Texas Fishing Forum

T Rig presentation question

Posted By: Resh

T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 02:56 AM

Hiya, quick question that I figured someone better than me could answer. T rig is a go to for me big time, feels like I can catch quality fish with it in a variety of cover, on a variety of bodies of water, whatever the situation. I would say 90% of my bites come either on the initial drop or within the first couple pulls. This holds true even when covering flats or weedlines, not just pitching to isolated cover where I would expect that.

On par for what I should expect as far as a bite pattern? I can cover a lot more water if I only fished the first 10 feet and reeled in and pitched again. Or could I get this result by fishing the bait too quickly? The better fish seem to hit it on the first twitch after the fall. I'm thinking maybe I move the bait too fast and that's why I'm not getting the mid retrieve hits.

dunno, thanks for the input in advance
Posted By: Rickmb

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 12:04 PM

It depends.
I usually let it fall then twitch it a few times. If I'm not getting bit then I will slow down and let it rest on the bottom a few seconds then start my retrieve. There are times when I have to slow way down where it may take me 30 seconds to get a retrieve done.
What you are fishing makes a difference too. If fishing a drop off I like to start shallow and hop or walk the bait down. If fish are holding tight to cover I strip off a few feet of line when the bait hits the water to make sure it falls straight down against the cover.
Have a couple of different baits rigged up and see which one they like best that day.
Posted By: KingwoodCat

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 12:18 PM

Fish any lure ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BOAT. Oftentimes a fish will follow a bait out of cover and a subtle change in action will entice the fish to hit. The best advice I ever got was from a guy that was the best fisherman I ever fished with, who, by the way, had a Masters in Fisheries Biology and used to be a Biologist for the TPWD....If you think you are fishing a worm too slow, slow it down...
Posted By: Brad R

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 12:32 PM

Good info here.

The only distinction I'd add is whether you are fishing from a boat, or casting out from a bank.

I'd think in a boat you'd fish it all the way back to the boat; from the bank, you'd likely catch more fish by working the T-Rig out and near where it first drops, then reel it back up through the shallower water.

Now, if you know they are really shallow, then you'd work that zone, too.

When I bank fish, I rarely catch a bass in really shallow water toward the end of reeling in a T-Rig. More bang for the buck re-casting and spending more time a bit farther out.

Brad
Posted By: Nutman

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 01:16 PM

"SLOW" is never slow enough.
this is the biggest thing I have had to learn about fishing for bass.
My biggest Lake Athens bass came while I was talking on the phone to my son and the worm had just been sitting there for quite some time.
The guides I have fished with have told me --- SLOW DOWN.
now that is not to say a fast retrieve will not catch fish,,,, but more often than not----- SLOW DOWN. since I am ADD, that is hard for me to do, but I force myself and catch a lot more fish.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 01:46 PM

The splash down of the bait next to cover represents a couple of things to a Bass that causes them to strike on the fall.
- You have targeted the spot where the ambush point is.
- The splash down might represent a feeding pattern going on and cause a quick reaction bite.
- It may represent a critter entering the water or falling in the water from a bush or out of a tree into the water.
- The fall of the bait represents the most natural part of the cast and is the most realistic part of the casting sequence.
- Sometimes it seems you throw it right in the Bass's mouth and they see it actually before it hits the water.
- Splash down excites the bass, brings out the curiosity and then the strike. Being patient during this phase letting it sit then making ever so slight a movement with the bait will trigger the strike.
- A lure being worked back to the boat or the bank seems to get ignored many times as it leaves the strike zone. It just becomes another aquatic fish or creature swimming which the lake is full of. The most effective for this is the drop shot using long pauses.
- When you find schooling bass that are roaming and following bait then your moving baits become much more effective like the Crank Bait.
Posted By: Rudy Lackey

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 03:05 PM

Then you the reaction strike= Mark Pack
Posted By: bogey♂

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 03:16 PM

Reshelman, I agree to fish it slow and bring it mostly back to the boat. One other thing that I'd like to add... when you are "quitting" a cast and reeling it back in to make your next cast, kill it about 5' from the boat, just out of your sight. You'll be surprised how often a bass will follow and hit the bait if it stops in front of them. Just don't bring it in close enough for the fish to see you or they won't hit it.
Posted By: Fishingking

