Carolina Rig | When to Use it and Why

The Carolina rig is one of the most popular bass rigs available and with good reason because it produces so often. But regardless of its rumored effectiveness, it is not perfect. It is still important to understand when it is more likely to produce bites and it is easier to determine when if you know why.

What is the Carolina rig?

The Carolina rig is like the Texas rig with one big exception, the position of the weight. While the Texas rig uses a free moving weight that slides along the line the Carolina rig uses a fixed weight separated from the lure by a length of leader. By keeping the weight above the lure, you will experience a different action, more of a circular motion, as the lure drops or encounters current. Another notable difference related to weight is size. While the Texas rig relies on a relatively small bullet weight the Carolina rig allows for a much heavier weight if needed, up to 2 ounces or more depending on what species you are targeting and water conditions.

Why the Carolina Rig Appeals to Fish

Fish typically feed for two reasons; aggression and opportunity (Hungry). In an aggressive feeding mode fish will strike at almost any potential meal, and even threats when tending a spawning bed. After striking they will mouth the bait, determine if it is a suitable meal and either swallow or spit it out. Opportunity feeding is more common and is as much a reflex as it is a thought process. Fish are simply seeing a possible food source and taking advantage of the chance to feed as it is presented. Fish in this mode are less likely to chase a potential meal or exert too much energy in its pursuit.

The Carolina rig appeals to fish in either mode. If a fish is in the aggressive mode, the circular motion will grab its attention and entice a strike. When targeting opportunistic feeders, it allows you to drop the lure as close as possible so they can take advantage without traveling too far to do so.

When it works best

There are anglers who always have a Carolina rig ready, using it whenever nothing else seems to work. While it is true some anglers enjoy success almost every time they tie it on there are times when the Carolina really shines. Let look at when they may be.

1. Coldwater – winter, and spring, when the water temperature is lower, is the perfect time to fish this rig. Fish are in deeper, warmer water and often a little lethargic. You need to get deep, offer them exactly what they are looking for and convince them the meal is worth the effort.
2. Windy, cloudy days – surface action is almost zero and fish are holding to not only the bottom but also structure. Once again, the Carolina rig allows you to get deep, even penetrating the cover.
3. Open water – many anglers opt for spinners, surface lure or other fast-moving options when fishing open water. They know that they need to find the fish and will be covering a lot of water doing so and the idea of using a heavy bottom rig seems too time-consuming. But the Carolina rig is different. It allows for the use of heavy lead, so it sinks quicker. Due to how it is tied it can be retrieved much faster than other bottom rigs allowing you to cover more area and presenting it to more fish. Plus, it is perfect for targeting potential hides such as long points, rock pile or isolated brush piles.

Carolina Rig Tip

One of the reasons some anglers look past the Carolina rig is because it is best when worked SLOW. Crawling the bait and long pauses. This can be hard for the guy that wants to cover the most water in the shortest amount of time. However, if you are patient and stick with it, you are almost always guaranteed to catch fish.

Conclusion

Hopefully, the little bit of knowledge we have shared will allow you to determine when the Carolina rig might be the best option and use it more effectively. In the end, the goal is to catch more fish and there is definitely a time when nothing beats the Carolina rig in doing just that.

 Here is a good video demonstration on how to rig the Carolina rig for bass, it's a little older video but we show you how to rig it and then we show you that it produces fish right from the bank. 

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