carolina rig - speed 2024

I never liked carolina rigs because I really enjoy pitching and casting.  but circumstances are such right now that Carolina rig fishing is definitly in order.

My question is GENERALLY speaking how fast will you fish it.  I know you need to let fish tell you and all that sensible wisdom, but I'm talking about in general.  Is a slow steady retrieve reliably succesful? or is the drag and pause method the typical method that most anglers find succesful?

thanks

avid

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or is the drag and pause method

thats the method I use and I typically fish it slow.  Let the bait sit for anywhere from a few seconds to 10

im no master crigger but the way i do it is to fish it by dragging the tip pointed towards the water slowly but covering a fair amount of water until i feel... anything.  when i start feeling a brushpile or log or anything else i slow way down and sometimes will stop pointing the rod at the water as i very slowly work whatever cover i have found.  i never move the line with the reel only pick up slack after the drags.

matt

"Drag and pause" is the method I normally use. The speed I move it varies along with the length of the pause. Sometimes the pause is only the time it takes to reel down for the next drag; I always use the rod to move the rig-not the reel.

Sometimes just "strolling" the bait along as you drift with the wind will work-a very lazy method that will catch fish.

I use the drag and pause method.

Brad

Until the fish say otherwise, I fish it about like a t-rig, as far as speed and distance moved per move.

Avid,

    Great article in the JUly/Aug BassMaster issue on C-rigging.    Short take on the article was.   One pro called it a quitters rig the other opposite.

In general, it said this time of the year, to target fatter fish, move the bait faster, because fatter fish are active fish due to feeding.   Thus they have shad bellies pouching out.     The slower movement pulls lighter fish because they need it that slow to be interested.

Food for thought.   This is something I will monitor and ask a few of my guide friends to watch also.   Its something I have never thought of to consider before.

Any body else read the article, please add some keypoints I might not have mentioned.

Hey Avid this is my quest this summer to learn how to C rig I just got some Lindy Sinkers b/c the lake I fish mostly has a rocky area holding bass in the summer, and the egg and barrell sinkers snag a lot

 Anyway my friend Gene is excellent at this and he said to drag it until your sure you are onto whatever structure you are targeting Then he give it a few pretty decent tugs then he goes to the drag and pull Ive been watchin him for a while unfortunatly Im not getting this yet

I have always heard a slow and steady retreive and thats what I have stuck with

Hey Bassnut can you help me out here b/c Im looking for an approach to this I can use  How slow is slow?

I usually drag and pause.  I drag with a sweeping motion and I try to remember that the 7'6" rod is moving a lot of line with that motion. So I typically drag slowly.  Reel up the slack and drag again.  I typically do not pause for long.  I use the c-rig to cover a lot of water.   8-)

Well you have to use a slow gear ratio reel 5to1 and  just keep it going just enough to keep it moving. Really it's something you have to experiment with it's hard to explain

Drag for a count of 3, then pause for the same.

Repeat

I do not consider myself experienced on the C-rig but thanks to many fellow members here and all of the good advice I received ( ), I am confident that you will catch fish with the drag and pause method. I like to jerk it or tug it twice to get the bait back higher in the water and create a little erratic action like a senko of fluke, then I let it settle and fall for about 10 seconds, then I repeat and jerk or tug two to three times. Nothing hard, just moving the rod tip about 8-12 inces.

I like the idea of fat fish vs. slow fish. I want to just catch fish so, I'll stick with slow since the fish locally are very picky.

Janalon's explanation is right on.  I use the C-Rig alot throughout the year.  I can't say I agree with Bassnut's  preference for the slower reel (5:1) especially if you use the drag and pause method.  You can get burned by the fish that hit  your bait and run at you.  Most people who throw the C-rig extensively, make long casts that require quick line pick-up when getting hits at those distances.  I have tried the slower reel years ago for more "winching" power, but realized that it is not necessary at those distances with that length of rod (7+ feet).  My way is not the only way, but is the most efficient way I have tried to date.  Happy C-rigging!

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Janalon's explanation is right on. I use the C-Rig alot throughout the year. I can't say I agree with Bassnut's preference for the slower reel (5:1) especially if you use the drag and pause method. You can get burned by the fish that hit your bait and run at you. Most people who throw the C-rig extensively, make long casts that require quick line pick-up when getting hits at those distances. I have tried the slower reel years ago for more "winching" power, but realized that it is not necessary at those distances with that length of rod (7+ feet). My way is not the only way, but is the most efficient way I have tried to date. Happy C-rigging!

