Spring Wacky Rig Bass Fishing (Catch 10x MORE Bass!)

Hey guys, Derek Hudnall here, Bassmaster Elite Series Pro. So excited to talk to you guys about one of my most favorite and successful setups on the planet and especially during the time that everybody craves to get on the water and that's the springtime. I'm talking months, March, April, May when these fish are in full spawn, weightless wacky worm, you're going to catch fish that nobody else will. It's an incredible search bait, an incredible, just fish catching machine. But I'm going to tell you this guys, it is so important to make sure that you have the correct setup from the bait, all the way down to the rod, to the reel, your knots, your line, you have to have the right tools in order to be effective with a weightless wacky worm.

So why is a weightless wacky worm effective? It's because something just sits in front of their face. You know, I use the analogy a lot, you're eating Thanksgiving dinner at your grandmother's and you just ate four or five helpings and she puts that big old plate of cookies in front of you and you just can't resist even though you're full. It sits in front of that fish long enough, they absolutely will eat it. I'm telling you, this weightless wacky worm setup will catch them when nothing else will, bar none. I'm telling you, this thing right here will absolutely catch them.

Now, the second part of why a weightless wacky worm is so effective is because once you get efficient with your cast and skipping this thing, you're going to be able to put this bait where you can't put anything else, where other anglers cannot put a bait. Once you get effective with the setup and you find the one that's correct for you, you're going to be able to have more success than you've ever had before because you're going to be able to put this bait where nobody else can. So before we get into the springtime, I mean that's when some of the biggest fish around the country are caught or during the spawn, just before, during, just after, you know, everywhere from pre-spawn to when they're spawning and then fry guarders and post-spawn, man, this thing can be so incredibly effective.

So let's start with the bait. This right here is a Missile Baits 48 and this little bait right here, I've probably had more success on this bait than anything else in my boat. I have so much confidence in this bait. So the Missile Baits 48 is called that for a reason. It is 4.8 inches long, so it's a little bit shorter than your typical 5-inch stick Senko-style bait. So it's a little more finessey but it still has really good weight to it. If you'll notice, on this 48, either side is a little fatter than the middle is. So why is that important? First off, it increases your skip rate so you're able to really sling this thing and it skips really, really well. The most important part is when this bait falls, because it's fatter on either side, you'll notice it enhances the wobble as it slowly sinks and it really gets those fishes' attention. They can see it better and they just really cannot stand it. So that's why this Missile Baits 48 is absolutely my favorite whenever I'm wacky styling anything.

And then we go to the hook. And guys, I'm going to tell you this, there are guys in the Bassmaster Elite series that throw this hook that are not affiliated with Gamakatsu. But I'm telling you this right here, this little weightless wacky stinger, weedless weightless wacky stinger, it has a titanium weed guard on it. Guys, this titanium weed guard, it always bends back into place. It is very, very limber. A lot of mistakes that we made with especially trying to throw a weedless wacky is that the weed guards are just too stiff. The biggest part of that with catching any fish is making sure that you have good hook-point penetration. And if it's too stiff, then just simply, you're going to miss fish. You're going to come into situations where the weed guards, it's impeding the hook set. So you want to make sure that that's not the issue. But this little weedless wacky stinger is just the best on the planet, guys. It's super limber, bends right back into shape. You know, if you do bend it down, it keeps you from getting hung up. It's just all around, the best weightless wacky hook that I've ever thrown before. So, extremely important.

So every part of this setup is as important as the next. If you miss one of them, you're going to run into trouble. So everything, when we start going into the line, into the reel, into the rod, it's just so important to have the right equipment. And this is taking years of trial and error to find the right setup that's best for me.

So we're going to go to the line next. So now we've got the bait, we've got the hook, we're going to go into the line. Oh, again, extremely important. I have a 15-pound Sunline Xplasma, and that's the lime green. So that's the high vis, extremely important, guys. Number one, because you want to have that meat to put the hook in it. But number two, you want that high vis because that's a line watching deal. When I'm skipping a wacky worm, my eyes do not leave that lime green line that's laying on the water because you can see it kind of just going as it's sinking and then all of a sudden, you'll see it jump. And you'll see it, you'll know that fish is on it and you can reel up to him, get a good hook-point penetration. Take your time whenever you see a bite on a weightless wacky worm. Guys, 99% of the time they're not going to drop it. Take your time, reel up to a load into that fish. Do not set the hook and you'll catch most of those fish.

So now we go to the leader. I tie probably a 10 to 12-foot, 10-pound Sunline Sniper leader on it. So as you can see here about where my knot is, you know, I'm probably 10 to 12 foot. I like this. You know, whenever I tie this line, I use an Alberto knot. You know, some people use an FG knot or a unity, uni, whatever knot you have confidence in, that's the knot that you stick with. You don't have any problems. But I'm an Alberto knot, it's super easy to re-tie on the water. But I'm typically a 10 to 12 foot and I'm somewhere right here. And whenever I originally tie this knot, you know, with my leader, you know, I'm somewhere in this area, so I'm probably about 12 to 18 inches outside of the reel bill. That way, whenever I cast and I reel up, it's only like, one wrap into the reel. You don't want your knot four or five or six wraps into the reel whenever you cast because sometimes that line will catch that knot. So that's why it's important to have a very, very small knot because you don't want that to happen.

