Carolina Rigging

The Carolina rig has been around for over 35 years and is one of my favorite ways to present plastic lures to deep summer bass holding areas. The Carolina rig consists of a swivel placed at one end of a leader usually 1 or 2 foot in length. At the opposite end of the leader you want to tie a worm hook. Once the leader is together you place a egg sinker usually 1 ounce in weight to the running end of your line that is spooled on your reel. Once you run the line though the egg sinker you then run it through two glass beads and tie it to the swivel you have the leader tied to. You now have the Carolina rig ready except for a lure. What you should see if you were to start at the hook and move up to the rod, is a worm hook with a plastic lure of your choice. Connected to your hook is a leader connected to a swivel that is connected to your main fishing line. Your main line should be passed through the egg sinker first and then the two glass beads before it connected to the swivel.
The most common lure used with the Carolina rig is a plastic lizard or worm. However I have used tubes, grubs and crankbaits when fishing a Carolina rig, your basically limited to your imagination. When fishing a Carolina rig I prefer a Falcon rod lizard dragger designed by Falcon rods to give you the proper action and feel in a rod you need when Carolina rigging. I prefer to use 20 pound P-line for my main line and 15 pound for my leader. Opinions very when it comes to leader line composition and test. Some want their leaders to be the same test as their main line and others believe their leader should be lighter. The lighter leaders allow the leader to break and prevent the loss of expensive egg sinkers and swivels. My suggestion is to use what ever you feel comfortable with. A rule to keep in mind when deciding how long to make your leader is; The cooler the water the shorter your leader and the warmer the water the longer your leader. I never fish a leader shorter then 2 feet and longer then 5 feet.

The Carolina rig is very simple to fish and works more like a crankbait then any other plastic lure presentation. When fishing a Carolina rigged lizard on a drop, I will first mark my drop and then move out to deeper water so I can get the proper boat position on the drop. I cast the rig to the top of the drop and let the egg sinker take the lure to the bottom. Once on the bottom I will slowly retrieve the lure back to the boat with sweeps of the rod reeling in the slack line at the end of each sweep. The egg sinker and slow rod sweeps allow the rig to follow depth and contour changes as it is retrieved. As the rig is retrieved the egg sinker roots up the bottom much like a live lizard or crawdad would as it moves along the bottom. As you sweep the rod the egg sinker, glass beads and swivels come in contact with each other and create a clicking sound that is very appealing to bass.

You can basically fish a Carolina rig anywhere; humps, main lake flats and points. I like to use the Carolina rig to search out new areas because it allows me to stay in contact with the bottom and because of that I can create a better picture in my head of what is their to hold bass. I have found the Carolina rig to be very effective for me especially in the summer when the fish move to the deeper cooler water found on the drops.

BY FRANK FLACK