First Fish: How To Catch Bass

Written by Ethan Foster | Jan 1, 2023 9:16:00 PM

Why Bass?

Bass are the most popular gamefish species in United States for a reason. They’re found in 49 states, they get pretty darn big, fight hard, and are a lot of fun to catch!

Where to Find Bass

With a wacky rig, typically we’re going to be targeting bass. Where do bass go? They go where the food goes. Last week we talked about how bluegill look for hiding spots including but not limited to trees, bushes, and docks. You know what these bluegill are hiding from? Bass! So the bass go to these similar places in search of food (aka bluegill, shad, crawfish, etc.). Look for trees laying in the water or docks that stick out from the bank. Many times there will be baitfish hiding in these places and hungry bass nearby.

Rigging Up A Wacky Rig

So, the question at hand. What’s a wacky rig? It is truly one of the most simple and effective rigs in all of bass fishing. It consists of a straight soft plastic worm and a hook. What’s so wacky about it? Well, it’s all about the hook placement. You are actually going to take your hook and thread it in the middle of the worm. This is going to give the bait a very unique action that the fish just seem to love!

As far as gear goes we have a few different options for you. Part number L097 is a wide gap, short shank hook designed specifically for the wacky rig. This hook is also available in TroKar as the TK97. The short shank design of this hook keeps a low profile on your wacky worm while the wide gap helps to get a good hookup when the fish takes the bait. An alternative option is our TK137 finesse hook. This hook has a longer shank and features a pro-v bend. What that means is once you hookup with a fish, there’s a lot better chance it makes it into your hands.

Now if you’d like to take some of the guess work out and have all the gear bundle together ready to go our Lazer Sharp Pro Series Wacky Neko Kit includes everything you need. This kit also includes a wacky rig tool which is an awesome money saver when fishing this rig. It consists of some rubber o-rings and a small metal tube. You’ll slide your worm into the tube and then push an o-ring up and over the center of the worm. You can now run your hook through this o-ring which the fish will not break. This means you will no longer be tearing baits on every fish you catch.

How to Fish a Wacky Rig

You have the gear, you’ve picked a spot, but now what? If we backtrack, earlier I said the wacky rig is one of the simplest rigs in bass fishing. This is in large part due to how the rig is made, however it is also extremely easy to fish. What you’re going to do is make targeted casts towards cover (trees, bushes, docks…), and just let the bait fall. It’s really that simple! The way this bait is rigged, each end of the worm flutters as it falls slowly through the water column. This drives bass crazy, they just can’t resist the subtle shake of the wacky worm. Let it fall next to cover and once the bait sinks to the bottom, lift your rod pulling the bait back up and let it fall again. Now go catch some fish and learn the power of the wacky rig!