Carolina Rig Question

[delmuts]

Need a little help. I use braid for my main line and i plan to stay with it. But! I have problems with the weight sliding up the line when i cast. I've tried a bobber stop, but they don't hold well. Right now i try to feather the line to help keep it in place, but it doesn't work the best and cuts down on casting distance and accurracy. Sugestions? Del

[Musky hunter 82]

i've heard of poeple using a piece of a tooth pick to secure the bullet weight in place.

[Daze Off]

Pinning the weight kind of defeats the function of the C-rig. I use braid as well - at least above the swivel - and have not had that problem or at least not enough to notice. How much weight do you use when throwing a C-rig?

Accuracy is not really one of a C-rig's finer points. Generally just heaaving it in a general direction has been my experience. For example tossing it so that it goes over a point or a hump or something rather than land right next to a dock or some other piece of structure. Hard to be accurate when you have a three foot + leader following the weight on the cast...

[delmuts]

I thought about doing that, but doesn't it defeat the purpose of a carolina rig. I always thought you wanted the line to slide thru the weight.I wondered about putting a split shot a foot or so above the sinker to stop it from sliding.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I was not going to post on this thread.. but I just cant help myself.. I have to go to some sort of HSO 12 step program.. I really dont like giving advice where I really dont feel I am qualified. Of all the presentations, the c-rig may be my weakest, and yet one of my strongest depending on how you look at it. To be very honest, I dont carolina rig much.. last year.. once.. I do however do a lot of "Stupid Rigging".. which is something a buddie of mine came up with.. its a light carolina rig(1/4oz or so) shorter leader and a pegged sinker.. Much more a split shot rig.. but split shot sounds so walleye. If you know what i mean.. So I dont have to deal with the sinker sliding..

Having said that, I think you do run into issues if you have a heavy sinker and a light hunk of meat(plastic).. if you use a larger plastic your sinker does not slide as much.. try that del.. or peg the sinker.

If you think about it, there really is no good reason for the sinker to slide.. its not like you give the fish line and let them take it like in a lindy rig.. and for those who think that the plastic "floats" up.. watch it some time, it really does not.. So really, no reason not to peg it. In my opinion.

[Larson15]

I have not fished the carolina rig very much but when I do I use "top brass carolina ready rigs." They come in a variety of weights and IMO make setting this technique up a lot easier and you dont have any problems with the weights

[JBMasterAngler]

I just use a split shot...if that's not an official carolina rig, then I guess I'll just call it the "minnesota rig"

[delmuts]

DD You got me using the "stupid rig" a few years ago, and have had some very good results with it. But i've had times when they wouldn't take a S-rig, but would hammer a C= rig.( go figure! ) I always thought you wanted the line to slide thru the weight on a C-rig for better feel, and to up the hooking percentages since you don't have to move the weight to set the hook. A buddy got me started with the C-rig last year when the fish wouldn't take a jig,texas rig, or a S-rig.

I try to stay with using braid due to needing all the sensitivity that i can get.( i don't have alot of feeling in my hands due to nerve damage) Keep the ideas coming, and i will keep experimenting.

Hey DD! Don't worry about it being walleyeish! You minnesotans don't give us iowans credit to know the difference anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gritsnham]

If you dont want the weight to slide then use a prerigged one that has the weight contained so that it wont slide. I have just started using the crig over the last 2 seasons and I like having a free weight more because it gives you the option to feed the fish some line without it feeling the weight. Shorter leaders also help the casting alot and I dont think you need a really long leader when crig since your really just trying to drag bottom

[GooBack]

let a few more inches of line out when you cast

[RK]

Hiya -

I don't use C-rigs as much as I used to - football jigs have kind of replaced them somewhat. They cast easier, hook better, and you can fish them faster. But, a couple thoughts...

- For making a sinker stop on braided line, take a piece of the braid and a strand from a jig skirt. Put the two side by side then tie them in a uni-knot around your main line and tighten the bejeezus out of it. The skirt sometime grabs the braid enough to hold it in place pretty well, but you can still slide it if you need to. Works on some braids, not on others...just have to try it.

- Casting c-rigs is a pain. You have to just kind of flop them out there. It's carpet bombing not sniping that's for sure. Hard to do with a leader more than about 2 feet I think too. The right rod helps. I use a flipping stick most of the time. 7' rod minimum though.

- As a couple others have suggested, I've gone almost completely to things like the Carolina Ready Rig. No muss, no fuss. I make my own out of the components and some single strand leader wire I use for muskie leaders. They only need to be maybe 4 inches long. Added bonus with these is a trick I learned from a guy who fishes Erie where Zebras are murder on line, and works just as well around rocks. Take a short piece of small diameter clear plastic tubing about 4" long and slide it on the main line, tie on the c-rig wire, then slide the tubing over the top end of the wire. Really protects the knot and the first few inches of line which get ground against rocks all the time.

- Even though I fish football heads in a lot of cases where I'd have used a C-rig in the past, C rigs to have a time and place. They can kick butt on smallies sometimes. It's the noise. I generally fish very short leaders so when fish come looking for the racket they see the bait. Floating tubes (a tube with a piece of styrofoam crammed in it) are awesome...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[delmuts]

RK. The braid and skirt material is interesting idea! Will have to try that.I know that casting a C-rig is a pain. I have been using a 7' rod, but just got a 7'6" flipping stick that i plan on using( my old one went from a 7'6" to a 6'8" a while back! ). My leaders are usually 18", and i keep some made up ahead(i keep several with the beed in a small plastic bag). May have to try the floating tube! Hopefully the snow on the practice football field behind my will be gone soon so i can get out a give things a try! Thanks!

