So I had an idea for a bass rig... will it work?

I've been trying recently for some winter bass, as I have limited experience with bass fishing. No luck with cranks, spoons, or tubes. What has worked for me is a senko. Few weeks ago when the weather was decent, I caught my first bass ever on a weightless senko fishing in a hard-to-cast-in hole at a state park. Not much, but it was a bass! Since then, I've had no luck catching much of anything, bass or catfish. But I would like to catch another bass, so today I took advantage of the Cabela's and Bass Pro Shop merger and snagged a few things from Z man. No shroomz heads in stock yet though, but I did get a few TRD baits, and was intrigued when I saw the Hard Leg Frogz. Grabbed a pack, took it home... thought it over for a while, and decided a hybrid carolina rig could work pretty well for these. I even think a catfish might bite this as well.

I pushed a 5/0 Worm hook through the front of the frog, then brought it back through the bottom slot to stick out the top slot. I then Kreh looped about a 1.5' 10' test fluorocarbon leader onto the eyelet, attached a carolina keeper about 6" up the leader, slid on a small plastic bead, and a bullet weight of unknown weight (I'm guessing it's about 3/16-1/4 oz). I tied a small power swivel onto the other end of the leader in case a catfish does bite it and decides to roll.

While I haven't tested it in the wild yet, "the sink test" shows promise. It will float the little weight slightly nosing down, but when I jerk it, the frog dives with some cool action! I think this is called a "dragging rig" but I haven't seen it done quite like this before. My hope is that it skirts the bottom of a water source and then rises back up again. Will it work? I will attach a picture of it here in a bit.

Looks like a Carolina rigged frog.

Until Valentine’s Day, you are unlikely to catch numbers of bass north of San Antonio

Fish that c rig really slow and you just might catch a big bass this time of year; but be prepared to not get bit for maybe days of fishing

Zman plastics are good on a c-rig most of the year because they float, but they are stiff (get even stiffer in cold water)

Are you kin to Nathan902?

902 is almost on his 30000 post, but doesn't know how to post pics
WhiskerFisher figured it out by post #3

Snorted Bud Light outta my nose after that one, laughing OUT LOUD!

I'm actually SE of Houston... on average this winter it's been high 50's-low 60's during the day, but we have an occasional night drop to the 30's in series and we are getting back into this series now for a few days, so it'll be a bit before I attempt to run this rig. The reels I have are somewhat fast, so that may be an issue for me, I may not have been going slow enough. My three primary reels are a 6.3 baitcaster and 6.3 spinner, and a 7.0 baitcaster, although I do have a Penn 209 that is a lot slower, along with some slow spincasts that I use mostly for creeks and slip floating. I generally do around a 1/4 turn real slowly, let it rest, maybe add a subtle bump or two... and repeat. Sometimes I do a constant reel-in very gradually with a subtle, random bump here and there. Just in an attempt to both go slowly on my reels and maybe entice a half-comatose bass. :P Btw, this bait is soft, rubbery, and very stretchy, it reminds me of those little stretch toys you can get for a quarter out of the machine at stores.



Not familiar with them.



I know my way around html. :P

Ahhh, you're lucky to be where it's warmer.
With the crig, I'd actually use the high speed baitcaster, but move the weight/lure with your rod slowly (don't use the reel to move the bait) Slowly drag the weight/lure always feeling contact of the weight and the bottom. Always feel the weight and what the weight is doing. If you feel the weight move into a transition area (rocky to grass, or soft to hard), maybe slow down even more and add in some wiggles with the rod tip.

The high speed reel with crig is for taking up all that slack quickly if you feel a tug or you don't feel the weight anymore (if you don't feel the weight anymore with the crig, it could be a light pick up and swim bite)

Not as warm as Florida, but I'm not complaining too much!

I will definitely try that! So sort of like a yo-yo approach, but more gradual so I can both take up slack and feel the bottom. I never thought of the high speed being an advantage there, but that makes sense. Can't wait to try it! Thanks!

Btw, stay healthy up there in Dallas... you guys are getting hammered by the nastiest flu ever!

Not saying you won't catch anything on that rig, but if you take that frog off and put the senko you were using back on you'll catch 10 times more than you will with that frog.

throw that junk away and fish a jig.

Your welcome!

It's not a question of WILL it work. It is a question of WHEN it will work. No doubt it will one day catch a bass. It is a little non-traditional but then again, I like trying new things. A plastic frog like that one is a killer bait when Texas rigged with a 3/8 to 1/2 oz bullet and pitch like a jig.

