side ways or straight up

[Catt]

Carolina Rigs y'all drag em side ways or straight up like a Texas rig?  

[Hammer 4]

Most of the time..sideways..

[burleytog]

Rod stays horizontal, moves from 11 to 3.

[The_Natural]

All around and in-between...I just maintain contact with my sinker.  Vertical pulls with sinkers 3/4oz or less will result in hopping your weight unless worked really slow. Some do like to hop their sinker off the bottom...giving their bait some lift and letting it flutter back down.  I generally prefer to use a 1oz sinker and maintain bottom contact, stirring up debris as my weight kicks along, allowing my bait to bounce along seemingly weightless.  I'd say the afforementioned techique is the preferred method.

[Willzx225]

I drag my rig horizontally all the time except when I feel the sinker digging into heavy rocks then I fish it vertically but still slow enough to drag.  That way I can raise my sinker over larger rocks when it starts to hang up.

[Redhed]

i rarely texas rig vertically unless i am bumping into a lot of rocks or debri. i like the weight keeping constant contact with the bottom. if i go a bit and not catching using a sweeping motion i have been known to go vertical

[Siebert Outdoors]

depends on bottom terrain.  So both.

[Catt]

Ok then on Toledo Bend where the bottom terrain is grass  

[Siebert Outdoors]

Never been there. Grass thick matted? Probably C rig wouldnt be my favorite style in thick grass though.

Brings up questions. How deep? Leader length? How tall is the grass?   If the water was shallow say less then 2-3 ft I would pull to the side more then likely. If its deeper I'd pull up and over then let the bait punch back through. Both routes using a short leader.

[roadwarrior]

Seeing is believing...

A couple of weeks ago I was at a BPS fish tank demonstration by Mike

Whitten, BPS Staff Pro and writer for GYCB. Mike fished a Carolina rig

with a 1 oz slip weight.

The key is keeping the weight on the bottom and maintaining contact

with your rig at all times. The movement was with the reel ONLY. When

the C-rig is retrieved with the weight dragging the bottom, the bait pops

up! If you jerk it with your rod, the bait just moves forward.

Another feature of dragging a weight is kicking up debris which often

attracts the attention of any near-by bass. The action can be fast or

slow, but slow is usually the ticket.

Hook-set is ALWAYS a long, horizontal sweep and constant

pressure when fighting the fish. Never let the fish stall, it's either

pulling drag or coming your way.

8-)

[Redhed]

Seeing is believing...

A couple of weeks ago I was at a BPS demonstration in their fish

tank by Mike Whitten, BPS Staff Pro and writer for GYCB. Mike

fished a Carolina rig with a 1 oz slip weight. The key is keeping

the weight on the bottom and maintaining contact with your rig at all

times. The movement was with the reel ONLY. When the C-rig is

retrieved with the weight dragging the bottom, the bait pops up! If you

jerk it with your rod, the bait just moves forward. Another feature of

dragging a weight is kicking up debris which often attracts the attention

of any near-by bass. Hook-set is ALWAYS a long, horizontal sweep

and constant pressure when fighting the fish.

8-)

ahh a perspective i have never seen nor tried..hmm awesome thanks

[Mottfia]

Seeing is believing...

A couple of weeks ago I was at a BPS demonstration in their fish

tank by Mike Whitten, BPS Staff Pro and writer for GYCB. Mike

fished a Carolina rig with a 1 oz slip weight. The key is keeping

the weight on the bottom and maintaining contact with your rig at all

times. The movement was with the reel ONLY. When the C-rig is

retrieved with the weight dragging the bottom, the bait pops up! If you

jerk it with your rod, the bait just moves forward. Another feature of

dragging a weight is kicking up debris which often attracts the attention

of any near-by bass. Hook-set is ALWAYS a long, horizontal sweep

and constant pressure when fighting the fish.

