Caught my first bass using a wacky rig!

[Drop the Bass]

Today I caught my first fish using a wacky rig. I've caught bass before, but not on a wacky rig, I was just starting to lose all hope in senkos. I was using a watermelon 5" senko w/ black and red flakes. It was about 10 or 11 inches and maybe a pound or less, but it put up a nice fight.

However, when fishing a senko wacky rigged, how do I know when a fish takes it? This time, I kind of saw my line go straight and move and I tried to set the hook (I thought the senko was just sinking to the bottom of the river).

But how would you know when a bass takes your senko?

Thanks.

[flyboy1]

when wacky rigging you need to watch your line cuz bass will inhale and slowly swim with it (it's completeley different than how a bass will hit a crank bait, etc..) Once you see your line starting to move and straighten out thats when you know you have a fish.... pay attention cuz if you are too slow at recognize a fish on the line you will end up gut hooking the fish....

[WormFisherman]

Try going to the 4 inch senkos when the 5s arent working. Also if the water is murky like this week I tend to do better with a brighter color one. Just my quick 2 cents.

[acabtp]

maybe change your retrieval method when working plastic worms?

cast it out, leave your rod tip pointed towards where you casted and let the worm drop. once you feel it hit bottom, pause a second, and then raise your rod tip. this moves the worm towards you. drop your rod tip back down parallel with the water and as you are doing this reel in your slack line. repeat. the important difference is that you are retreiving the lure by raising your rod tip repeatedly and when reeling, you are only taking up the slack you have created in the line. don't reel the lure in directly.

they will usually hit it after the pause as you begin to raise the rod tip. you will feel it and be in the perfect position to set the hook. this is how i fish all plastics, whether i have them rigged wacky, texas or carolina style. also, i try to exclusively use black senkos. good luck!

[ithaca10]

I've had some great blowups dragging a 5" senko across the scum rigged wacky style with a weedless hook. Working it the same as a scum frog.

[Skunk City]

Your first wacky rigged Bass of hundreds:) . They are killer for Bass. I've landed more bass on that rig than anything else out there. Good job.

[MikeNJ]

What type of hook and size do you guys normally use for wacky rigging? I normally fish my senkos Texas rigged using an EWG 3/0 - 4/0 hook. Could I use the same hook for wacky rigging?

[flyboy1]

What type of hook and size do you guys normally use for wacky rigging? I normally fish my senkos Texas rigged using an EWG 3/0 - 4/0 hook. Could I use the same hook for wacky rigging?

too big.... you want a 2/0 wacky hook or circle hook... these kinds of hooks don't interfere with the action/fall of the senko or wacky rigged worm and it cuts down on the gut hooking

[flyboy1]

Try going to the 4 inch senkos when the 5s arent working. Also if the water is murky like this week I tend to do better with a brighter color one. Just my quick 2 cents.

the 4" work but not as well as the 5"... the 5" senkos have the perfect wiggle/shimmy where as the 4" are a little stiffer... I prefer the 5" but will sometimes throw on 4" for targeting smaller fish..

[Jigman13]

I caught one of my largest NJ bass on a wacky rigged 3" senko... Elephants eat peanuts, too!

[Mjh609]

the 4" work but not as well as the 5"... the 5" senkos have the perfect wiggle/shimmy where as the 4" are a little stiffer... I prefer the 5" but will sometimes throw on 4" for targeting smaller fish..


Senkos are awesome for Texas rigging but for wacky rigging these are the best IMO. http://www.lftlures.com/categories/soft-plastics-lft-hyper-whack-n-worm-6

[goodfishin]

My go to rig is the Texas variety because I can fish the Senko back through heavy cover in a lot of different ways. With that said, I've been practicing with a wacky rig more and have been having the same issue with being able to feel a strike, especially in really heavy cover where you can't feel the Senko hit bottom because it's probably settling in or on vegetation. To compensate, I've started doing one tiny, tiny little twitch after it hits what I think should be bottom to feel if there's any tension on there before lifting, retrieving and re-dropping. Works pretty well for feeling if there's a fish on when the line hasn't moved and also occasionally provokes a strike as well.

Re: hooks, since I've been fishing in really heavy cover, I've been testing out and having good success with weedless finesse hooks. Still hard for me to unlearn my childhood trout learnings about visible hardware being a total no-no with worms but the bass don't seem to mind at all that their snack is hanging from a round contraption.

If you are fishing somewhere that doesn't have a ton of vegetation, I'd highly recommend trying the O-ring method of rigging. You basically use small, rubber O-rings that you can find at hardware stores to thread the worm through and then hook your circle hook just under the O-ring and not the worm. Keeps the worm from getting chewed up by the hook and works like a charm. It works better for regular Senko's than finesse worms but the first picture gives you an idea of what we're talking about (on a weedless finesse hook). However, the key is to have an O-ring that is tight enough to hold on tight to the worm... otherwise, after you get a big strike, you end up with what you see in the second picture. Nothing. :)

Mike

p.s. The pike pictured in my other post ("Just another day at the office...") as well as the 7-8 bass I mentioned were caught on baits wacky rigged on weedless hooks the size of the one in these pictures.

[flyboy1]

@GoodFishin... those hooks work good for wacky rigging but the weed guards suck... they don't guard against anything and snag just as easily as any other hook... but the actual hook itself works good as it is compact and angled in a circular pattern..

[goodfishin]

I understand what you're saying... You still end up having to pull a lot of salad off of the hook/bait. However, the one thing it does help with is the point biting into thick, strong stems of lily pads and the like. It catches some grass but doesn't impale some of the thick stuff...