Ever go to the lake fully unrigged?

[casts_by_fly]

I love rigging tackle.  I love thinking ahead and picturing that the bass are going to want a spinnerbait (or insert other bait) today based on what I think will happen.  I check the weather, the wind, the moon, the lake levels and temps, etc, to make a plan for how I'm going to fish.  Maybe its an anticipation thing, like playing the lottery.  Last night was a late addition trip to the plan.  I did the frog distance testing yesterday morning so had cut all of the lures off my rods.  I planned to re-rig them before leaving, but got waylaid.  I ended up launching with 4 unrigged rods and a fifth with something I had no intention of throwing and cut it off immediately.  It got me thinking about why I pick certain presentations ahead of time, my reluctance to take a minute to change lures, and my mental anchoring to something I think should be happening and not adapting to what is happening.  I'm not saying I'm going to do it every trip (certainly not trips that start at 3 AM), but it was a useful exercise. 

 

Specifically here, if I were to have prerigged, I would have had a spinnerbait/chatterbait on one rod, a frog on a rod, a texas beaver, a magdraft freestyle, and something else (maybe a swim jig).  The forecast was cloudy, breezy, and the third day of stable weather ahead of a front coming in last night.  I'd think of that as good spinnerbait/chatterbait weather and would have started there with the occasional throw of a frog back into the muck.  I don't know if I would have caught fish that way, but I do know when I got there it wasn't windy, wasn't cloudy (maybe 50% cloud cover), and the breeze was minimal most of the time.  The water was 10' clarity also.  Since I had nothing tied on, I had no anchor of what I thought should happen so I looked at the actual conditions and added one bait at a time.  The swimbait idea was good, but the magdraft was too much for the 'skinny' conditions.  A much smaller and more muted 4" swimbait was the ticket, followed up with a beaver (which is always a good choice and will probably always be rigged on one rod). 

 

Anyone else go fully unrigged or without a plan regularly?  

[Susky River Rat]

I keep on whatever was on last time I went out. 

[DaubsNU1]

I rig my rods / reels based on the lake I'm fishing that day.

 

There are some that are always rigged and ready to roll:

• Spinner bait on my favorite casting rod
• Jig-n-craw on a casting rod
• Drop shot on spinning rod
• Squarebill on spinning rod

Other rods get rigged based on the lake, weather, etc.

 

[Mike L]

I always pre-rig a frog, t rig and UV speed worm the night before as I always use those every outing. 

I’ll rig the others as I need them during the course of the day. 
 

 

 

Mike

[Pat Brown]

No - but I often leave the lake with the fish fully uncaught regardless of what I arrived at the lake rigged with 😂😂😂

[Texas Flood]

46 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

I rig my rods / reels based on the lake I'm fishing that day.

 

There are some that are always rigged and ready to roll:

• Spinner bait on my favorite casting rod
• Jig-n-craw on a casting rod
• Drop shot on spinning rod
• Squarebill on spinning rod

Other rods get rigged based on the lake, weather, etc.

 

Can't say I've ever fished a squarebill on a spinning rod before. Is there any advantage to using a spinning reel instead of a BC?

[WRB]

When I had my own boat with lots of rod/reel combo’s I may have tied on a clip to the crank bait rod  and rigged spinning rod with slip and drop shot the night before. Mostly I would string the rods with a loop at the end attached to the reel handle ready to rig when fun fishing. 
My habit was to launch the boat and let the current realtime conditions guide my lure choices. I trust fresh knots more than knots tied hours before. 
Tournament fishing I have a good idea what going on before rigging and re-tie every pre rigged outfit before using it, again fresh knots.

Tom

 

[gim]

26 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

Can't say I've ever fished a squarebill on a spinning rod before. Is there any advantage to using a spinning reel instead of a BC?

 

Sometimes they just aren't very heavy.  Which makes it difficult to cast.

 

As long as its heavy enough, I'm going with a BC.  And please don't start with this BFS garbage talk either.

 

As far as pre-rigging, I generally at least check my setups I intend to use ahead of time, even if I don't necessarily pre-rig or re-tie them.  Just assuming everything is in good shape is a recipe for disaster.

