"Nothing Could Be Finer, Than Riggin' Carolina . . . "
November 20, 2008
With apologies to the author of that marvelous old tune, Carolina rigging on structure is one of the finest livewell filling techniques in my arsenal.
On the lakes forming the Tennessee River chain, and on several mid-south reservoirs, a “Rig” is a “must have” tool for seeking out schools of fish holding on offshore structure. I am becoming more and more convinced that as more anglers join the sport and put more pressure on obvious, shallow water cover, the better and more aggressive fish are often relocating to small, unobvious locations off the bank. 
Not all of these key locations are in “deep” water, but all of them are small, hard to find for most anglers, and located in open water. No technique that I’m aware of allows an angler to more effectively and accurately present soft plastic lures to fish living on these areas. Certainly no other approach provides the tactile feedback on cover, bottom composition, and contour changes that “rigging” does. Simply stated, it is an approach that anglers cannot afford to ignore.
I. Background
Carolina Rigging is the technique invented over 40 years ago by anglers fishing deep water reservoirs in Carolina, who wanted a way to present soft plastic lures to fish holding on key elements of deep water structure. On of the first “rig” lures was the “Do Nothing” worm, a small, pre-rigged plastic worm, sporting two small gold hooks on a short leader. This lure was used by its inventor to win a BassMaster’s Classic on the Alabama River back in the early ’80’s.
Since that time the elements of the system have been refined and improved, but the basic elements have remained in use for the past four decades:
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Long rod
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Heavy weight suspended above a bead and swivel
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One to five-foot leader
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Texas rigged soft plastic lure
II. Equipment
Rods
Rod selection is by far the most important element in successful Carolina rig fishing. I’ve tried dozens of rods over the years, searching for that “perfect stick”. My journey through the “rod forest” has taught me a few things. A Carolina rig rod should be at least 7’ long, and at a minimum, medium heavy in action. I want a rod that will handle weights from 3/8 to 1 oz. I want a rod with some tip, but a lot of backbone.
I will tell you that I have discovered that 7 ½ foot “flipping sticks” make the finest Carolina rig rods I’ve ever used. The combination of a longer rod, coupled with more backbone works in concert to provide rock solid hooksets and the ability to handle much longer leaders with ease. 
I can find NO drawbacks to using flipping sticks for rigging, and they provide several key advantages. My current favorite is the Falcon Expert 7’6” flipping rod. I can tell you that since I made the switch to the longer, heavier rods, my experience with missed hooksets has declined to almost nothing.
Reels
Reel selection for Carolina rigging is not a critical issue. Any quality reel that will hold 100-150 yards of 15-20 pound line will work just fine. The reel in this technique is as much a storage space for line as anything else. Super smooth retrieves and silky smooth drags are nice, but not as important as in other techniques.
I do strongly recommend a high speed reel ratio, at least 6.2:1, since the ability to catch up with a fish swimming toward you with a lure is important. With all of this said, my choice of reels in this application is either the Shimano Calais 200A or the Shimano Chronarch. I’m a reel junkie, and I do like the braking system in these reels and the incredible quality they offer.
Lines
I’m going to go out on a limb here—I have very definite opinions about line/leader selection for Carolina rigging. I don’t like braid, any braid, for this technique. Braid has issues:
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May pack down in the reel spool on hard hooksets and when pulling loose from snags
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Knots do not fare well in rocky environments.
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And finally, I’m convinced that if you can feel the fish so well with braid (which you can) then the fish can feel you as well.
I’ve had too many experiences with braid when fish dropped baits very quickly, much quicker than they normally do. The kicker was that the angler fishing with me using other lines had no similar problem. I’m 100% convinced that the braid impacted my bite to catch ratio in a negative way.
So, my recommendations for “rigging string” are any of the new generation of fluorocarbon lines. There are several good ones on the market now. I’ve used P-Line Pure Fluorocarbon, Bass Pro Shops Fluorocarbon and my current favorite, the Vicious Fishing Fluorocarbon with great success. Fluorocarbon line offers the best combination of low stretch (a positive for better hooksets), superior abrasion resistance, and very low visibility in the water. I have gone 100% to fluoro for both main line and leaders in my rigs. I use 17-20 pound line on the reel and either 12 or 15-pound fluorocarbon for leaders. Based on notes from several trips, I’m firmly convinced that the switch to longer, stronger rods coupled with all fluorocarbon lines have brought about a dramatic improvement in my Carolina rig fishing. I feel bites much better, even better for me than with braid, and hooksets are always rock solid.
III. Terminal Tackle - Hooks, Weights ‘n’ Such
There are tons of quality hooks available to fishermen today but I prefer the Gamakatsu family. I use the EWG Superline hook in 2/0 and 3/0, and the G/Lock series from 1/0 to 4/0. These two hook styles offer wide gaps for clearance on bulky plastics and incredibly sharp points that set easily even on long casts common to this technique.
On the occasions when I use a 10-12 inch worm, I will opt for the Gamakatsu round bend offset hook in a 5/0 size. I believe that the longer shank of these hooks better positions the hook point in these magnum worms.
Weight selections range from ½ oz to 1 oz. I will use tungsten in some situations, but I also like to get bass casting sinkers (the ones with the brass swivel running through a hole in the lead) and cut the swivel out of the sinker. The leaves a lead weight with a shape somewhere between a bullet weight and an egg sinker. I find that this shape offers the best compromise in all forms of cover and bottom composition. I don’t find that, since changing to fluorocarbon, that I have any problem reading the bottom with a lead sinker. I use a 1 oz weight 95% of the time.
