Part 2 - Carolina Rig 101

In trying to explain our soft bait products I realized that in Europe we are not too familiar with techniques that have long been used and perfected in the USA, Japan and Australia.  It's no mistake that some of the most sophisticated tackle is made in Japan - so here then is a review of styles and how to rig them!!

The Carolina Rig is made to separate the worm from the weight so that the worm swims more naturally. As you retrieve the weight along the bottom the worm dances and darts and suspends momentarily behind the weight.

To tie the rig, you slide a tunsten bullet sinker onto your line, then slide a glass bead or brass on to the line behind the weight and hold them in place by tying a small crane swivel (for finesse try the tiny Cox & Rawle all-stainless swivels) to the end of the line. Now take a leader of 0.5 metres (2ft) to 1.5 metres (5ft) and connect to the other end of the crane swivel. At the end of your leader, you’ll attach a Gran Nogales offset hook and then thread your soft plastic worm onto the hook Texas rigged.

This rig is fishes weedless and allows you to fish a worm faster through large horizontal areas like ledges, flats, weed lines and shallow weed beds.  Avoid rock areas where you'll get your weight jammed and lose the lot.

Fish it fast, but keep the weight in constant contact with the bottom. Retrieve in the same way that you would fish a slow crankbait. Draw a foot at a time with a side sweep of your rod; take up the slack and repeat.