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 03:50 PM

I do not know how many times I have pitched to some cover, let it soak, not get bit, start retrieving the bait at a fast wind in and have a fish come out of nowhere at attack the bait literately 1 foot from the boat. I will bet anybody who has fished for bass has had this happen on numerous occasions. I always wait for that bite because it is usually vicious and makes your heart pound something awful.
Posted By: barryfish

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 04:08 PM

I know this is off subject kinda, but this is why i am not scared to fish behind someone during a tournament. Most people pull up to a spot and think, "well someone has already fished this they aren't gonna bite". To me it's no different then fishing at the back of the boat and the person on the front casting into the same spot as you. Everyone fishes different, the bass might have been following the bait and then you cast it and they hit yours.
Posted By: Slade

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 04:09 PM

Have you ever heard of stitching? I read about it in Bill Murphy's book, Pursuit of Giant Bass. I have caught some pretty good size fish doing this, or my modified version of it. The thing is that it would never work if you are fishing a tournament, it is a very time consuming process. And if you aren't anchored (which I rarely do because I'm too lazy) or if it is real windy then forget about it.

The main thing I took from it was to fish soft plastics in deep water especially, very slow. When I can settle myself down and feel the bait touching the bottom, you just move it as slow as possible, and I do this all the way until I am no longer in contact with the bottom or what I think at the time and place is good structure.

Just my 2 cents
Posted By: Resh

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/04/15 08:37 PM

Thanks all, I've had the bite at the boat more times than I can count up north with pike, just hasn't happened down here with bass yet I guess!
Posted By: Mike Keenan

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/05/15 01:00 AM

Originally Posted By: Slade
Have you ever heard of stitching? I read about it in Bill Murphy's book, Pursuit of Giant Bass. I have caught some pretty good size fish doing this, or my modified version of it. The thing is that it would never work if you are fishing a tournament, it is a very time consuming process. And if you aren't anchored (which I rarely do because I'm too lazy) or if it is real windy then forget about it.

The main thing I took from it was to fish soft plastics in deep water especially, very slow. When I can settle myself down and feel the bait touching the bottom, you just move it as slow as possible, and I do this all the way until I am no longer in contact with the bottom or what I think at the time and place is good structure.

Just my 2 cents


Don't mention stiching... I've been known to do that with reapers...
Posted By: jbcarroll3000

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/05/15 02:06 AM

I guess I'll be the first dissenting opinion--to some degree.

I have sped up the way I fish jigs and plastics significantly over the past couple of years, and it's basically by subscribing to the strike zone theory. I try to break down every cast in terms of where I think I'm most likely to get bit, where there might be a chance I'll get bit, and where I really don't think I'll get bit. I want my bait to spend the most time in that high probability zone, some time in the mid range zone, and little to no time in the low probability zone.

So, if I make a cast to a specific piece of cover, like an isolated stump, the high probability zone will be a 3 or 4 feet radius around that stump. As some of the guys have mentioned, I feel like I get most bites in this scenario on the fall or first couple of hops (that 3-4 feet radius), so I'm going to going to fish that methodically. But once I'm out of that 3 or 4 feet radius, I'm likely to zoom it back to the boat. Might I have caught a fish 6 feet from that stump? Maybe, but I believe the odds are lower than either casting back on the same stump or moving to the next high probability zone, so those are the places I want to spend more time on.

Now if I'm fishing a grass line, that high probability zone could be all the way back to the boat if I'm paralleling it, and so I'm going to work a bait much more thoroughly in that scenario, possibly all the way back to the boat because the entire cast puts the bait in the "strike zone."

For me the best approach is to spend as much time out of the day as I can in what I'm considering the high percentage strike zone, and sometimes that means only working a soft plastic the first 5 or 6 feet on a 50 foot cast. I'll admit, just like the other guys, I've had a fish strike right at the boat and I've also caught fish while my bait lay still on the bottom as I was picking out a backlash. But I've caught a lot more fish right under the dock, on the fall by a stump, or right at the edge of the grass line, so that's where I'd rather spend more time.
Posted By: Resh

Re: T Rig presentation question - 11/05/15 02:18 AM

Those were exactly my thoughts to begin with jbcarroll. Was trying to figure out if I THINK I just catch more fish it that high percentage area or if I spent more time on the rest of the cast would I actually catch more fish that I am missing now. It's all theory so the experience helps
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