Carolina Rig & Texas Rig

[linewetter]

So I've read a few posts around here about people using the Texas rig and recently saw @DerekD using the Carolina rig a month or two ago on a trip out together.  I was familiar with the terms but wasn't until I saw him using it that I got more interested in the setup and doing more research.  Seeing the unweighted presentation appealed to me a lot, but I soon won't be able to fish for a little bit and unable to do my own experimentation until afterwards so wanted to see if anyone had info to share.

Pics of the rigs for anyone reading that is unfamiliar, though I'm sure there are variations to what is pictured even.  This was just the first one that caught my eye since it had both in one picture.

A lot of info online when I tried searching about this seems to refer to much heavier braid (20lb-60lb braid) than what I'm using (6lb braid) so wasn't sure how applicable what I was reading was.  Questions as follows:

• On the Carolina rig, my concern is bullet weight being too abrasive against the lightweight braid and wearing it down and weakening it.  Is this a genuine concern?  If so, how to get around it?  The best alternative I can think is to do hook -> leader -> barrel swivel -> leader & bullet weight -> barrel swivel -> braid.  But if that's the only alternative, will forgo the rig altogether because that's a lot of weak points for one rig.  
   
• For Texas rig, is there a technique for positioning the bullet weight when it's in the water?  It's free sliding, so how do you manage where the weight is on the line?  I'm assuming when you lift/twitch/hop the lure, the weight is just going to make its way down to the hook and stay there but I could be wrong as I haven't tried it yet.  If it is on the hook, how do you get it to get away from the hook to present an unweighted lure?
   
• If rigging weedless, what would be the ideal hook size for 2.5" plastics?  I bought some size 2 Gamakatsu EWG hooks to try out (similar hook size I use for jigheads generally speaking) and at least for 2.5" plastics, it didn't seem the ideal size.  

 

I'm also quite interested in the drop shot setup having seen this video demonstration between the jighead vs drop shot.  The drop shot looks 1000% better to me than jighead and much more realistic, but also a little more complicated to tie for me so it is a third place contender for now.  The additional benefit I can see to the drop shot is that if you get snagged, you only lose the sinker and get your hook and plastic back.  The main dislike I have with using jigheads currently is when doing any hops, I just don't think it looks very natural just like it's shown in the video.  It obviously works still because people catch fish that way and I do too, but has been something I've been looking for alternatives to for a little bit now. 
 

I've also read that fish will eat head first and hit jigheads on the drop.  Thinking with the unweighted presentation on all three rigs, especially with the drop shot, you might get the benefit of constantly being on the drop since it'll slowly flutter to the floor with every twitch, but you still get the benefit of casting range with the weight separated from the hook.  Maybe it'll result in more hookups for me since it'll give a better entry point for the fish to attack vs when head of the soft plastic is constantly on the floor with jigheads.

 

Drop shot rig setup:

Edited April 22 by linewetter

[Little_Flatty]

@DerekD using the Carolina rig? You mean he's not fishing topwater? C'mon Derek, explain yourself 🤣

As for your Texas rig question, don't overthink it. It's fine. I've used it a lot over the recent years and it's saved me a pile of gear. The sinker is most likely to hit the bottom first on the drop, leaving the lure floating above the bottom, then it will follow it to the bottom then the whole lot will leave the bottom on the next hop. Then this will repeat again and again until the lure is at your rod tip.

For the Carolina rig, you could potentially rig a stopper on the leader to stop the sinker, but again, don't overthink it. You can't use such a heavy sinker anyway on 6lb gear that it could cause much trouble. But if you wanted to, one of those rubber float stoppers could do the trick, along with a bead on top of the sinker if you wanted to make doubly sure.

For your 2.5 inch plastics, you might need to go a size 4 EWG. Not all plastics lend themselves to EWG rigging (the smaller squidgy prawns and some 2 inch grubs for instance). They can just squirm around too much on the EWG to keep their shape. Others are too 'fat' and may require you to cut a belly slit in them for hook clearance. You might notice certain soft plastics (particularly the bigger ones) have a cutaway in the belly - that's what they're for.