[DaubsNU1]

34 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

Can't say I've ever fished a squarebill on a spinning rod before. Is there any advantage to using a spinning reel instead of a BC?

 

It think it was someone here who recommended. I run 10lb bright yellow PowerPro braid on all my spinning gear...and either 10lb or 8lb fluoro leaders.

 

Casts quite a bit further than my BC set ups.

 

[MIbassyaker]

Not on purpose, because I fish mornings and I want to have a line in the water as soon as possible to maximize time before the sun gets high.

 

More generally I cannot stand to not have planned everything. I get a few hours at a time, a trip or two per week at most. I have enough space for 5 rods and tackle to fit in a single crate.  I plan months ahead of time which bodies of water I will fish, and during which approximate weeks and months of the year.  Every lure I bring with me is chosen ahead of time for the waters I am going, and starting presentations are always tied on ahead of time, ready to go. I plan what lures to start with, and what lures I will most likely switch to. I plan what spots and areas I will start, where I will go next, and roughly how long to stay. 

 

I'm always willing to toss out or revise the plan based on conditions, or feedback from the fish, but I always show up ready to do something, somewhere, based on reasonable and informed expectations.

[A-Jay]

I always pre-rig prior to a trip.

Might not always require much change. 

Sometimes it does, especially when I am fishing a different body of water.

Once I get there, I will often tweak a few deals based on the conditions;

wind, turbidity, water level etc.

Much of my fishing is done right at first light.

So timing is a big deal.

Don't want to miss what might be a fairly small bite window if I can help it.

Pre-rigging baits supports that goal.

Will admit to re-rigging at the ramp with a headlamp a few times.

Besides, how long do you think takes . . . ?

 

😎

A-Jay

 

 

[Functional]

I've got some staples that never change but the ones that are weather dependent I leave from the last trip and change the morning/day of. The weather here (at least the places I check) are wrong most times enough to matter and I got tired of rigging twice.

 

My pre-trip involves charging batteries, checking if I need to retie and re-loading the boat with snacks and spare water.

[geo g]

 I always go with a plan that sometimes changes under certain conditions. First and most important, if fishing with someone else I will usually start with something opposite what my partner is throwing.  If he is throwing plastics deep, I will be throwing top water.  If he is going slow and deliberate, I will be jerking and cranking fast looking for a reaction bite.  Whoever starts with a decent bite, we will adjust our approach.  Although we may not throw the exact same bait, it will become similar in style.  If he is throwing a worm slow, I may throw a wacky rig in a similar location, if he is throwing to thick cover, I may target a significant ledge close to that cover.  This really helped my  late partner of 30 years and I to find fish and stay on the bite.  A real advantage to not fishing alone.  It got to a point that we both knew what the other was going to do before he did it!  Testing waters, testing levels, and testing methods, have made for many a happy day for both of us!

[islandbass]

I’ve done both but mostly unrigged. This is primarily it eliminates  the possibility of lures or weights banging on the rod blank. I’ve also experience. If the line gets a little loose it can also get tangled up so badly that I might have to cut it off and retie thereby defeating the reason to pre-rig. Or, what I anticipated turns out to be wrong that I have to remove what I initially had on. Granted, there are solutions to those issues. 

[MediumMouthBass]

Each lake, pond, and river i fish is completely different, therefor the way i fish each one is different.

Ill spend the night before switching rods/reels, changing baits and lures, i also have 2-3 different tackle bags for soft plastics that can fit between 10-20 bags each. 1 bag for each different type (example, 1 for pike/pickerel swamp like places, 1 for clean water smallmouth/walleye deep lakes, and one for the river). I go into the details quite a bit, ill pre plan the night before exactly where i think the bass will be in that lake and decide where is the best area or areas to spend my time for that day.

Ill also think about the weather and wind, but thats only for kayaking not for fishing.

