Carolina Rig

[Phydiox]

Help! I Have Never, Ever Caught A Fish On A Carolina Rig. I Guess I Dont Feel The Bite, Or There Just Aint One. I Have Caught Fish Deep By Putting A Oz 1/2 Egg Sinker In Front Of A Crank Bait, But I Want To Be Able To Catch On A C-rig With Plastics. Any Help Would Be Greatly Appritiated!

[flfireman]

Patience is a plus. That's why it is called fishing and not catching. Just remember if you feel a tap or thump and it doesn't feel like the bottom"SET the HOOK!" Also watch the line, if the fish takes it the line will move.

[betursweetbass]

Increase you're odds by using your fish finder, concentrate on fishing around areas known to hold fish. Use Scents and Rattles, and give the bait an occasional bump or jerk. And DO BE PATIENT.

[Hef]

Trust me, you WILL feel the bite on a C-rig. Work it slow ( I pull about 6-10" , Pause, another pull, reel up slack, pause (this is there I get majority of my hits) and it starts all over again) Just be patient with it.

[GorillaWarfare]

I caught my 1st fish on a crig in my tourney last night. I was working it right off of a dropoff. I would just ease it along then I felt the line get heavy and set it hook. It produce about a 2lber. It was good enough for 3rd in my jackpot tourney (tough night)...I'm gonna try it again tonight in the good old club tourny!

Gorilla

[Rebbasser]

Good job, GW!

One thing I have found really helps is to use braid as the main line-makes for better bite detection and better hooksets.

[Hef]

Good point Reb

[zooker]

also i find that 1/2oz egg sinkers or 1/2oz tungstung worm sinkers work much much better than 3/4-1 oz sinkers you feel the bait with the lighter weight as with 3/4 or 1 oz all you feel is the weight digging in the bottom..

c-rigs down here-nc- time of year tells ya how much leader to use. normally 18" prior to mermoial day and 36" after is the rule of thumb -not always but normally..

zooker


zooker

[NCYankee]

If you feel something heavy and mushy like you're pulling through thick weeds, set the hook. It's not weeds. Some times bass will just pick up the worm and not move. When you go to move the worm, you start to pull the bass.

[bassnman30]

Often a bass will just swim with your bait. You won't feel the fish strike, but you'll see the line moving.
Caught a bass yest (Sat.) that weighed close to 4 lbs. Came in 3rd.
He just swam with it and I never felt him.
Be aware, sometimes thats the only way that you know that he's there.
White bass "can" just hit the weight, feels like a strike.

[Rebbasser]

I started using a Lindy Rattlin' No-Snagg sinker a while back and really like it-I fish a lot of rocky lakes and an egg or tungsten sinker gets hung up a lot more than the Lindy sinker does.

[FishySkater]

What exactly is a Carolina Rig

[ILfishinman]

like this

main line sinker bead barrel swivel leader
---------------O-o-oo--------------------------------HOOK

[FishySkater]

Thanks i was reading all that and had no idea what it was.

[ILfishinman]

no problem

[BassAddict]

also i find that 1/2oz egg sinkers or 1/2oz tungstung worm sinkers work much much better than 3/4-1 oz sinkers you feel the bait with the lighter weight as with 3/4 or 1 oz all you feel is the weight digging in the bottom..

c-rigs down here-nc- time of year tells ya how much leader to use. normally 18" prior to mermoial day and 36" after is the rule of thumb -not always but normally..

zooker

Same thing here. I use the lightest weight I can get away with depending on how deep I'm fishing. Most of the time you just feel a steady pull or just weight. Especially with bigger fish.

Zook,

My brother and I finished 2nd on Kerr with FOM in May of 04 using c-riggged pumpkin lizards with a chartruse tail. Rocky main lake points. I imagine that's the pattern there right now?

Eric

[Jackl]

I use two different type weights on my C-rig set up. I either use 3 (count 'em) 3, 1/4 oz tungsten bullet weights with a faceted GLASS bead between each weight, or I use a 3/4 oz. rattling Jig with attached craw worm instead of a egg sinker Often I catch the fish on the jig instead of the C-rig.
I rig with 50 lb. Power Pro main line and 18 to 24 inch 20 lb. flurocarbon leader.

JackL

[GorillaWarfare]

Do you guys think the length of the leader or the actual plastic you use is more important for a c-rig? I tried again in my club tourney and came up short. However the team that won threw a c-rig all night (susposedly) It was also a tough night again as the winning weight was 13lbs and 2nd was I think about 9.5. Thanks in advance.

GW

[WIbassfisherman]

I think length of leader is important based on seasonal pattern and on water clarity. The dingier the water the shorter the leader. Also the shallower the water. Seasonal is two fold. Since bass move deeper (most) for a period after post spawn you need a longer leader in the deeper water. Type of plastic can be key as well. I like strike king 3x plastics in spring as the lizards float off he bottom. Helps in the shallow spring time pattern I get on. I also like a fluke in my river tournies as it dances in the currents and eddy areas. Smallies love it. Weight is important as any other. You want to be able to identify bottom composition changes from muck to gravel or gravel to weeds, etc. Fish use these areas. Slow down as high percentage areas give you practice in using a c-rig. Also in a river, I caught a lot of fish in spring by dragging sideways until I felt almost a snag. Then lifting the rod to a 12'o clock position to slowly pull it over the (rock, tree, etc). Got pounded and felt just like fish was there. I'm still not an expert, but forcing yourself to learn/use it is the key to success and confidence in any bait.

[zooker]

leader lenth..

zooker