I can't really help you with the dropshot. I've caught one fish on it, but haven't used it extensively enough to comment.

[linewetter]

8 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

@DerekD using the Carolina rig? You mean he's not fishing topwater? C'mon Derek, explain yourself 🤣

As for your Texas rig question, don't overthink it. It's fine. I've used it a lot over the recent years and it's saved me a pile of gear. The sinker is most likely to hit the bottom first on the drop, leaving the lure floating above the bottom, then it will follow it to the bottom then the whole lot will leave the bottom on the next hop. Then this will repeat again and again until the lure is at your rod tip.

For the Carolina rig, you could potentially rig a stopper on the leader to stop the sinker, but again, don't overthink it. You can't use such a heavy sinker anyway on 6lb gear that it could cause much trouble. But if you wanted to, one of those rubber float stoppers could do the trick, along with a bead on top of the sinker if you wanted to make doubly sure.

For your 2.5 inch plastics, you might need to go a size 4 EWG. Not all plastics lend themselves to EWG rigging (the smaller squidgy prawns and some 2 inch grubs for instance). They can just squirm around too much on the EWG to keep their shape. Others are too 'fat' and may require you to cut a belly slit in them for hook clearance. You might notice certain soft plastics (particularly the bigger ones) have a cutaway in the belly - that's what they're for.

I can't really help you with the dropshot. I've caught one fish on it, but haven't used it extensively enough to comment.

Haha Derek did mention you were the go to person to ask for Texas rigging so was keen to see your input as well.  I remember reading you mentioned about being able to mix/match various weights easily and that's what sold it for me.  I have a small stockpile of jigheads in the weights I use but can get pricey if losing them often so was interested in Texas rig to save some money and have a more flexible option.  

Think I will try out both rigs at this point in the future and see how I go.  Carolina rig, you're right, wouldn't be using a heavy sinker anyway.  Just have to make sure there are no sharp points on it from the pouring process and probably won't be too bad after all.

What are your go to plastics & sizes and accompanying hook size when targeting the typical bread and butter fish like bream or flathead?  I had a lot of trouble with rigging a grub on the EWG hook, so good to know maybe I wasn't the sole reason why it wasn't working out 😅

[big Neil]

Interesting discussion topic Linewetter. Not sure how many Raiders are using these "newer" type rigs. I think most still enjoy using soft plastics in the traditional way...they are still VERY effective on many different species. Good luck with your research.

bn

[Little_Flatty]

9 hours ago, linewetter said:

Haha Derek did mention you were the go to person to ask for Texas rigging so was keen to see your input as well.  I remember reading you mentioned about being able to mix/match various weights easily and that's what sold it for me.  I have a small stockpile of jigheads in the weights I use but can get pricey if losing them often so was interested in Texas rig to save some money and have a more flexible option.  

Think I will try out both rigs at this point in the future and see how I go.  Carolina rig, you're right, wouldn't be using a heavy sinker anyway.  Just have to make sure there are no sharp points on it from the pouring process and probably won't be too bad after all.

What are your go to plastics & sizes and accompanying hook size when targeting the typical bread and butter fish like bream or flathead?  I had a lot of trouble with rigging a grub on the EWG hook, so good to know maybe I wasn't the sole reason why it wasn't working out 😅

A good starting point is a 3inch Berkley Power Minnow or its Gulp equivalent, rigged on a size 1 Gamakatsu EWG hook. Size of sinker to suit depth/current, but light as you can get away with.

When you head back stateside for a visit, I think you need to get out to a tackle shop there and chat to a few fishos/go fishing. I think you'll come back with plenty to share!

[linewetter]

31 minutes ago, big Neil said:

Interesting discussion topic Linewetter. Not sure how many Raiders are using these "newer" type rigs. I think most still enjoy using soft plastics in the traditional way...they are still VERY effective on many different species. Good luck with your research.

bn

Oh yes, the three setups are all the rage in America. Very popular over there, jigheads are too but I see those three setups come up more on social media from America. Ever since getting more into fishing, I’ve become interested in seeing what’s popular in other countries too, fun to see the different ways we differ even though we’re all out to catch fish. 