NOW! If anyone wants to say a short prayer that the temp job my daughter has turns into a perm. job so she can get an apt. and move ALL her stuff out of my back garage so i can bring my boat home, i would appreciate it!

[Wayne Ek]

delmuts- I toss c-rigs quite alot and have had the same problem. I use power pro as my main line and fluor. as my leader. To solve it I've gone to nothing longer than an 18" leader and a larger swivel. Then I changed from lead or brass weights to tungsten. With the tungsten weights I do not use any type of bead between the weight and swivel instead I use a neoprene bobber stop and a single or double barrel rattle (the type you add to your jig and pigs) to protect the swivel knot and give the rig some sound. So from the swivel up you have 1. neoprene bobber stop 2. barrel rattle and 3. the sinker. You still have to make side arm lob casts, but it has helped immensely.

[delmuts]

THANKS !

[marineman]

I love to Carolina rig. I found a product called the Carolina Keeper (round piece of platic with a hole in the middle. Slide your line through the hole)- it's supposed to eliminate the need for a swivel. I found I got too much line twist without the swivel but now I use it to keep the glass bead off of the knot. I put the Carolina Keeper between the knot/swivel and the glass bead. I suppose you could put it on the line above the weight so the weight won't slide.

[Dourque]

another option maybe the new Northland sling-shot worm weight, I picked some up but have not used them yet. seems alot like the carolina keeper idea. run your line thru a provided rubber sling attach the weight and twist and the weight stays in place, you can also run it without the twist and give the weight some freedom. can also change the size of the weight without cutting your line as the rubber sling stays on the line. again have not used them but does look very interesting, can't wait to give them a try.

[RK]

another option maybe the new Northland sling-shot worm weight

I love the Sling Shot weights. About all I use for bullet weights these days. Can pin weights wherever you want, they work on all line types, you can change weights without retying, and they don't chew up your line. The first year they were out they would sometimes get thrown off by a fish when they jumped (I got a 3/8 ounce weight right in the forehead - owie...) but they made the slot in the weight narrower so that doesn't happen much at all anymore. Really an ingenious invention, IMHO.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Stick in Mud]

Ok, so I have a horribly ignorant question that might be out of place in this thread, but....

When exactly is the "right" time and place for a C-rig? What is different about a C-rig location than a spot where a T-rig worm would work? Or is it more about the type of presentation and not the location?

Sorry for my ignorance....

[Cecil]

I would use a carolina rig when I know that the majority of the fish are on the outside of the weeds. A texas rig is better for when the fish are in the cover. Carolina rig is also a good way to make sure you are in contact with the bottom.

[Wayne Ek]

carmike, I use c-rigs quite often. I will use a c-rig over a t-rig when I need or want to cover water a little faster. A c-rig generally gives you a better idea as to what's on the bottom (rock, gravel, mud) and last for me a c-rig let's me cover more water with a smaller bait, say a small ring fry or finesse worm. I think a t-rig will work better in heavy vegetation and the nice thing about a t-rig if pegged, you can cast it on one time and pitch it the next... a little more versatile than the c-rig.

[RK]

Hiya -

Couple thoughts...

- As Cecil pointed out, C-rigs are great tools for off the weedline spots, like a shelf between the weedline and a break into deeper water. My favorite c-rig spot is a long point which extends past the weedline (which is in 16 feet) for about 40 yards out to about 19 feet before it breaks off sharply on all sides. Mid-summer bass cruise the extended bare point, and a C-rig is great for covering the point quickly.

- C-rigs are also great for deeper flats with mixed rocks and weed clumps or scattered small rock piles. You can cast them a long ways, and with the right gear hook fish on a long cast.

- To me C-rigs differ from a Texas-rig in how the bait behaves. C-rigs are a lot more subtle and fluid when you moved them because the weight isn't directly attached to or next to the bait. Lift a Texas rig and you get a rapid rise and fall. Lift a C-rig and you get a rise, and slower fall as the weightless bait kind of glides down. You can also float plastics (either by using a floating worm or adding sytrofoam to a tube) to float it up off the bottom. Have to fish that pretty slowly though.

- C-rigs can be great closer to weed edges but it takes a lot more concentration and attention to detail in terms of boat control, reading electronics and cast placement. One thing that does work really well on weed edges though is fishing them "inside out." Sit up on the weed flat, cast out past the weed edge to deeper water, and bring it back in to the weedline. The weed point I described above is one I almost always fish inside out. When you feel the weed edge with your sinker, stop, shake it, or even dead-stick it as you work into the weed edge. I've anchored and done this on cold front days. You'll sit there and dead stick a craw or french fry worm on a C-rig, and all of a sudden your line will start moving off. Kind of like fishing catfish, but they're prettier and they jump

HTH.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Cecil]

Its a great hybrid of power and finnesse. You can throw a 4" bait on a 20# test main line and cover a lot of water.

[Stick in Mud]

Wow, thanks for the tips. I always thought a c-rig was just a fancy lindy rig used by folks whose noses automatically turned up at the phrase "live bait." I especially like the tip about using it on a ledge between the weedline and a sharper drop off. I've already got a spot in mind that I usually resort to pounding with a crankbait.