I fish small ponds and lakes so I'm not really geting into the distance issue but I can see your point if I was out on a boat and making longer casts.  I have found that the fish in the waters I fish want it at  a painfully slow speed and thats why I suggested a lower ratio reel  I was thinking about my fishing conditions and that was my mistake.  Muddy I'm sorry I couldn't give a good explanation I'm better at reading about something and applying it than I am at explaining something to someone I'm not a good teacher.  I have found what makes things like this easier for me is to stay at it untill I find what works and then duplicate it.   Really it's Imo something that will come to you and when it does you will think its easy.  Don't give up

Point taken, Bassnut.  Different presentations for different conditions.  Marks of a true fisherman.

I drag it 1-2ft. at the time and then pause it long enough to let the lure sink back to the botton and rest for a second or two.  If I bump some cover with the sinker I'll shorten the length of my drags and slow it down a little more.  This allows me to fish the high percentage areas a little more thoroughly, and it allows me to feel my way through the cover, so I don't hang up as much.

My range of speed is from crawling 6" a minute followed by a little jerk (maybe) to continuous travel a foot a second.

Jim

I make a full drag length of the rod then i'll reel in the slack pointing the tip of the rod toward the bait then drag again.  I think while reeling in the slack is sufficient time in between drags, when I use a trick worm as a bait sometimes i'll shake the tip of the rod on a taught line in between drags.  Usually use this technique when fish are finicky.

We have a C-rig sticky thread on top covering plenty about this, but for now I'll add some here, maybe repetitive. Let's assume you wish to present a worm to bass. You can also whacky rig it, T-rig, drop shot, float it weightless, deadstick it, troll it under a float, all sorts of ways to fish it. It must be fished the way bass want it to catch bass. If they want to study it for 5 minutes in one spot, then let them. All the methods and more I mentioned have different applications that match depth, mood, water conditions, bottom conditions, etc. I think it's a big mistake to fish a C-rig a particular way, as though trying to force bass to take it on your terms. The C-rig is a fine way to move a worm at any required speed, for all practical purposes limited only in height above bottom by leader length. You can only sling so much leader. You can deadsdtick a worm with it or power fish a lake, or anywhere in between. So it pays to experiment with retrieves to find the best presentation, accepting whatever speed bass demand, or go mostly fishless on the rig. Of course eventually you might catch a bass fishing it one way, but you won't win tournaments doing that. Be flexible. Not only does speed sampling matter, but so does angle of attack, dragging it up slope then down slope, then across slope, etc.  Precision of placement of the rig is another important factor. Often a bass requires a bait coming within inches before reacting to it. Since bass relate so much to stumps, rocks, brush, etc., the rig needs to find those hiding places. Mining a lake bottom with the rig is frequently a big waste of time. You are better off locating prime cover/structure and putting the rig exactly on it. Use the electronics, find lone targets, and zero in on the best most likely targets, changing speed, adding jerks, jumps, jiggling, crawling non-stop, or letting it do nothing for minutes at a time. Use as little sinker as needed, more in wind and current, less in calm clear water.

Jim

I like to drag and pause. I usually drag it at the speed a minnow would swin while foraging. I leave that bait just sit long enough to take up slack. This has worked well for me with salamander baits and flat tailed worms.

Matt Fly made a point regarding the size of fish that peaks my interest in looking at my technique. The bass I catch with my standard retrieve are usually 12 to 16 inches long. No smaller, no bigger. Interesting. Thanks Matt. I'll be doing things a little different to see if I get some changes in fish size.

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My range of speed is from crawling 6" a minute followed by a little jerk (maybe) to continuous travel a foot a second.

Jim

6" a minute!! MAN! That's slow. You have more patience than Job! I bet it works for you though. Makes me want to give it a try. If I know fish are there and they're just not biting, that sounds like a good torture presentation. Stick it in their face till they bite! ;D

By the way, since I've been posting here at BassResource.com I have learned to keep it simple as a novice angler and now I have learned that there are many different variations of the c-rig from brass bead knockers to all kinds of rig tricks and customization for rattles, etc.  I am now determined to make the c-rig a vital part of my fishing techniques.  Start with the basics, master it, and then move on to a new type while having an ace in your back pocket that you know you can catch fish on a slow day.

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"Drag and pause" is the method I normally use. The speed I move it varies along with the length of the pause. Sometimes the pause is only the time it takes to reel down for the next drag; I always use the rod to move the rig-not the reel.

Sometimes just "strolling" the bait along as you drift with the wind will work-a very lazy method that will catch fish.

Exactly what K Mac said!

JB, 6" a minute sometimes might be too fast. When I think there's a little current, I mean very slight, that can impart just the right movement to a finesse worm, while if you jerk it you can spook large bass. It's about the same as deadsticking a worm, just letting it sit in a spot until it gets eaten, where you just "know" there's a bass after seeing a dorsal fin or hearing a flop. That's particularly effective sight fishing spawning bass or a male guarding a bed, and you've seen a bass there. If the bass spooks, leave the C-rig bait there until the bass returns. It will have forgotten how it got on the bed, and be more apt to take it. In that case, even 6" of travel can take the bait off the sweet spot the bass will not tolerate a threat in. I'll move it 6" if I think I'm not on that spot. Then 10 minutes later another 6".