[linewetter]

28 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

A good starting point is a 3inch Berkley Power Minnow or its Gulp equivalent, rigged on a size 1 Gamakatsu EWG hook. Size of sinker to suit depth/current, but light as you can get away with.

When you head back stateside for a visit, I think you need to get out to a tackle shop there and chat to a few fishos/go fishing. I think you'll come back with plenty to share!

I will give that a shot! I have a pack of the power minnows already, so just have to get the hook next time to try it out. 
 

I’ve picked up on a couple things so far from watching videos - black and blue seems like a very popular soft plastics color there but not so much here it seems 

[DerekD]

10 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

@DerekD using the Carolina rig? You mean he's not fishing topwater? C'mon Derek, explain yourself 🤣

Hi @Little_Flatty

Can't slip anything past you.

To be fair, my lure journey essentially started with soft plastics and I grew outwards from there. This was a trip back into my lure fishing roots to solve a problem I was having with the bass at Manly dam. My go to is spinners there and they are very effective but I wanted to start catching some of the ones in the deeper water. The challenge is there is a lot of weeds and other snags so I wanted a weedless rig that I could fish through clutter. I figured a floating plastic lure about 40cm above the bottom might do the trick. Still working on it.

Edited April 22 by DerekD

[Bennyg78]

Hey @linewetter

This podcast talks about free rigging in Moreton Bay for bream fishing. There might be some relevant info for you here

[Little_Flatty]

2 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

Hey @linewetter

This podcast talks about free rigging in Moreton Bay for bream fishing. There might be some relevant info for you here

Yep I listened to that with much interest. That’s a whole new dimension to rigging plastics! I want to try it but am a bit distracted by other methods at the moment.

[DerekD]

Hi @linewetter.

If you are looking at dropshotting then consider stand out hooks and then maybe pencil sinkers. We used these in a paternoster style format when fishing for Zander in Amsterdam. We just threaded the front of a 3" minnow onto the hook and the hook design kept it hanging square to the line and off the bottom.

The pencil sinkers are less likely to snag up in the Dutch canals where we used them. Surprisingly the takes from a Zander were surprisingly timid considering how big and powerful they look. Think flathead crossed with a bass and sharp teeth thrown in. Here was the report I did back then:

 

Edited April 23 by DerekD

[XD351]

The Texas rig is better in tight structure and for vertical work as the sinker against the hook gives more control of the lure - both when casting and retrieving , the Carolina is better for shallow weed beds and soft silt bottom - you can adjust the leader length to suit which helps to keep the lure above the weed or from disappearing into the bottom silt - even better with buoyant plastics like Zman . Never used the drop shot as I never seen a use for it - maybe teabagging or similar to the Carolina ?

 

[XD351]

7 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi @Little_Flatty

Can't slip anything past you.

To be fair, my lure journey essentially started with soft plastics and I grew outwards from there. This was a trip back into my lure fishing roots to solve a problem I was having with the bass at Manly dam. My go to is spinners there and they are very effective but I wanted to start catching some of the ones in the deeper water. The challenge is there is a lot of weeds and other snags so I wanted a weedless rig that I could fish through clutter. I figured a floating plastic lure about 40cm above the bottom might do the trick. Still working on it.

I have seen plastics rigged with a small foam ball sitting where a jig head would be , I have also seen an orange ear plug used to do the same thing , also works on the beach to keep your bait off the bottom and away from sand crabs .

[linewetter]

10 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

Hey @linewetter

This podcast talks about free rigging in Moreton Bay for bream fishing. There might be some relevant info for you here

Interesting, I will give that one a listen.  I've recently started listening to that podcast more and more but haven't listened to that episode yet - see it just came out a month ago or so.  Thanks for linking it!

[linewetter]

7 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi @linewetter.

If you are looking at dropshotting then consider stand out hooks and then maybe pencil sinkers. We used these in a paternoster style format when fishing for Zander in Amsterdam. We just threaded the front of a 3" minnow onto the hook and the hook design kept it hanging square to the line and off the bottom.