8-)

ahh a perspective i have never seen nor tried..hmm awesome thanks

I agree. good post roadwarrior

[ww2farmer]

Most of the time (absolutes like never and always don't belong in my fishing vocabulary) I drag the weight on the bottom, keeping contact with the bottom as much as possable. I do this with the reel, and with sweeping motions with the rod. EVEN in thick grass, I just use a longer leader and smaller tungsten bullet sinker, slides through fairly well. I did not begin to have success with a C-rig untill I fished it this way. Hopping the sinker off the bottom produces poor results for me. [

[Catt]

Ok guys y'all first need to understand Toledo Bend is not one big matted Hydrilla field, it has every type of structure and cover y'all have ever imagined. Picture in your mind the absolute perfect scenario of structure, cover, surrounding landscape and I'll show you that on the Bend.

The reason behind this question is I've tried to become comfortable using a Carolina Rig but it just aint happening but I use the sideward movement of my rod. I've watched Paul Elias's record setting performance numerous times and he's moving it like a Texas Rig but instead of hoping it he's dragging it. My thought process is since I've long ago master a Texas Rig maybe this would be easier for me but RW's post is some thing else to think about.

[ChazfromVA]

i drag mine most of the time but sometimes ill pick it up and drop it because i mostly rig a fluke and it creates a nice darting action along the bottom.. it can be pretty deadly if the conditions are right

[senile1]

I learned to drag to the side and that is the way I've always done it though I will occasionally try everything else when I'm not getting bit.  I was watching an episode of "The Bass Pros" recently and Tim Horton was raising his rod like a Texas rig.  When he set the hook he used the typical long horizontal sweep to the side.  I'll have to experiment more with the technique of raising the rod.

[Siebert Outdoors]

Ok guys y'all first need to understand Toledo Bend is not one big matted Hydrilla field, it has every type of structure and cover y'all have ever imagined. Picture in your mind the absolute perfect scenario of structure, cover, surrounding landscape and I'll show you that on the Bend.

The reason behind this question is I've tried to become comfortable using a Carolina Rig but it just aint happening but I use the sideward movement of my rod. I've watched Paul Elias's record setting performance numerous times and he's moving it like a Texas Rig but instead of hoping it he's dragging it. My thought process is since I've long ago master a Texas Rig maybe this would be easier for me but RW's post is some thing else to think about.

Sounds like some of the lakes I fish.    Reason I asked so many questions is because I'm an odd ball when it comes to fishing.  I'm a thinker I guess.

In open water, gravel, light weeds, shallow heavier weeds I drag to the side never hop.

Chunk rock I slowly lift up in a drag kinda motion to help keep the sinker from getting wedged between rocks.  Major pain for me.

The real thick weeds in deaper water if I chose to throw a crig  I usually pull up out of the weeds and let it fall back through fishing the whole water column in the weeds.

Works for me.

[Catt]

senile1, I watched the same episode which is why I made the post; GMAN we all learning something bout this sport of ours

[flechero]

My thought process is since I've long ago master a Texas Rig maybe this would be easier for me but RW's post is some thing else to think about.

As long as you keep in contact with the bottom, the way you drag has little effect on things...  but in cases where bites are soft and subtle, that earlier post suggesting you to only move bait with the reel, will cost you some fish.  I don't know about you but I feel a lot more when I'm not reeling.  

To stay on topic, I'm probably a 60/40 side dragger...  we have a few bluff like areas that I fish up and down as well as when "tree topping" it's vertical for me.  We tree top a lot for suspenders.

[J Francho]

Apparently, I thought I was doing it "wrong" but its actually right?  I remember reading about the do nothing rig and Carolina rig in In-Fisherman, wayyyy back, and they said to basically chuck it, and reel it in slowly.

After learning how to worm with a T-rig, I always thought I was doing it wrong.  I haven't C-rigged in a long time, but I think it will be on my list of top 5 things to work on.

[Catt]

Thanks guys now I got to make this ole Cajun throw one more