Jim

Sounds like a good tip for river fishing.  There is very little to no current on Beaver.  Not enough to impart action on a worm anyway.  Sounds like you have heavily fished that area for many many years.  Thanks for the tip!  I am still learning to expand my skill of patience.  It's the most important virtue or skill in fishing.

Excellent replies.

And the winner is........... drag and pause.

How far to drag and how long to pause are debatable and will probably vary from day to day, but the technique seems like the standard place to start.  Then experiment.

Question answered  

thanks to all

JB, if you've never tried scuba diving, take 3 lessons until you can spend at least a day watching fish and lure use under water. You would be astounded to find whatever you've imagined so far is probably not anything like real life there. It will change the way you fish. For instance, I was watching the edge of a hydrilla flat about 12 feet down a sharp drop-off next to the weeds. I just wanted to see how bass related to the weedline. I noticed weeds swaying sometimes, other times leaning over.

We have a dam that holds back 40,000 acres of lake where few anglers believe any current exists until a flood comes. I didn't believe it was significant unless in the main river channel while the dam was in full generating mode, and then any current would be so slight as not to be measurable. The lake surface never shows signs of current. I learned differently.

I've learned wind causes currents that sway things on bottom down to about 8 feet. Several days of wind and high waves affects plants deeper. When the dam is opened for generating power all plants in the lake lean downstream a little, moreso where the lake is only 100 feet wide on the upper end where only a river bottom is. Whatever little current there is, even from a school of shad stirring things up, it's enough for fish to detect and use. And there's hardly a moment when some little current isn't going in some direction. So deadsticking a floating worm will be influenced by a current from somewhere or something.

Beaver has a 190 cubic foot per second flow today http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/Reports/Daily/White.htm, so imagine that passing through the narrowest neck of  the lake to get some idea of current. There is some, and often enough to wave a floating worm or influence movements of baitfish and the plankton they feed on. Most flow current will be through the middle 1/3 of a crossection of the lake, not on bottom, along the sides, or the surface, but the middle third generally following a historic channel bed.

Jim

Concur with Jim.    Most bodies of water have current, even if its just wind, it matters.

On one of the recent "People Who Fish" shows, one of the Murray's (Billy or Bobby) was discussing the C-rig and his advice was to make the leader the length that you can move the bait in one drag.  He was "dragging and pausing" long enough to reel up the slack (and of course catching fish on every cast) .  He also suggested that the "lift and drop" worked best for baits like Flukes or Senkos, but draging and pausing was the preferred method for any type of creature bait.

OK, I stand corrected yet again by people who obviously know a whole lot more than I do.  I'll learn to keep my newbie mouth shut one of these days so I don't embarrass myself further!  Then again, how else would I learn huh?

Thanks for the tips on the underwater currents.  Sounds like very very good information.

Now, to clarify the drag and pause method.  Is this a medium speed drag or a quick flinch or jerk measured by the  leader size?  I usually twitch it back to me once or twice and pull it half the leader or the leader distance in one twitch.  Is this too fast?  It seems to be working on occasion.

I also use the drag and pause method.Sometimes I drag and reel without pausing.Othertimes I pause between dragging and reeling depending on how the bass are cooperating.I know that I need to slow down now and really cover every bit of stucture that I'm fishing.I've been trying to cover too many spots and not taking the time to really take a piece of structure apart.

Well no wonder I haven't been catchin to many w/ this rig. I have been doing it wrong all along. I been lifting and dropping w/ a lizard instead of dragging. Yet another reason why I love this website. What about weight size? I think I have missed a few because the weight I used was to big.

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What about weight size? I think I have missed a few because the weight I used was to big.

Well everything I have read and been told is that the weight depends on the depth you're fishing.  For water up to 10ft. deep, I see no reason for a 3/4oz. egg sinker because they just catch everything on the bottom.  Plus they make an awfull splash in the water.  Sounds like you just threw in a big rock.  I use a 3/8-1/2 swivel sinker.  It is pear shaped and has a swivel built in at the top to tie the line.  It doesn't catch along the bottom as much as the egg sinkers.

For water over 10ft in depth (like 20-30ft), I could see the benifit of using a 3/4oz. or 1oz. weight.  There are plenty of C-rig posts here which I'm sure has much better information.

One thing I learned recently about C-rigs is that you can add brass knock plates or brass weights to use with glass beads.  It acts similar to a rattle on a jig and helps attract attention to the bait.  Does it work?  I haven't tried it yet but I hear it works great.

jb,

   Depth is not my concern for the weight.    Wind or current determines how small of a weight I can use.  Time of the year (seasonal pattern and water temps) determines leader length.