The pencil sinkers are less likely to snag up in the Dutch canals where we used them. Surprisingly the takes from a Zander were surprisingly timid considering how big and powerful they look. Think flathead crossed with a bass and sharp teeth thrown in. Here was the report I did back then:

 

Those are some awesome pictures in that report.  I'll admit, I'm surprised by the quality of the photos - super clear all things considered from back then (though it's not that long ago really).  Did Han and Juul ever make it down to Sydney and fish with you or did you guys end up keeping in contact?  

I've never seen a hook like that before like you've linked.  Looks like may be a little hard to get in Aus or at least for a reasonable price...I'll see if I can get some stateside.  From reviews, definitely seems like those stand out hooks work well for improving hook up rates on a drop shot setup.  

[linewetter]

4 hours ago, XD351 said:

The Texas rig is better in tight structure and for vertical work as the sinker against the hook gives more control of the lure - both when casting and retrieving , the Carolina is better for shallow weed beds and soft silt bottom - you can adjust the leader length to suit which helps to keep the lure above the weed or from disappearing into the bottom silt - even better with buoyant plastics like Zman . Never used the drop shot as I never seen a use for it - maybe teabagging or similar to the Carolina ?

 

I have yet to try any but from viewing the setup, it seems like the drop shot setup lets you suspend the lure & give it a longer drop better than the Carolina rig since the weight comes after the lure.  I'm thinking in my head that with the Carolina rig, because the lure is behind the weight, it's going to not be as fluttery since the weight in front kind of dampens any hops you give it.  But I'm going to give both a shot in terms of seeing how they compare when I can.  I could be totally wrong and the Carolina ends up looking how I want it to.

[DerekD]

30 minutes ago, linewetter said:

Those are some awesome pictures in that report.  I'll admit, I'm surprised by the quality of the photos - super clear all things considered from back then (though it's not that long ago really).  Did Han and Juul ever make it down to Sydney and fish with you or did you guys end up keeping in contact? 

The camera was the Canon EOS 350 and was released in late 2005 with an 8.2MP (huge right) sensor. I'm still blown away how good the photos are from that camera if the light conditions are reasonable and I've done several weddings with it. Think I've taken over 50,000 photos with it and still have it but I struggled with it under poor light conditions so picked up two newer Canons in the last few years.

I lost contact with Han and I don't know if Juul ever made it out here but in one of the EyeFish episodes they visited him in Amsterdam.

[lhan]

I've tried all of them in Meadowbank/Putney area and had very good results on both Texas/Carolina rig but not on dropshot. I also tried to fish Texas/Carolina rig in middle harbour (hallstorm point) once with no success sadly, but sample size is only one.

Texas/Carolina rig to me, for Sydney estuary fishing, are essentially the same rig (90% snag free rig) with only one difference - the speed/control of falling. Because the existence of the swivel on C-rig, after the sinker hit the bottom, there's still a falling period for the plastics when we all know it has the highest bite rates. The falling period is affected by how long your leader and how heavy your plastic is apparently. On the other hand, it's a bit harder to achieve the same length of free fall for Texas rig. The sinker tends to run towards the hook which leads to a much faster but unnatural falling. I tend to have the bail arm open for a while after sinker hit the water when I'm using Texas-rig, this will allow the sinker to sink first without straightened line forcing it sliding towards the hook. But don't do this when it's windy - wind knots are not fun and I learnt it the hard way.

The nature of the emphasis on falling really weighs lure choice towards grub style, especially on C-rig. Texas rig is a bit more flexible imo because the sinker sorta serves as rattling generator to draw attention from predators - I caught some good bream on minor drag/slow roll on the bottom using paddletails/prawnz. Again, snag-prevention makes this possible in upper Parra.

