One of the hottest techniques across the tournament trail is wacky jig fishing. The technique has been more of a sleeper than other popular finesse fishing techniques but one thing is certain if you haven’t tried this rig you need to because it will put more bass into your boat now!
One of the hottest techniques across the tournament trail is wacky jig fishing. The technique has been more of a sleeper than other popular finesse fishing techniques but one thing is certain if you haven’t tried this rig you need to because it will put more bass into your boat now!
The wacky jig is a spin off of the wacky rig because you take your jig and run the hook through the center of the worm. Now this might look like a goofy way to rig your bait and you might wonder how in the heck is that suppose to catch a fish? While the rig might look a little odd in your hand the magic happens when you put the bait in the water. The weight pulls the worm towards the bottom and the two ends of your worm go wild. This action drives bass crazy and it is something that most fish haven’t seen. You can also give the bait great action when it gets to the bottom. If you keep your line semi slack you can make your plastics wiggle with small twitches.
The rig is very versatile and there are endless places where it can produce. Wacky head fishing is great because you can get your bait deeper than you can with a wacky rig and cover a lot more water. The rig really shines when your fishing docks. You can take your bait and just throw it to the posts and let it fall, give it a couple of shakes when it gets to the bottom, and reel it in and make another cast. You can cover just as much water with this bait as you would flipping a jig. The rig skips surprisingly well which also makes it great for pulling bass from around these man made structures. Take the rig and throw your favorite finesse worm up on bluffs to catch some nice spots. If your lake as grass take your bait and throw it in the holes and along the weedlines. When the bass get accustomed to seeing the same old baits flipped and pitched over and over again they will eat this. If you’ve got clear water and some deep rock piles that are holding fish line up your boat and make a cast with this rig so that the bait falls right on top the fish. The action that the rig produces is so wacky that the fish will come a ways to eat it. If you’ve got suspended fish that are deep you can line up your cast with the school and drop this rig on them to get those tough schoolers to react. You can even use this rig as a topwater followup when the bass miss your buzzbait or frog.
Most companies out there offer wacky heads in a variety of weights that allow you to fish a variety o f situations. Tru-Tungsten has just come out with the Flea Flicker which is offered in 1/8th oz, the 3 /16th oz, and the 1/4 oz size. The 1/8th oz size is perfect for skipping docks and fishing s hallow cover with finesse worms. The 3/16th oz size is great if you want to step up to a bigger plastic or if you want to increase your fall rate for reaction strikes. The 1/4th oz size is great for fishing deeper clearer water where you want to get your bait down faster to where the fish are. As always it is best to let the fish determine what size to throw on a given day. One of the added bonuses of using a tungsten head is that it is smaller than lead so you will get increased hook ups.
A lot of anglers prefer light line and spinning tackle when fishing this technique. Casting this rig and skipping it is much easier in general with spinning tackle. If you go with 8 to 10lb fluorocarbon you will get a lot more action out of your bait on the fall which can be great for finicky fish.. The best advice is to try to get away with the lightest line you think you can based on the cover and the water clarity that you are fishing.
Spencer Clark
