Ethan Clarke
Soft plastic lures are a popular choice for fishing enthusiasts due to their versatility, durability, and affordability. They are known to be highly effective in catching fish such as bass, crappie, bluegill, and speckled trout. With their natural movement and appearance, soft plastics can mimic the panfish's natural food, making them a powerful tool for anglers. However, the effectiveness of soft plastics also depends on how they are rigged. This involves various techniques such as Texas rigging, wacky rigging, shaky head rigging, and jighead rigging. Each method has specific steps and considerations to ensure the soft plastic swims properly and attracts the target fish species. The weight, depth, current, and wind conditions also play a role in determining the rigging approach. Ultimately, experimenting with different rigging techniques and understanding the behaviour of the target fish are key to successful soft plastic fishing.
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What You'll Learn
Wacky worm rigging
To set up a wacky worm rig, you will need a small, sharp hook, such as a TK137 Pro-V Finesse Hook, and your chosen soft plastic bait. Some anglers also recommend using an O-ring and O-ring tool to help preserve your plastic bait and get more fish per bait. To rig the bait, simply pierce the soft plastic bait in the middle with the hook and let it hang in the gap between the bend section of the hook. The point of the hook will be exposed, unlike in a Texas rig where it is buried. You can also add weights to your wacky rig to fish at deeper levels. These are usually small cylinder or teardrop weights that clip onto the fishing hook bend.
When fishing with a wacky rig, it is important to position yourself out of the way and let the design of the bait and rig do the work. Cast your wacky rig to a piece of structure or cover, such as the edges of cattails, weed edges, or docks, and keep your line semi-slack. This will allow the bait to fall naturally and create the desired shimmying action that attracts bass.
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Texas rigging
- Choose the right hook: The best hooks for Texas rigging are offset worm hooks or EWG (Extra Wide Gap) hooks. If you're using a thin worm like a ribbon tail or straight tail worm, go with a worm hook. For larger soft plastic lures like creature baits or beaver-style flipping baits, an EWG hook is better.
- Select the appropriate weight: Use a bullet-shaped slip sinker, but avoid making it too heavy or too light. Match the weight to the fishing conditions and the mood of the fish.
- Prepare the soft plastic bait: You can use a variety of soft plastics such as worms, lizards, creature baits, ribbontail grubs, etc. Slide the worm onto the hook by inserting the point of the hook down through the middle of the worm's nose and exiting about 1/8 to 1/4 inch down the side.
- Position the hook: Push the hook point back into the worm, bringing it over the elbow of the offset hook or the keeper on a straight shank hook. Ensure the hook is hidden within the bait, as this will make it weedless and prevent snagging.
- Optional additions: Some anglers add a bobber stop in front of the slip sinker to keep the weight, hook, and plastic together, making it easier to navigate through thicker cover. Others add beads, rattles, or noise attractors.
- Technique variations: A variation called "Tex-posing" involves pushing the worm through and laying the flat part of the hook on the back of the plastic, allowing for easier hook release but increasing the chances of snagging. Texas rigging can be used with different retrieve techniques, such as hop retrieve or swim retrieve, depending on the weight and bait used.
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Jigheads
When rigging a jighead, insert the hook into the nose of the soft plastic lure, ensuring the point faces outwards and the barb faces inwards. Then, use pliers to pinch the hook eye and the plastic lure together until they are tightly connected. Before casting, test the lure by giving it a few twitches and observing its movement in the water to ensure it swims correctly.
A simple trick to ensure the hook exits the lure in the correct position is to lay the jighead over the lure body. This way, you can visualise the exit point and avoid damaging the soft plastic with multiple attempts. The hook should exit through the centre of the lure, and the tail should face down, opposite from the hook.
Additionally, consider the colour and design of the jighead to ensure it matches the bait you are using. You can also add a dab of gel super glue to the nose of the soft plastic to secure it, especially if the lure has an angled nose. Clipping off the nose will provide a thicker bait for the barbs to grip onto.
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Shaky head rigging
To rig a shaky head, start by inserting the hook point into the head of the bait, then back out about a 1/4 inch below the head. Next, slide the hook through the bait and rotate it back around so the head sits in the offset shank. Finally, push the hook point back through the body of the bait, leaving the hook point just below the surface of the plastic.
When rigging soft plastics, it's important to consider the size, colour, and action of the bait, as well as the weight and size of the jig head, to match the conditions and the fish you're targeting. Additionally, the soft plastic should be put on straight and combined with the right size jig head to ensure effectiveness.
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Using braid
Braided line is a popular choice for soft plastic fishing setups. Unlike monofilament, braid doesn't stretch, ensuring constant contact with the soft plastic and allowing you to feel even the slightest nibbles. Its thinner diameter also gives you greater casting distance and accuracy, which is crucial when lure fishing as you need to present the rig to the fish.
When using braid for soft plastics, it's recommended to finish the setup with a fluorocarbon leader, which is harder for fish to see and provides some stretch to prevent the line from snapping. You can attach your braid to a fluorocarbon leader using an FG knot, Double Uni knot, or improved Albright. For light estuary species, a leader strength of 2-8 lb is typically sufficient, while inshore fishing may require 10-20 lb, and offshore fishing will demand even heavier leaders.
The type of knot you use will depend on your specific setup and personal preference. Some anglers recommend tying the braided line directly to topwater lures, while others suggest using a barrel swivel to connect the braid to a fluorocarbon leader for lures that will be submerged. This provides the toughness of braid as the mainline with the invisibility of fluorocarbon near the lure.
When choosing a braided line, consider the line strength, which should typically range from 15 to 30 pounds. If you're using a baitcaster, a line weight of 30 lb or higher is recommended to prevent issues with the line digging into itself on the spool. While braid is a popular choice, some anglers prefer monofilament for its smooth casting and ease of use, so ultimately the choice depends on your personal preference and the specific fishing situation.
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Frequently asked questions
Texas rigging, wacky rigging, shaky head, and nose hooking are some of the ways to rig soft plastics.
Use an offset shank hook and insert it into the head of the bait, then back out about a quarter of an inch below the head. Slide the hook through the bait and rotate it back around so the head sits in the offset shank.
Take a small sharp hook and hook it through the middle of your plastic bait.
The soft plastic needs to be rigged straight onto the jighead. The hook must exit the lure's body in the center or the bait will not swim correctly.
Lay the jighead over the lure body to visualize where the hook should exit. The tail must be pointed down and the hook pointed up.
