Being proficient at rigging soft plastics is one of the simple skills worth mastering for anyone who hopes to become a great angler.
This is one of the first steps to actually catching a fish - preparing a lure to help get the job done.
Whether it be with Texas rigs, wacky rigs, dropshot setups - you name it, successful fishing is largely dependent on a properly rigged lure.
This article focuses on hook & bait relationship and the two things to be aware when rigging your soft plastics - especially rigs requiring two pass throughs of the hook (Texas, Carolina, etc.).
Staying On Center
The biggest downfall of a poorly rigged soft plastic is the effect it has on the action of the lure.
Take the extra time to ensure your hook, in many cases a wide gap hook, is properly ran through the soft plastic in a relatively straight manner so that there isn't any "kinks".
Kinks in this context would be anything that causes the soft plastic to appear either bunched up or stretched beyond reason.
Take a Texas-rigged soft plastic for example...
The first thing to do is picture an imaginary line directly through the center of your soft plastic from head to tail.
To properly rig your soft plastic make it your goal to keep your hook entry and exit points on that "center line".
Now picture your bait from the side and keep the same thought in mind when rigging.
The focus from a side point of view should be on keeping the lure nice and straight as you rig it.
If properly done, you should notice that the entry and exit points of your hook don't bunch up or stretch out the soft plastic.
By doing this you're perfectly aligning your bait, hook, and fishing line and thus allowing it to run straight and true throughout the retrieve.
Not to mention, you also reduce the likelihood of your soft plastic prematurely tearing.
Once rigged up, drop your lure in the water and check the action.
As it falls or as you reel the lure in hopefully you notice something that appears natural which would indicate it's rigged properly.
The big thing you want to avoid is a soft plastic that barrel rolls.
This oftentimes means you have too much slack or too much tension in the soft plastic between the two points where your hook is ran through the bait.
You'll know it when you see it too.
This is something that is very common when fishing flukes and worms.
Don't forget to go to the shop and get yourself a shirt and some rod sleeves for this year!
Hook Point
You have two options for the hook point when rigging soft plastics; hiding it or leaving it exposed.
Open water applications, where snags aren't as much of a concern, warrant leaving the hook exposed and resting on top of the soft plastic.
When fishing cover (docks, vegetation, submerged timber) it's best to hide the hook point.
Hiding the hook point doesn't mean totally burying the hook into your bait either.
More times than not it's just a matter of barely letting the hook point dig into the top of the soft plastic.
The common method taught when rigging soft plastics is to rig it as normal and then lightly pull the bait forward where the hook point is and release it to let the hook point hide itself in the top of the lure.
Leaving a hook point exposed can be a bad thing in areas with cover due to the higher chance of getting hung up.
Just know that having the hook point too embedded can also be a bad thing.
Burying the hook too deep into your bait can result in missing a lot of bites simply because the hook never breaks free from the soft plastic.
Getting it right under the surface of the bait is key.
After that it's just a matter of maintenance between casts.
Before making your next cast take the extra second to double check that your hook point is still hidden.
Your reward for doing so will hopefully be a snag free retrieve that leads to a bite!
Time to go catch 'em!
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