 

Often times i stick to the baits and lures i have an extreme amount of confidence in, regardless of the weather, wind, or time of year. Theres been to many times ive got to the lake and cut off a freshly tied on lure after just a few minutes, if i went to the lake without rigging and pre planning id spend more time tying knots and switching lures than i would fishing.

[TnRiver46]

I usually go unrigged because I quit the last time when I broke off 

[gim]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I usually go unrigged because I quit the last time when I broke off 

 

Been there, done that.  Usually because a pike snipped me off.  There's some profanity and then the outing ends on a sour note.

 

I do re-tie those before my next outing though.

[Scott F]

Unless I’m fishing multiple days in a row, staying at the same place and my boat staying in the water, I’m never pre- rigged. I seldom use more than 3 rigs in a day especially if I’m fishing small rivers out of my personal pontoon. At the end of a day, I cut off all my lures, put them away and wind up my line. I hate having hooks and lines getting tangled in other lines while traveling. Keeping the number of rods to a minimum means it only takes a couple of minutes to restring and tie on lures. 

[Catt]

Yeah I did 🤔

 

Drove 1 1/2 hours to the marsh, launched the boat, parked the truck, walked back to the boat. When I got in the boat, I realized I had left my rods at home!

 

 

[BayouSlide]

Nope. I hate rigging rods in the boat when I should be fishing. Make my plans the night before and rig accordingly.

[Swamp Girl]

5 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Anyone else go fully unrigged or without a plan regularly?  

 

Not me. I retie the night or afternoon before I launch. 

 

45 minutes ago, Catt said:

When I got in the boat, I realized I had left my rods at home!

 

Last year, I drove an hour to launch without paddles. 

 

3 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

More generally I cannot stand to not have planned everything.

 

Me too and I love the planning. You too?

 

Wow, @A-Jay! Impressive. 

[Woody B]

It depends on the day before.   My job is physical at times, mental at times, but always seems to be hectic.  Sometimes when I get home of Friday I'm tired..... ready to eat, shower and go to bed.  In these cases I show up to the lake either unrigged or rigged from the previous weekend.  WRB says knots weaken mono is as little as 24 hours so having stuff tied on from the week before isn't a good idea.  Occasionally I re learn this lesson.  A few weeks ago I was tired on Friday and didn't do anything beyond hooking up my charger.  When I got to the lake I was "ready" to fish, not retie stuff.   On my first cast I lost a Bass that was probably 3 poundish on it's first jump.   I put down my spinner bait and followed up with a wacky rig.   On that cast I broke off on the hookset.  I spot locked my boat, rigged another wacky, retied my other 4 combos and sharpened my spinnerbait hook.  On my next cast , the 3rd cast of the day but with a few minute break between casts I caught my biggest Bass of the year.  7.91 pounds.   I got lucky, but now if I don't pre rig the night before I do what needs to be done at the landing before I launch my boat.  It seems like an eternity rigging stuff before I get to fish but it's only a minute or 2.   

[Skunkmaster-k]

@islandbass said what I was thinking. The sound of a lure hitting the side of my rod makes me cringe. 

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

Yeah I did 🤔

 

Drove 1 1/2 hours to the marsh, launched the boat, parked the truck, walked back to the boat. When I got in the boat, I realized I had left my rods at home!

 

 

summer before last I dropped the kayak in the water, threw the rods in, went back to get my tackle bag and had forgotten it. Fortunately I DID prerig rods so I at least have five lures plus a couple cutoffs in the bottom of the boat. 

 

1 hour ago, BayouSlide said:

Nope. I hate rigging rods in the boat when I should be fishing. Make my plans the night before and rig accordingly.

me too and that’s been my methodology.  I carry five rods so one of them should be working, right?  But changing out lures, even taking just two minutes and giving my back a break to sit down, is time I should be fishing!  So I am reluctant to swap.  So if I guessed wrong the night before I’m probably going to stick with it longer than I should. 
 

 

 

I think going forward I’m going to try going unrigged on evening trips.  I’ll grab a couple likely lures and have them in the ‘day box’ side of the boat and not in the tackle bag, nothing on until after I launch and have a look. 

[Bankbeater]

I always rig up before I leave home.