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Rules of Thumb for Carolina vs. Texas Rigs
By Tom Redington
June, 2007
If it’s summer on Lake Fork, you can count on
two things—hot weather and deep bass. And if the bass are deep, a Texas
rig or a Carolina Rig (C-rig) are often your best weapons. Both will
catch bass, but how do you decide which set up to choose and how should
you rig it up based on the conditions you’re confronting? This article
will focus on a few basic rules of thumb to help you answer the whens,
wheres, and whys of TX rigs and C-rigs.
C-rigs, especially when rigged with a heavy sinker (3/4 to 1 oz), work
best in several different situations. First, a heavy sinker allows you
to make long casts and quickly drag the bait across a wide area while
maintaining contact with the bottom the whole time to find bass fast. In
addition, I’ll use 20 lb P-Line Fluorocarbon, and the heavy sinker and
fluorocarbon line clearly transmits changes in bottom composition or
pieces of isolated cover. I work the bait quickly until I find rocks,
weeds, or wood, then slowly work my bait through this fish holding
cover. The ability to cover a lot of water and find small areas of cover
makes the Carolina rig a great search bait as well as a great bait to
catch bass once they’re found.
TX rigs, in contrast, typically work best when fishing heavy cover,
specific targets, or steep drops. In heavy cover, a C-rig will often
hang up more and will not get into the small holes in grass clumps or
brush piles as well as a TX rig. In addition, when bass are located in
very specific pieces of cover or structure, a TX rig will still provide
great action while shaking it in place (similar to the way you shake a
worm on a shaky head jig). This subtle quivering action while leaving
the bait in place often triggers inactive fish that won’t react to a
rapidly moving or a dead-sticked C-rig. Finally, when fishing very steep
banks, pond dams, or ledges, TX rigs can be slowly crawled down the
slope while a C-rig will often too quickly pull your bait all the way to
the bottom of the break.
Another factor to consider is the size of the
weight you use. Tungsten weights are harder and smaller, transmitting
more feel and getting into tighter pieces of cover. Heavy weights are
often good in summer, as the fast fall triggers fish into a reaction
strike and also reaches the bottom quicker and allows better feel, even
on windy days. While the slow fall of a small weight will sometimes get
finicky fish to bite, I often start with a heavy weight and go smaller
if I must, instead of the other way around.
In addition to the size of weight, the soft plastic lure you use on your
rig will also affect the drop speed and performance of your set up.
Bulky baits with big tails or appendages will slow the fall of your rig
and work best when paired with bigger weights and moved aggressively.
Lures like Fork Creatures, Baby Fork Creatures, Top Dog lizards and big
ribbon-tail ring worms like 10” Lake Fork Worms move a lot of water and
trigger big bass that are actively feeding. Hop and swim these baits on
a TX rig or C-rig to get their full action. Conversely, when the bite is
tougher and you need to coax those big girls into biting, more
streamlined soft plastics are in order. In this case, I’ll rig up with
straight tailed worms like Twitch Worms, Ring Frys and Baby Ring Frys,
or craw worms like the Fork Craw. And for an especially tantalizing slow
fall, try a Magic Shad or Live Magic Shad on the business end of your
C-rig—bass out deep love them just as much as they did when they were up
shallow in the spring.
Of course, there are no absolutes in bass fishing. However, I hope these
basic rules of thumb help make your decision on what to rig up a little
easier on your next trip. Here’s hoping you catch the lunker of your
dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572
(days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through my website,
www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com.
Tom Redington is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Diamond Sports Marine, Lake
Fork Trophy Tackle, and P-Line Fishing Lines.
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