Carolina Rig

[Craigums]

Is the Carolina rig a confidence bait for anyone here? I can honestly say Ive never thrown one before.

Anybody have some tips, tricks or info that will expand my knowledge of this set up?

What types of locations do you guys throw this rig in and how do you retrieve it?

[RawHog]

Either In-fisherman or NAFC magazine had a good article on carolina rigging in their newest addition.

[Raider4ever]

If I EVER have to resort to that to catch Bass, shoot me first. Good God, you might as well be fishing for Walleye.

[serpent]

I use it quite a bit in the summer when I'm fishing deep structure. I make long casts and just kinda drag it on bottom. You can really tell what the bottom content is. Catch some mighty big bass doing this. Just to brag my biggest ever came this way. 23".

[Superduty]

If I EVER have to resort to that to catch Bass, shoot me first. Good God, you might as well be fishing for Walleye.

I've seen it many times fishing deep weedines and deeper bass. The jigworm will outfish the carolina rig some days. The carolina rig will outfish the jigworm other days. I would never let pride get in the way of catching fish!

[Cecil]

I use it quite a bit when fishing a weed edge with a hard bottom or on rock

[Craigums]

I use it quite a bit when fishing a weed edge with a hard bottom or on rock

Just cast and drag?

[Cecil]

Pretty much yeah. I use it in places where I would use a football jig. The reason its good is it allows you to throw a smaller bait that you can move slower in deeper water and stay in contact with the bottom.

[RK]

Hiya -

I kind of go in streaks with C-rigs. Some years I use them a lot, others I barely use them at all. I tend to forget about them sometimes, which is a mistake. They can really be good at times. As serpent said, you can really feel bottom content with a C-rig, especially if you have fluorocarbon line and a tungsten sinker.

I use them on rock and gravel spots for both largemouths and smallmouths. I also use them along deep weed edges. They can really be killer after a cold front for getting a bait in the right spot along a deep weed edge and keeping it there, even in heavy wind. You have a heavy weight so you can fish it precisely, but the bait itself is weightless so it's pretty subtle. I'll mark little points and turns with a marker buoy, then cast to it. Can fish inside turns by getting on top of the weed flat, casting out, then stopping the rig when you hit the weed edge.

A lot of illustrations you see of C-rigs are misleading. Once the bait's on the bottom, the bait won't float up over the sinker, but just sort of scoots along the bottom. You can get it to flutter by popping it high off the bottom, which can sometimes work pretty well. I fish them for smallmouths basically vertically at times, and really pound the sinker on the bottom. Fish will come to investigate the noise (smallies are incredibly curious) and see the bait. It's one of the few things that get draw smallies to the bottom if they're looking up feeding on baitfish.

C-rigs are normally thought of as a deep water deal, but they do work on shallower (6-12') gravel or rock flats, especially for smallies. You can fish them fairly fast, and they make a lot of noise to attract fish from a ways off. Drag them along the sand until you feel hard bottom like rock or gravel, then pound them in place with little hops to make some noise.

Raider - Good humor.. But... the difference is, when you hook a bass on a C-rig, it still fights like a bass, not a dishrag.

[chuckwagon]

Are any and all plastics good on this rig? Stick bait wacky rigged?

[RK]

Are any and all plastics good on this rig? Stick bait wacky rigged?

You can c-rig just about anything. I use tubes a lot, and stick worms or straight-tailed finesse worms. Flukes are really good too.

[BTL]

If I EVER have to resort to that to catch Bass, shoot me first. Good God, you might as well be fishing for Walleye.

LOL. I feel the same way. I could drag a jig all day, but for some reason, c-rigs are just unbearable.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I use a modified carolina rig all the time.. I call it a stupid rig.. its a fixed sinker usually lighter weight and a shorter leader.. But yes, for sure its a confidence bait for me. 4" and 5' senko copy and tubes are my go to for the buis end..

[Raider4ever]

They don't call it "The Ball-and-Chain" for nothing.

[gurkster]

I don't use this in MN, but in Arkansas it is a go to presentation and very productive. I use it on steep banks with a rock bottom. It is basically lindy rigging on steroids. I use a lizard and throw up to the bank/shoreline and slowly drag/bounce it back to the boat. I find that the bass are usually at some depth or transition and get hit in the same area often and adjust as needed. I make sure I get a good feel of bottom and then set the hook, when I loose bottom or feel the weight of the fish. Again, a lot like we lindy rig for walleye here in MN, only the bass aren't as fussy. We also use it as a search bait and slow troll around some flats that we fish and this helps us locate the fish.

[RuddyDuck]

I have had some success using the carolina rig for deeper water. I like to use it to fish the deep weedline or deeper points in the 10ft to 20ft depths. I use either a curly or ribbon tailed worm or have had some luck using it with ring fries. I guess I still consider it bass fishing cause the fish still fight hard and make some leaps!

[Larson15]

I mostly fish the carolina rig exclusively on deep rock 1/2 oz - 3/4 oz and mostly use baby brush hogs. I don't think there will be a time this year where this rig won't be on my deck. If I get into shallower areas or where there are more weeds I throw something similar to what Deitz is referring to but use a ring fry or wacky rig a senko behind a fixed weight around 1/4oz.