The Texas Rig

Difficulty: Easy

Items Needed:

Assortment of Bullet Sinkers

(Lead Brass or Steel)

1/8 – 3/16 – 1/4 oz for shallow water or 4″ to 6″ soft plastic’s
3/8 – 1/2- 3/4 -1 oz for deeper water or larger 6″+ soft plastic’s

Offset Worm Hooks

1/0-2/0 Small Soft Plastic’s
3/0 – 4/0 – 5/0 Larger Soft Plastic’s

Soft Plastic Lures

Worms /Lizards/Grubs/Crawfish

No bass fishing arsenal is complete without knowledge and how to fish the Texas rig. Considered a finesse technique not a search bait such as inline spinner crank bait or spinner bait.

About

The Texas rig is adaptable to all kinds of soft plastics from worms to lizards and grubs that can be fished in extremely dense vegetation and brush. The presentation is placement as close to cover (weeds, logs) as possible.

When casting or flipping try to let the rig enter the water with as little noise as possible and keep some controlled slack in the line, watch your line as well as many fish will strike the rig on the fall. If you don’t get a bite, let the rig rest on the bottom and then begin to retrieve in a very slow, jerk pause motion. Always keep little tension on the line because learning this technique is a lot about learning to differentiate between the feel of the bottom and the feel of a fish. In setting the hook use a forceful snap of the rod ensuring the embedded hook point travels through the body of the soft plastic bait.

Suggested Tackle

Rods: 6-6 – 7 foot medium heavy fast action bait casting.
Reel: Low profile bait casting reel 6:3:1 gear ratio, thumb bar line release medium line capacity.
Line: 10 lb to 14 lb testlow stretch monofilament.

How to Rig

Thread the Bullet Sinker on the line making sure the nose of the sinker faces the rod tip.
Tie on the hook using a Palmor or a Improved Clinch Knot
Optional: Plastic or Glass Bead between the weight and hook. To make the weight stationary peg the bullet with a piece of toothpick, or use a screw in bullet weight.
Insert the hook about 3/8″ through the nose of the soft plastic bait, pushing hook completely through.
Embed the offset portion on the upper shank of the hook into the nose of the soft plastic, this locks the soft plastic lure on the hook.
Insert the point of the hook back into the soft plastic making sure the bait hangs straight.
Insert the point of the hook into the body of the bait. This makes it weedless.

It is a good idea to push the hook through a couple of times to make a small hole or channel in the plastic. This will help insure a good hook set.