By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan
Bass pro Jimmy Mason gives deep thought to his wacky-rigging – literally and figuratively. He’s cool with skipping the rig around docks, laydowns and overhanging limbs, but he's also keen on taking this rig offshore for summer fishing.
“Fishing pressure is the biggest concern,” Mason said of his wacky strategy. “So many places that are well-known community holes or schools of fish that a number of people have found, wacky-rigging allows you to fish a much less aggressive, much more finesse presentation to fish that have seen so many other baits.
“It has a subtle fall and the bait wiggles on both ends. It’s a neutral presentation that, a lot of times, gets more and bigger bites than a lot of the more traditional baits.”
Targets
Wacky rigs find their applicability over many of the same offshore spots where you might fish a mix of crankbaits, football heads, spoons or Carolina rigs. Mason said he’s looking for shell beds, underwater island tips, creek channels intersecting river channels — generally, your schooling locations.
“It’s not the best presentation for finding fish, but once I find a school, or even a smaller group of two or three fish, it’s a presentation that I can (use to) get those fish to bite,” he said. “One thing that I like about the wacky rig is that, a lot of times, when you drop it on a school of fish, it catches the biggest one.
“To me, it’s almost like that magnum spoon — it triggers that big bite.”
Mason most commonly drops the wacky rig over most any natural hard-bottom structure, but he’ll also use it to tempt suspended fish around deep docks and bridge pilings.
Rigging
Tipping his hat to the wacky rig’s tenured tradition, Mason said he’s not trying to reinvent the wheel; he’s just expanding the options of where you can drive it.
“I remember reading about the wacky rig back in the '70s, but there are a few things you can do to this rig to make it more effective and help you catch more fish,” he said.
First, Mason said he always uses an O-ring with his 5-inch YUM Dinger because it greatly extends the life of the bait. More than an economic benefit, this simple piece of terminal tackle clearly impacts time management.
“You’ll get way more casts out of the same bait,” Mason said. “That extends how long you can use the bait, but from an efficiency standpoint, it allows you more fishing time because you’re not stopping to change baits as often.”
Further promoting efficiency on the water, Mason considers his O-ring tool invaluable. Pre-loading rings on the tool’s narrow end makes slipping them onto the bait a breeze.
“A lot of times, I’ll rig up a pack of Dingers with O-rings,” Mason said. “If I know I’m going to be fishing that way, I’ll go ahead and get a day’s worth rigged the night before.”
Around heavier cover, such as deep brush or standing timber, Mason will bypass the O-ring and imbed his hook into the bait with the point remaining covered. This creates a weedless presentation that’s quickly converted back to the O-ring when he moves to open-water targets.
Other areas of improvement:
> Hook: Mason ditches the usually diminutive wacky hook and beefs up to a 1/0 straight-shank worm hook. He knows he’ll likely deal with the occasional snag when skipping under a deep dock or fishing around heavy cover, but the connection efficiency of a larger hook balances the drawbacks.
Mason likes an oversized hook for his wacky rig because it provides better connections.
“You’re going to land just about every fish you hook with this, so it’s worth it to me to have to break off a few more times and have to re-rig more often, but know that I’m going to land way more of the bites that I get,” he said.
Essential to the presentation is hook placement. Mason slips his hook under the O-ring with the point facing away from the end with the nail. This way, the hook always faces approaching fish and typically ends up hooking them in the front, top of the mouth.
> Weight: Twiddling thumbs, watching clouds go by, counting sweat drops; sure, you can find things to do while waiting for a wacky-rigged worm to saunter its way to the target depth. None of these, however, interest Mason, who hastens the process by inserting a nail weight into the bait’s head. For all but his deepest targets, he likes a segmented nail that allows him to pinch or clip off segments for a lighter weight.
Precisely how much of the nail weight to use comes with experience — trial and error, Mason said. Generally, pinching off a quarter to one-third of the weight gives him a slower fall for working bridge pilings, dock faces and over deep brush piles.
“If I’m going to be fishing all the way to the bottom, I’m going to use the whole nail weight,” he said. “Lunker City makes one that has a ball on the tip. I use that one when I’m fishing out deep because that exposed end gives me a little bit of feel on the bottom.”
With the segmented weight, Mason said it’s just a matter of experience and knowing what has worked in the past. The good thing is, this technique is easily adjusted.
“Say I’m fishing over deep grass, if I’m hanging up too much, next time I’ll take out the nail weight and use (a shorter one),” Mason said. “Or if I feel like I’m not getting down fast enough, or if I’m getting washed away by the current, I’ll leave a little more on there. I’ll vary it until I figure out what’s the right amount of weight for that day.”
When he’s fishing deep offshore structure, he’s using a 3/32- to 1/16-ounce nail weight to make sure the bait gets down faster. If he’s targeting fish that are suspended against the vertical structure like that, he’ll lighten up to 1/32-ounce.
An O-ring tool facilitates rigging.
“The fall is slower because I’m fishing it to the bottom, not necessarily on the bottom,” he said. “When you use a swimbait or a dropshot, you’d use a countdown presentation, in which you’d make multiple casts and count the bait down to multiple depths.
“With the wacky rig, you’re fishing the entire water column with a single cast. I still want to count it down and get an idea of where my bites are coming. A lot of times that’s repeatable.”
Presentation
Mason always fishes his wacky rig on a large-spool Lew’s Team Light Pro 4000 with 12-pound fluorocarbon. This setup allows him to effect the requisite slow fall.
“I’m going to make a long cast to the target, let the bait fall to the bottom, I’m going to pop it, reel in just slightly and let it fall back down,” Mason said of his wacky action. "Because most of the bites are going to come on the fall, or right as the bait hits the bottom, I want to get as many falls in one cast as I can.
“I’m going to let the bait fall on a semi-slack line. A lot of times what you’re gong to see is that line just tightening off. That’s when you really want to set into the fish.”
Mason said the wacky-rig’s exposed hook eliminates the need for a cracking hook set. You’re best bet, he said, is to reel into the bite and smoothly sweep the rod to the side.
“With that exposed hook, you’re going to catch 90 to 95 percent of the fish that bite,” Mason said. “The wacky rig offers you a way to finesse fish those deep fish that are getting a lot of pressure, so it’s a great tool to add to your arsenal.”
