The first thing I would recommend is to take a trip with Mark Pack in the summer if feasible. I wasn't a big C-rig fan until I fished with him a couple times and now it is my go to method.

2nd- I believe a good rod makes a ton of difference. I prefer the G-rod Pro Bass 7'6" MH. I've heard good things about the Dobyns 784 too but don't have any experience with it.

I generally always use a 1 oz weight because I like to maintain good bottom contact. I also will use a glass bead between the weight and swivel and shake my rod every once in a while to clack them together and let the fish know I'm there. You'll get differing opinions on weight size and leader length, but it comes down to personal preference for the most part. Plus with the 7'6" rod and 1 oz weight, you can sling that thing and get it way out there.

I prefer a 36"-48" leader but may go longer if the water temp is cold. I always throw 20 lb floro mainline and will change up my leader weight based on water clarity. A lot of people will use braid for the main line, but I prefer the floro.

3rd- learn how to use and read your electronics, and trust what they are telling you. I graph, graph, and then graph some more until I find a good school positioned on some structure. Just for an idea, I have 384 hours on my boat and as of a week ago, 274 of those are idling. I believe its also very important to be aware of your surroundings and use references on land to mark the school as opposed to a marker buoy. There's two main reasons I don't like buoy's. 1 is I feel like it spooks the fish when you drop that giant piece of lead on top of them, and 2, that buoy has a tendency to attract boats. If its pretty windy and I feel like I really need to drop one, I make sure its a good 40-50' away from the fish and just cast past the buoy. This will help keep a line on them any how. Just keep in mind, sometimes when you graph over a school, you can spook them and they will flee from the spot. Generally I will exercise a little patience and let things settle down and give the fish time to move back to the cover before I even think about moving due to not getting bit.

4th- I fish SLOW, and just when I think I'm fishing slow enough, I slow down more. My rule of thumb is 5 minutes from cast till its back to the boat. I've never had luck fishing a C-rig fast, and if the fish do want a faster presentation I grab something else (heavy t-rig, jig, 10XD) I'm not saying you can't catch them dragging it fast, I just don't do it.

5th- Location, Location, Location. Read and study what makes a spot productive and why it is. I can't remember what author said it, but I live by the rule structure, structure, cover, cover. This means I'm looking for something like a main lake point with a road bed on it, or point next to a channel swing. Then, on that overall piece of structure, I'm trying to find two means of cover next to each other. Something like some rocks next to a tree stump, or bushes around timber. When all these things fall into place, it's generally a sweet spot. Sometimes two forms of cover isn't feasible so then I'll target isolated cover. I'm looking for anything that will hold fish in the area for a while. I also prefer points that lead ALL THE WAY to deep water. I'm a deep water fisherman so I subscribe to the Buck Perry theory that the home of the fish is deep water. I want a piece of structure that acts as a highway from deep water to shallow water. I believe the fish will move along that highway and stage at different depths as conditions permit. I'll just graph until I find where they are holding. Generally, I'll also take the approach that the smaller fish always move ahead of the larger fish as they are less affected by weather patterns and other factors. That being said, if I'm catching tons of small fish in the 10'-12' range, I'll move out and fish a bit deeper to see if I can get a bigger bite. Another thing to keep in mind is sometimes the fish want a different angle when your dragging a bait. Sometimes they want it moving from shallow to deep, sometimes opposite. I'll continue to circle the school making casts from different directions until I figure out which way they want it.


I hope this helps you a little and I'm sure you will get a ton of different feedback. Right or wrong,this is just MY $.02 and what works best for me.

except the part about waiting until summer to go out with Mark Pack
here it is Feb 8th and if you wait until summer to go out with Mark you sure have missed a lot of fishing with the c-rig
if you haven't figured it out by summer, by all mewans contact Mark Pack,,,,,,,,,but in the meantime, GO FISH