Some times a heavier weight is used to stay in contact with the bottom so you can tell what the bottom is composed of.    Rocks, brush, wood, mudd..........its a search tool used to probe out areas.

As for the splash, your not targeting a tree or dock where a money cast is needed, normally, if fishing a point, you cast past your target and ease the rig back to the point or hump.

As for the beads and noise, I always have one bead above my keeper or swivel with my sinker.      

Do not use tungesten and a glass bead, the weight is harder and can crack the bead which might fray or cut your line.

Hookem

Matt

I do about a 4-5 foot drag then let it sit all while my rod tip is pointed to the water this helps me get a long hook set

I use a 1/2 ounce brass weight,two plastic beads,and a brass knocker above the swivel.The package says 1/2 ounce, but it sure feels more like an ounce.

I want the lightest sinker I can get by with, but there's something to think about with that. If the sinker is too light a bass can pull a bait lifting the sinker too easily. If the bass feels the weight before you detect a bite, the bass is likely to drop it. I'd much rather have the bass tighten up on the line without lifting the sinker. You should then see line movement or feel the bass without a sinker being involved. You don't want the bass lifting a light sinker and hanging it up, causing a premature binding on the leader, alerting the bass something is wrong. Another point to ponder is having enough sinker weight so a side sweeping hookset pulls line through the sinker, setting the hook before the hookset lifts the sinker up. I believe a lifting sinker reduces hookset effectiveness, picturing the angles involved. Part of the hooset power is lost lifting the sinker, slowing movement of the hook away from the bass. That little delay in moving the hook in the right direction can result in the bait being spit out. A bass can bite then spit within about 1/10 of a second, an inhalation bite taking 1/20 second or less. I know this sounds probably too nit picky, but angling involves critical angles and timing of angles. I want the line doing all the right moving before overcoming the mass of the sinker. So, if using light line and a very light bait, a 1/2 oz sinker would make sense unless that weight is too light for current or wind. 1 oz or more makes sense for a 7" worm with 4/0 hook on 14# line in moderate wind. A 2 oz sinker makes sense with 17# line in 10 mph wind with foot high waves, needing a solid anchor for the line.

Jim

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I want the lightest sinker I can get by with, but there's something to think about with that. If the sinker is too light a bass can pull a bait lifting the sinker too easily. If the bass feels the weight before you detect a bite, the bass is likely to drop it. I'd much rather have the bass tighten up on the line without lifting the sinker. You should then see line movement or feel the bass without a sinker being involved. You don't want the bass lifting a light sinker and hanging it up, causing a premature binding on the leader, alerting the bass something is wrong. Another point to ponder is having enough sinker weight so a side sweeping hookset pulls line through the sinker, setting the hook before the hookset lifts the sinker up. I believe a lifting sinker reduces hookset effectiveness, picturing the angles involved. Part of the hooset power is lost lifting the sinker, slowing movement of the hook away from the bass. That little delay in moving the hook in the right direction can result in the bait being spit out. A bass can bite then spit within about 1/10 of a second, an inhalation bite taking 1/20 second or less. I know this sounds probably too nit picky, but angling involves critical angles and timing of angles. I want the line doing all the right moving before overcoming the mass of the sinker. So, if using light line and a very light bait, a 1/2 oz sinker would make sense unless that weight is too light for current or wind. 1 oz or more makes sense for a 7" worm with 4/0 hook on 14# line in moderate wind. A 2 oz sinker makes sense with 17# line in 10 mph wind with foot high waves, needing a solid anchor for the line.

Jim

Jim, you once again get right to the heart of the matter. I almost always use 1 oz. of weight. I've tried lighter but find I feel and hook more fish with a little heavier weight. I think your explanation explains why. Thanks.

I use two methods.  Drag and pause or pump and pause.  With the pump and pause, I lift the rod tip about 12 inches, let the sinker hit bottom, reel in the slack, and then pause.  Use a monofilament line because it sinks slower than flourocarbon.  The bite can be real subtle, so make sure your have a sensitive rod.  Sometimes, it doesn't feel like a tap, it more like steady pressure or or a mushy feeling.  When it doubt, set the hook.  Swings are free!

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I use two methods. Drag and pause or pump and pause. With the pump and pause, I lift the rod tip about 12 inches, let the sinker hit bottom, reel in the slack, and then pause. Use a monofilament line because it sinks slower than flourocarbon. The bite can be real subtle, so make sure your have a sensitive rod. Sometimes, it doesn't feel like a tap, it more like steady pressure or or a mushy feeling. When it doubt, set the hook. Swings are free!

I too use the pause and pump method and I agree that the feel is sometimes mushy.  Like you said, swings are free!

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