To answer some of your question:

1. there're some sinkers specifically for these rigs with inner plastic/extremely polished. But I didn't really have any issue on my 6lbs braid using kmart sinkers... I don't have the chance to do long sessions like you tho 😆

2. I had a feeling the sinker will touch the hook finally at some stage (this is also why T-rig has the best ability to travel thru snags - the sinker cut the way out first). So you can assume that's the case. C-rig is a bit harder because you're lifting the sinker at the end anyway.

3. I use size 6 for 2 inches crabby and 2.5 inches grubz/swim slimz. Also I had no issue doing size 1 hook on 2.75 inches noodle grub. So maybe just give it a try...

I feels that dropshot is pretty good when you know where the strike zone is but for land based fishing we're mainly "scanning" so I didn't give it much time. Can't really comment on that

Hope this helps and looking forward to any other advice too!

[faker]

12 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi @Little_Flatty

Can't slip anything past you.

To be fair, my lure journey essentially started with soft plastics and I grew outwards from there. This was a trip back into my lure fishing roots to solve a problem I was having with the bass at Manly dam. My go to is spinners there and they are very effective but I wanted to start catching some of the ones in the deeper water. The challenge is there is a lot of weeds and other snags so I wanted a weedless rig that I could fish through clutter. I figured a floating plastic lure about 40cm above the bottom might do the trick. Still working on it.

dumb question, would this work for fishing the washes off the rocks?

[linewetter]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:30 PM, lhan said:

I've tried all of them in Meadowbank/Putney area and had very good results on both Texas/Carolina rig but not on dropshot. I also tried to fish Texas/Carolina rig in middle harbour (hallstorm point) once with no success sadly, but sample size is only one.

Texas/Carolina rig to me, for Sydney estuary fishing, are essentially the same rig (90% snag free rig) with only one difference - the speed/control of falling. Because the existence of the swivel on C-rig, after the sinker hit the bottom, there's still a falling period for the plastics when we all know it has the highest bite rates. The falling period is affected by how long your leader and how heavy your plastic is apparently. On the other hand, it's a bit harder to achieve the same length of free fall for Texas rig. The sinker tends to run towards the hook which leads to a much faster but unnatural falling. I tend to have the bail arm open for a while after sinker hit the water when I'm using Texas-rig, this will allow the sinker to sink first without straightened line forcing it sliding towards the hook. But don't do this when it's windy - wind knots are not fun and I learnt it the hard way.

The nature of the emphasis on falling really weighs lure choice towards grub style, especially on C-rig. Texas rig is a bit more flexible imo because the sinker sorta serves as rattling generator to draw attention from predators - I caught some good bream on minor drag/slow roll on the bottom using paddletails/prawnz. Again, snag-prevention makes this possible in upper Parra.

To answer some of your question:

1. there're some sinkers specifically for these rigs with inner plastic/extremely polished. But I didn't really have any issue on my 6lbs braid using kmart sinkers... I don't have the chance to do long sessions like you tho 😆

2. I had a feeling the sinker will touch the hook finally at some stage (this is also why T-rig has the best ability to travel thru snags - the sinker cut the way out first). So you can assume that's the case. C-rig is a bit harder because you're lifting the sinker at the end anyway.

3. I use size 6 for 2 inches crabby and 2.5 inches grubz/swim slimz. Also I had no issue doing size 1 hook on 2.75 inches noodle grub. So maybe just give it a try...

I feels that dropshot is pretty good when you know where the strike zone is but for land based fishing we're mainly "scanning" so I didn't give it much time. Can't really comment on that

Hope this helps and looking forward to any other advice too!

Very good info!  Especially about leaving the bail arm early on the Texas rig.  That is something I hadn't thought about as a workaround to let the sinker sink first without it sliding straight to the hook.  Going to try practicing rigging weedless (biggest weakpoint at this point) then trying out both the Texas rig and Carolina rig.  The drop shot rig though I'm imagining using maybe off a wharf or somewhere that it can be put down vertically - that'll be my first place I was planning on testing that one out.  It looks like the Carolina rig will be the go to for me for a better unweighted presentation but the Texas rig for more snag proofing.  Thanks again for sharing 😁 Will also try the hook sizes you mentioned for the 2.5" plastics since I already have those in possession as well