How To Fish A Wacky Rig
When it comes to fishing, you have heard something called a ‘wacky rig’. It’s a different way of fishing bass and similar fish, but what is it and how exactly do you fish with a wacky rig?
If you want to learn more ways to fish involving a wacky rig, then just take a look below. We have pulled together everything we know about wacky rigging and how you can fish with this unique method.
What Is A Wacky Rig
Wacky rig is when a soft plastic worm, usually a Senko worm, is hooked through its middle.
This makes it look as though there is a real worm attached to the hook so when it is in the water, wiggling around on the hook, bass and other fish are drawn to it assuming that it is food.
These kinds of rigs work best in deeper, clearer waters. Trying to use a wacky rig in thickly vegetated waters will probably leave you with no fish and a lost Senko worm at the end of the day.
This is because wacky rigs are designed for fishing near the bottom of the water floor to imitate a real worm.
You will need to wriggle your line so your Senko worm acts like a real worm at the bottom of the floor, attracting bass towards it. In vegetation, your Senko worm will likely be lost.
However, wacky rigging is more complex that just sticking the hook through the wacky worm and fishing like usual.
There are different ways you can rig a wacky worm, so let’s take a look at the different ways you can fish using a wacky rig.
Weightless Wacky
Weightless wacky refers to when you rig a Senko worm. Senko worms are bits of light plastic that resemble long, thick worms or slugs.
They’re great because they can be reused and save you a lot of money instead of using regular worms over and over again.
Because they are very light, rigging a Senko worm will leave you with a weightless rig that you can cast at a long distance.
It’s also the easiest way to rig a wacky because it doesn’t require any knot tying or rigging knowledge. All you need is an O-ring.
This is so you don’t actually puncture the Senko worm when you hook it, meaning that it will be more durable and can be reused for even longer.
To rig a weightless wacky, take a standard O-ring and run it to the middle of your Senko worm. Use a size 1 gap hook to look it through.
Then, line your hook and you can start fishing using your weightless wacky rig. It really is that easy – and you don’t need any specific fishing line. This is what makes weightless wacky rigs a great choice for everyone.
Drop Shot Wacky Rig
For a more technical way to fish with a wacky rig, try wacky rigging a drop shot. It helps give the worm a wobble that imitates the real thing perfectly, meaning that you are more likely to get a bass’s attention and catch a fish.
To try it out, you will need to take a standard drop shot and rig it with a swivel and weight at the end. Then, dan bilzerian fitness run your hook through the meatiest part of the worm so it will stay attached. Line it all up and you can start.
The only issue with this way of fishing with a wacky rig is that it is not weedless. You will be fishing with an exposed barb that can cause problems if you are fishing the bottom.
Plus, constantly piercing your fake worm will wear it down over time, no matter how durable it is.
However, this method does make it easier to get a solid hook set and you are more likely to attract bass.
Weedless Wacky Rig
This is the wacky rig method for those who don’t like fishing with an exposed hook. You can still fish with a weedless wig with this method of wacky rigging.
Just take your weedless jig head and use that to pierce your fake worm with a standard wacky rig.
You also have the option to use an O-ring to make your fake worm more durable, but it is not necessary for this method.
Just stick the weightless jig head through your fake worm (still in its meatiest area) and the extra weight will cause the fake worm to sink in the water at a quicker pace.
It will still also mimic a real worm by wriggling on the way day, attracting bass just like a drop shot wacky rig would.
Nail Weight Wacky Rig
This method involves using something called a Neko rig. Neko rigs are also sometimes called chicken rigs or Ned rigs, but they all involve the same thing.
A Neko rig involves taking your Senko worm and driving a nail through the top of it. The Senko worm has to be very thick for this method to work – otherwise the nail won’t hook into the worm correctly.
So when you have the correct Senko worm, just drive a nail right into its head. Then, hook your wacky rig onto a hook as normal.
The whole point of this method is to try and make the weight of the worm look more normal to the fish.
Because Senko worms are so light, they don’t always move like a real worm should in water. Fish aren’t stupid – they’ll just think the Senko worm isn’t a real worm and avoid it.
Using a nail weight helps the worm to stay weighted down and wriggle as you move it along the bottom of the floor.
Conclusion
And those are the methods you can use to fish using a wacky rig!
Fishing with a wacky rig is super simple as Senko worms are easy to find and attach to your hook.
However, sometimes you have to go that extra mile by using a weight or nail to properly sink your wacky rig to the bottom of the floor to imitate a real worm.
So just follow the methods above and you will be catching bass in no time.