Anything but a straight shank hook in that bait is a poor choice.

The problem with senkos is that they have 0 bouyancy. Where I fish there is so much bottom debris that they snag on everything even if rigged weedless. I have caught a small bass with a senko, but it got snagged so much... and I ended up losing about 4 of them that same session after that one bass. So I like to use things that have some level of buoyancy to them so I can let off and allow it go over debris rather than yanking it up with the rod. I have the same issue with most jig rigs.

That grub thing looks interesting. I'm not sure what that's called though. Waters here are so murky I am not sure how well it'd work.

Are you agreeing with the hook I've shown or are you talking about straight shank all the way to the eye? I started out using a round shank style EWG shown below and they were terrible at losing the fish after the hook up or just missing them all together. After I switched to the round bend straight shank (still offset at the eye) I've had near zero problems. I've never tried the straight shank all the way to the eye, It seemed to me they would get hung easily or slip down the shank.

First off....murky water isn't an issue...Bass can feel your baits movement and find it just about as easy as seeing it.

Second, a senko bait is the easiest baitnto fish in almost ANY lake, pond, river, ditch. If you think it's hanging up too easily, use it weightless.

I was using the senko weightless but that doesnt seem to help when there are sticks hidden underwater.

best advice ever, just go figure it out on your own if you want to become a better angler.

stick under water is a GOOD thing. You want that senko bouncing through that stuff as much as possible.

Best comment ^^^^

yep.....and with the exposed hook, those hidden sticks are gonna get old ...fast.

Take a tube, put a small piece of styrofoam in it, then hook it onto your c-rig. Floats and tubes catch bass.

All righty then, Mr. Master Angler. Thanks for the advice. Obviously I've been trying that without much success, using various rigs, tactics, and techniques, or else I wouldn't be asking people who are more experienced than me.



This is true, I am worried about that. I can't really weedless rig this one since it has a groove on the top and bottom, which lacks the meat to weedless rig it. There are some spots where this is less of a problem, it's just this one spot where I know the bass are happens to be under a bunch of trees that drop their branches. So it may just be one of those challenging places to fish in general. Or maybe it's just me.



That's an interesting idea... I have seen some guys use a toothpick wedged down the hole to help decrease the sink rate, but it only works for so long until the toothpick gets waterlogged. I will have to remember that one.

^^^ get a bag if the cheap foam ear plugs from Home Depot. They work great for floating up baits. Also, try a Biffle Bug. The Biffle has a hollow cavity for rattles, but an ear plug fits it great. Put it on a Carolina rig with about 2-2.5 ft of line between the weight and the hook. Rip the line hard and the Biffle will swim down fast and float back up fast. The bass can't resist it.

Again....for bank fishing, I'd still suggest a weightless senko.

I have had boats almost my whole life and I still enjoy bank fishing a few nights a week. Carrying a spare hook or two and a back of senkos is easy to walk around with and WILL catch bass in almost any condition.

So happens that I'm an enthusiast shooter, and happen to have lots of ear plugs handy!

I had to google a Biffle Bug cause I wasn't familiar. Seems like my local Cabela's carries these: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Gene-Larew-Biffle-Bug/1196483.uts. Looks a bit like what Huckleberry posted, but it may not be exactly the same thing. Any specific recommendations I may be able to find in stores? Same for senkos... I've been told the Strike King's work better than the Yamasenkos I've been using, but I can't find anything else locally. May have to make some online purchases.

The only colors you need are Green Pumpkin in bugs and Senkos. Watermelon red is maybe the second choice.

The Strike King "senkos" or not even in the same zip code as Gary Yamamotos Senkos! Not even close. The weight of the real senko is what makes it work so well. It's easy to cast weightless and shimmys just right when slowly falling. The salt in the formula is what gives it the weight and slow sink. They do cost more and tear easily, so maybe it's better to learn with the cheaper SK ochos.

2 pages for a C-rig frog, nice lol...

man...I could write up a 100 page book on Carolina rigging. It would be a coloring book with lots of pictures.

I hear ya...It's just funny. I could find the cure to cancer and get a page or 2. This guy catches A bass and posts a C-Rig frog and gets 2 pages lololol.... Just funny to me but I am a little sick in the head.

Oldie but goodie. Hard to beat a Devil's Tongue when it comes to C-rigging.

You can skin hook the point on the side in that little groove.