I have always Texas rigged plastics when fishing shallow and would like to know if a Carolina rig is productive around the spawn? I was thinking a fluke style bait would probably get a few bites but I have never tried this around beds. help...

Split shot on a 3' leader. LFT ring fry.

does a split shot weight hit the bottom or do you work it moving?

Let it hit. Light wire hook should allow the ring fry to settle slowly to the bottom. fish it just like a C Rig, only slower and shorter movement to keep it in the strike zone longer.

4" Lizard works for me....

C-rig works from 1/2 foot of water all the way out to 30 feet of water. I never ever go to the lake at any point in the year without a c-rig on.

It works really well in shallow grass/hydrilla, downsize weight so it stays on top of the grass, that way the bait stays on top too. Use to work really well before they killed the grass on Austin.

1/2oz weight and 18" leader. Baby brush hog

Yeah I agree. Great option. Can catch absolute monsters as well.
I think a fluke or something small without too much water displacement early in spring would be great, then going lizard or brush hog near spawn, or something along those lines. But a 1/2 oz wt, 18" leader, and watermelon/red lizard is definitely a go to set up for me. I like the slower and shorter movement mentioned above as well.
During spawn but in water too murky to sight fish, if I catch a male with the crig, I note the spot and throw a large worm or large lizard trig back in there- sometimes get the big female that way.

A 3/8 ounce sinker and a 12-16 inch leader when fish are 5 foot or less. With the short leader and light sinker, it makes you fish slow if you want to keep it on the bottom. A French fry or brush hog of power worm are the only things I use and I have confidence in all 3. When I am deeper than 5 feet I will use a 1/2 ounce sinker and a 2-3 foot leader.

To me the short leader set up in shallow water works great. I have caught a ton of big bass using this method.

my personal best is a 12.5lber caught on a 4.5" straight tail worm , on a C-rig , 2 foot leader , less than 5ft water depth , spawn in early April . I was using lighter lines , 10lb on both sides (floro leader) because the water had about 2-3 foot visibility.
C-Rigs are seriously under rated . So many different ways to set them up .
I bring a bunch of pre-rigged leader set up's , using about 1 foot of an old pool noodle and about 10 different leaders on each one , ,makes changing quick and easy .

I always put a bobber stop between my knot and weight on a texas rig. It protects the knot from my sinker hitting it, and i can also slide it up and give myself a mini carolina rig.

The simplest ideas always elude me. Thanks!! i'm definitely going to try it out.

Bobber Stopper or the 6th Sense rubber stoppers will work good. Do NOT peg it with the rubber inserts if you are using Fluoro. It will not hold and it will put a slight kink on the line and it can and will break at the kink.

Really good tips. Thanks.