to separate from the bait on the initial fall.  You really only have separation on a vertical axis with slack line.  If you really want that bait to have a decent amount separation the entire retrieve you're better off with a mojo or C rig.

[fin]

6 hours ago, Dakotabowhunter said:

Long time forum reader but first time posting. I've been fishing 30+ years and have always pegged my sinker, I've usually had good luck this way. What will I gain by not pegging the sinker? I would guess that I'll get hung up more often as the bait and the sinker separate in cover? I guess I'm now curious and will have to experiment a little bit to see if the lure action changes one way or the other. 

 

I’ve almost always pegged too. I haven’t questioned it for years until this thread. I’ve been going unpegged the past couple days, and with a trick worm or curly tail worm, the benefit I’ve seen is that you get a weightless effect just as the bait reaches the bottom. It looks much more natural for a worm. That’s pretty important.

 

I agree that it seems more likely to wrap around a limb, and as others have pointed out, there are situations like with a creature or beaver where it doesn’t look as natural, and there are other considerations, like weight size, that play into it, but I think for worms, it’s worth reconsidering if you haven't thought about it in a long time.

[33oldtimer]

8 hours ago, Dakotabowhunter said:

Long time forum reader but first time posting. I've been fishing 30+ years and have always pegged my sinker, I've usually had good luck this way. What will I gain by not pegging the sinker? I would guess that I'll get hung up more often as the bait and the sinker separate in cover? I guess I'm now curious and will have to experiment a little bit to see if the lure action changes one way or the other. 

It seems like 30 years ago everyone did peg their sinkers, using toothpicks primarily. That is why things are confusing now as that idea has done a 180 and now the thought is you should not peg your sinker whenever possible

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 minutes ago, 33oldtimer said:

It seems like 30 years ago everyone did peg their sinkers, using toothpicks primarily. That is why things are confusing now as that idea has done a 180 and now the thought is you should not peg your sinker whenever possible

As a guy who was mentored by a true OG Texas Bass fisherman, you're spot on, he always pegged it w/ a toothpick, and that was the way it was done his whole life, much of it spent living in Texas.  

[Motoboss]

Nope, never.

[Cbump]

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

As a guy who was mentored by a true OG Texas Bass fisherman, you're spot on, he always pegged it w/ a toothpick, and that was the way it was done his whole life, much of it spent living in Texas.  

Everyone I know here pegs them. 

[Bird]

If you feel the need to peg a T-rig why not just throw a Shakey head? 

It's what I do anyway.

 

Throwing at very steep banks, almost vertical where you cast and give plenty of slack, a Shaky head will out perform a T-rig. Imo

The weight on a T-rig will pull away from bait and leave you with a mushy hook set.

Normal conditions, I've never pegged.

[Cbump]

A mushy hookset?

[Jar11591]

Only when I’m fishing in the gnarliest timber.