So once I reel up one time, the knot is only one wrap into there, so the odds of the line catching that knot whenever you go to cast, it's a little less at that point. So that's why I choose to do, you know, that 10 to 12-foot leader on that line. Extremely important because very castable, especially this Xplasma Sunline and along with the 10-pound Sniper, I mean, you just can't break this. Your knots are good, your line is good and you're using the right setup, you're going to have success doing that. So those are all very important.

So now, we're going to get down to the reel. So this right here is a SEVIIN GX Series spinning reel by SEVIIN. Really cool, unique thing about this is the ball bearing systems and the drag. Drag is so important anytime you're fighting, especially a big fish, but especially on a spinning rod setup. Most drag systems are metal to metal. It's just some grease in between so you'll get some slippage and you know what I'm talking about when a fish is digging. So this ball bearing system in here is super-smooth, so whenever a fish pulls, it's extremely smooth whenever that fish pulls out and the drag is pulling out as well. That ball bearing system is just incredible.

And now we go to the rod, extremely important. This right here is a 7'3" medium light, extra fast. That's MLXF. This is the Legend Tournament by St. Croix. And man, when they came out with this size, you know, about three years ago when it came out with the Victory Series, they came out with this size. Once I put that in my hand and I thought I was being efficient on the water with the rod that I was using, but once they came out with this, I really figured out that this is absolutely primo, 7'3", good length. And anytime you're fishing a weightless wacky worm and you're putting this thing in places that nobody else can, you need a little bit longer rod, you need a rod that's got a good tip because it's almost like a rubber band effect. It's all about tip speed when you're trying to skip that wacky worm either underneath a dock, underneath tight cover, underneath a limb, behind a cypress tree, wherever it is, you need to have tip speed and that's what's going to allow you to make smooth and really long casts on the water. But you know guys, I'm not very tall, I'm 5'9". Some of you guys out there are 6'3", some of you guys are shorter, so you may need to play around with rod length a little bit. But this 7'3" is right there in the middle and I have no doubt that any of you guys, no matter how tall you are, are going to have really good success with this rod length right here.

Just again, the setup is so key when it comes to fishing a weightless wacky worm and if you want to catch some of the biggest fish in a lifetime, let's face it, the springtime is the time to do it guys. March, April, May, they're spawning all around the country. Probably if not spawning, just finishing down South. You get in the middle of the country, you get into March and April, they're in full spawn. When you get up North, it's more of the latter parts of those months. So one of my favorite things to do that time of the year, and we're going to talk spawn. When those fish are up spawning and you're looking for those fish up there either on beds or just looking for a bed, is I like to get an area where I start looking for them, I will make long casts with this weightless wacky worm. And I have caught so many big fish, visually looking, sight fishing, looking for some of these big ones, and I'm constantly fan casting out in front of me where those fish can't see me yet. I'll come up and I'll just tighten up and there's a fish on it and I catch him and put him in the boat. Look, whenever you see a fish on a bed, your first instinct is to pick up a big stick and start flipping. I do the same thing, but there are situations where those fish are very, very hard to catch and you just can't get them active. There's been so many times sight fishing that I'll pick up this weightless wacky worm after I have been flipping a soft plastic at that fish for an hour sometimes and the first cast in there with a weightless wacky worm, they just absolutely can't stand it.

There are so many different situations, whether those fish are post-spawn guys and they're coming up and they're fry guarding. You see that fish up there and you see that ball of fry, weightless wacky worm is one of the most effective tools to catch those fish. It's something that just slow falls through their fry and as it goes down, that female just absolutely cannot stand it. You gotta be effective with your equipment if you want to have success on a weightless wacky worm. Please guys, that is the most important part of this entire thing, but especially in the springtime, guys.

There's not a whole lot to say about it in the springtime when they're spawning. When they're spawning, they will absolutely eat this thing. There has been so many times that I have went to fish, even that I saw the day before in events and tournaments and derbies, where I knew where that fish was and I purposely back way up, I know where he's at, I make a long-bomb cast with this thing and 90% of the time, they eat it on the absolute first cast, they just can't stand it. Because element of surprise is always the biggest ticket when it comes to catching spawning fish. But this weightless wacky worm, guys, will catch you giant fish all around the country, especially in that spawn months, in those spring months, March, April, May from spawn all the way to post-spawn. Fry guarders, this thing can be absolutely super-effective. And I can promise you if you get this set up right, it's going to help to put a lot more fish into your boat and it could even get you that PB, that personal best, that fish of a lifetime. So make sure you have this setup, you have this set up right on your front deck all times of the year, especially during the springtime. And I can promise you it's going to help you be more effective on the water and land more fish. We're tightline guys, and we'll see you guys next time.