Using a Carolina Rig
Most anglers that fish a lot have at one point in time fished or tried the rig, but didn't like it enough to stick with it. Well, it is not for every situation, but it has been found that if you stick with it, you will soon learn when it is time to throw the rig. There are many anglers that say they won't be caught on the water in the Spring without a Carolina rig (C.rig). Yet, after the spawn is over and the bass are going into the Summer patterns, they leave it behind for other lures. Those are the times it really comes alive, when fishing offshore structure, deep drops, ledges and creek channels. Start out with normal patterns and lures for fishing from the top of the water column, to the structure below. But when the aggressive bite goes away and you can't get them on a crank, spinner bait or top water, then go to plastics. Just a solid presentation that can be applied almost anywhere no matter the depth or cover.
After the crank bait bite dies on the structure your fishing, go to the C.rig. It not only gives you about the best feel you can have to tell you what is down there, but it also allows for a super slow finesse presentation with any size plastic. That is a big bass presentation. What the C.rig does is allow you to offer the bass at any depth, under any conditions (wind, current and so on), a slow plastic on and in the structure itself without having to struggle to keep a tight line under tough conditions.
The big sinker allows for the weight to stay on the bottom at all times and makes a lot of noise and disturbance on the bottom as it clacks on the glass beads and stirs up mud or silt. That gets the bass attention and when it comes over to look, it sees this plastic lure gliding behind the mud trail and it is just deadly. Try working points, drops and your favorite cranking holes over with a C.rig. after you've worked it 100% with a crank. The aggressive bass will normally be the 1st to take a lure, and often the larger less aggressive bass will not chase the faster lure. That's when you drag this rig across the structure right in front of them.
The rig is not limited to small plastics either. If you are on a lake like with large bass, you can have some great days with a 10" worm, large freak bait or any large profile plastic that you normally throw on a Texas rig. Most think of a C.rig as a numbers bait. Well, that all depends on how you fish it. If you are dragging it at a quick pace as most of us do, then you will pick up the aggressive bass, which are normally smaller. But then, after you do that, slow it down.
Drag the lure at a snails pace through the cover. When you feel it hit a stump or brush, work it like a crank bait and stop the bait. Let the lure settle to the bottom and then drag it again. Many times that is when the big bite comes. After you bump something, and instead of dragging it on by, stop for a couple of seconds and then get bit. Use 9" lizards, 8" grubs and 10-12" worms on lakes that have big bass and you could have awesome success.
The bait also can be used as a search lure like a spinner bait or small crank bait. You can cast it out and drag it, reel the slack, drag, and keep on going down the area until you find structure down there you might want to mark and work over slow, or get bit and then work that area slower. It is an amazing tool with endless ways to use it.
The basic rig is a leader of mono from 2-4' with 2 the standard, a swivel, glass beads and a heavy brass sinker. The leader should be longer in clear water and shorter in stained water. That will make a lot of difference. You have things in the right order. First, slide a brass or tungsten sinker on the line (1/2-1oz). Try 2 glass beads or one glass bead and a clacker, then the Carolina keeper and the hook. Generally start out with a 2' leader. If the water is really stained go shorter so the lure is closer to the noise. In clear water, go longer like 3'. There are times when a real long leader up to 5' 6" has it's benefits. Remember that the longer the leader is, the harder it will be to cast as the line will catch air and tend to hang in the air while your spool is still spinning so keep your thumb in control.
This rig can be fished in some grass, but once the grass is really thick, try going to a Texas rig. But for early season grass or thin grassy areas, a longer leader will allow the lure to drift around in the mid section of the grass where the bass often suspend and it is much easier to pull through. The way you drag the lure is also a point often overlooked. Use the standard side-to-side drag and reel up slack and start over most of the time. When fishing brush, thick structure, steep drops and grass, raise the rod up just like you do with a Texas rig works best to come through.
On the steeper drops, you can just raise the tip a little, feel the sinker stop and work it that way with smaller motions because the farther you drag it on a steep drop, the farther you will pull it away from the bottom when it is steep and you will jump large areas. The key with this rig is to keep the sinker on the bottom. It lets you feel everything down there and keeps you in touch with what the bait is going through down there. If you are fishing shallow water, you can use a lighter weight and a smaller lure for a finesse style rig. It will not spook the bass much when the lighter rig lands in shallow water.
For super clear water or when the bass are very non aggressive and everything seems to spook them, you can use the rig without beads for a silent presentation that is almost all visual. The last trick to use this for is in the Fall when the bass are chasing Shad up into the creeks. They will feed on the dying shad that fall under the school to the bottom so rig with a fluke, Senko or other soft jerk bait that looks like a shad in natural colors without beads. Fish this all along the creeks and flats where the bass are chasing shad and use a longer leader. The bait will fall and spiral softly like a baitfish that has been injured to the bottom. Hop the rig when your using this so the bait is always falling back to the bottom after it settles. By raising the tip of the rod pretty fast, it jerks the sinker and lure up into the water and then the sinker goes straight to the bottom and the lure glides back down.
In the spring go small, such as a 2/0 Gamakatsu round bend wide gap hook with a V&M mini lizard or zoom centipede. You can use Zoom mini lizards also, but V&M have a little more thickness and action. As spring progresses go to a regular lizard and 4/0 Gamakatsu round bend wide gap. Generally don’t go lighter than 1/2oz on sinkers, but in very shallow water early in spring, you can sometimes use a 1/4oz sinker so it doesn’t spook the fish when it hits the water like a big sinker will. Also paint my sinkers black, the fish will often hit the weight instead of the lure if it is shiny.
In Summer a 10" power worm or big 9" lizards of any kind. You are not going to feel the fish hit the C.rig like you do a Texas rig. Sometimes you don’t feel it at all if you are using a heavy sinker and don’t have a super sensitive rod. Cast this thing out as far as you can and just sweep the tip low to the water to your side then just reel up the slack towards the side you started sweeping from and do it all over again all the way back to the boat. Now if you are fishing rocky bottoms or through thick stumps or structure of any kind, it works better to work it like a Texas rig by pulling it up slowly instead of side to side. It will come up and over the cover better. Main thing is to use a sinker heavy enough to maintain bottom contact. You will find the C.rig is one of the fastest and best ways to "feel out" what’s down there. If you are fishing steep drops and sitting out in the deeper water, you will also want to use the straight up retrieve as mentioned before. Don't fish the C.rig very slow like a Texas rig. Just sweep from one side to the other, steady sweep and reel up slack and do it over. Let the fish tell you if they want it faster or slower. The lure isn’t going to float off the bottom like most think unless you use a floating lure. But the purpose it that the lure has the ability to fish any depth with a finesse approach because the lure is silently gliding around banging this loud sinker. The fish hear it and see this lure chasing it. The lures to be used are endless.
Here's a big bonus tip, in the fall when fish are eating big bunches of shad up in creeks, rig a soft jerk bait on the rig but don’t use any beads or clackers. You want a silent presentation. Cast it around these areas where bass go in fall and fish it in hops so the weight jumps off the bottom and makes the lure come up off the bottom. Then let it sink back down to the bottom. This looks like a dying shad falling down and big bass will eat it up. This is probably the only time you will ever need to fish a C.rig slow. Cast it into shallow water after you rig it and see how long it takes for the fluke (any soft jerk) to fall to the bottom. Then you will know how long to count when you are fishing it in deeper water and can’t see when it hits the bottom.