I prefer a #7 size BLACK barrel swivel, because I think a black swivel cuts down on “sinker/swivel” strikes, where bass are attracted to a shiny brass swivel and take a shot at it.
As for beads, in my opinion they only serve as a knot protector, so a PLASTIC red bead is all you need. I do not recommend glass beads for this application, especially if using tungsten weights, since the glass can shatter and cut the line.
IV. Lures
Lure selection for Carolina rigs certainly starts with the plethora of soft plastics available today, and very likely no longer includes the venerable “Do Nothing “worm. But it can also include hard plastic lures like jerkbaits and small crankbaits, as well as live baits. Lure selection is limited only by the angler’s imagination and ability. However, I do have a list of favorites that have caught fish for me consistently over the past 25 years.
My personal favorites include:
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Zoom Baby Brush Hog, in Watermelon Red Flake, June Bug, or Black Neon
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4” Senko, in 208, 297, 051 and 303.
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Lake Fork Tackle Baby Ring Fry, in Watermelon Red Flake
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5” Lizard
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6” Lizard, in watermelon red flake, June Bug, or Black Neon
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5¾-inch Kut-Tail Worm
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Zoom “Ol Monster” 10.5” worm in Junebug or Red Shad
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Lake Fork Tackle 10” Worm in the above colors.
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Strike King Z Two, in pearl or ice
The lures above are listed, more or less, in order of preference and frequency of use. The first four selections will get a lot of bites and capture a quality tournament limit in lots of situations.
The bigger worms are harder to handle on a rig, and require a shorter than average leader length to facilitate casting, but they also have the potential to get you an “El Grande” bite. From June-September, I like to drag a big, bulky ribbon tail worm tied to an 18” 15-pound leader across deep points, channel swings, down river channel drops and over underwater brush and rock piles. I find that I can make longer casts and cover more water with this setup as compared to a traditional Texas rig.
Many anglers new to Carolina rigs see them as a vehicle to present smaller finesse type lures. Don’t make this mistake! In the dog days of summer, with bass deep, lethargic and eating only occasionally, an oversized piece of plastic wandering through the living room can trigger the strike of a lifetime. For tournament fishermen, it is a great way to get that magnum kicker bite that makes the Top 10 a reality.
V. Finer Points of Rigging
Strike Detection
The single biggest question I get asked about this technique, both at seminars and on the water, is how I know when I get a bite. My response to newbies is, “Keep dragging or reeling slowly—if it comes alive in your hand, then set the hook.”
My 16 year-old daughter/fishing buddy Meredith learned this way, and is a better “rigger” than many grown men I fish with. When she thinks she detects a strike, she simply keeps 
the rod tip down and reels until the lure either comes free, or she feels the movement of the fish.
Strikes from bass typically either feature a distinct “Tic”, just like any other soft plastic, or the feel on the rod tip just changes and gets “heavy”. The “heavy” sensation is the weight of the bass with the lure in its mouth. Reel down until the fish loads up the rod tip, and then set the hook.
Be prepared, especially when fishing a lure like a Baby Brush Hog or a swimming tail worm. “Suicide bass” will often follow a swimming lure as it is being reeled back to the boat and absolutely blast it within a few feet of the surface.
Lure Retrieval
Make your retrieves in a horizontal plane. Use the rod tip through a horizontal arch to drag the lure along the bottom, letting the heavy sinker stay in contact with the bottom at all times. This gives you a very accurate reading of what the bottom content is like. A tip—when you feel the weight hit a “rough spot” on the bottom, stop the retrieve, and slow down. Fish very often hold on these types of transition bottoms.
Hook Setting
For anglers new to rigging, I see a strong tendency to make hookset strokes in a back and upward manner, very much like that used with a jig or Texas rigged worm. This is just wrong, since an upward rod stroke serves to pull a very heavy weight off the bottom (just like stroking a jig) and most often does very little to move the hook point in the fish’s mouth.
The best hookset is a horizontal sweeping stroke, with the rod moving parallel to the water’s surface - the angler’s shoulders and hips should swivel rearward to move the rod, while reeling to keep the line tight. Done with the 7½-foot heavy flipping stick the shoulder/hip pivot provides outstanding hooksetting force in deep water when you have lots of line and leader in play. Remember to reel down to the fish and get the line slightly taut before pulling the trigger.
Leader Lengths
Length of leaders when rigging has been written about and debated for years by anglers across the country. The most often quoted lengths are 18” to 36”, and these lengths will work. However, I’ve recently been experimenting with leaders in the five to seven-foot range, far longer than most anglers will ever throw. And, I think the long leaders can make a big difference, especially in clear to slightly stained water. I can’t say exactly why, but I do know that I get far more bites on Pickwick on a 5’ leader than a 2’ version.
One exception---as noted above, when fishing a 9-12” plastic worm, you need to use a shorter (12-18”) leader, to avoid the tendency to “helicopter” during the cast.
Carolina rigging will always have its lovers and haters, but it will continue to be a core technique in the serious bass angler’s technique chest. It is one of my favorites, and I hope that some of the thoughts above will help you with this fundamental approach to deep water bass fishing.