Fishing Rigs: Drop Shot, Texas, Carolina, Wacky and Catfish Rigs Compared
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Pick the rig by where the fish are and what's on the bottom below them. Then match the hook to the bait and the weight to the depth.
Each rig below has a spec card with hook, weight, leader and knot, and a diagram of how it goes together. Ranges are common practice, and each page lists its sources.
Rig by species, depth and cover
| Rig | Depth | Cover | Hook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drop shot | 10 to 40 ft | rock, ledges, sparse grass | #2 to 1/0 drop shot |
| Texas rig | 2 to 25 ft | grass, wood, docks | 1/0 to 5/0 offset or EWG |
| Carolina rig | 6 to 25 ft | flats, points, scattered grass | 1/0 to 3/0 offset or EWG |
| Wacky rig | 2 to 12 ft | docks, edges, spawning flats | #2 to 2/0 wacky |
| Senko rigs | 1 to 20 ft | varies by rig | wacky, neko, EWG |
| Catfish rigs | 6 to 30 ft | holes, channels, flats | 2/0 to 10/0 circle |
| Striper rigs | 15 to 50 ft | open water over channels | 1/0 to 8/0 circle |
| Alabama rig | 10 to 30 ft | open water near bait | 2/0 to 4/0 on jig heads |
Full hook, weight and leader specs are on each rig page.
Depths are where each rig is most often fished, not hard limits. Check each page for the full range.
All rigs
Bass soft plastic rigs
These 5 cover most bass fishing with soft plastics. The Texas rig for cover. The drop shot for deep, clear water. The Carolina rig for flats. The wacky rig for shallow fish.
- Texas rigweedless, bullet weight, pegged or sliding
- Drop shot righook above the weight, Palomar long tag
- Carolina rigweight, bead, swivel, 18 to 48 in. leader
- Wacky righooked in the middle, O-rings, neko
- Senko rigs5 ways to rig a stick bait compared
Bait and big-fish rigs
Bottom rigs and live bait rigs with circle hooks, plus the multi-bait umbrella rig. Hook and lure limits vary by state on some of these. Each page links to state agencies.
- Catfish rigsSantee Cooper, slip sinker and 3-way
- Striper rigslive bait downline, tube-and-worm, trolling umbrella
- Alabama rigumbrella rig parts and why rules differ
How to choose a rig
- What's on the bottom? Grass or wood: Texas. Rock or clean bottom: drop shot, Carolina or Ned.
- How deep? Under 6 ft: wacky or weightless. 10 ft and deeper: drop shot or Carolina.
- Covering water or picking apart a spot? Covering: Carolina or a swimbait. Picking apart: Texas or drop shot.
- Live bait or artificial? Live bait: circle hooks on a slip sinker, 3-way or downline.
- What's the wind? Windy: add weight. A weightless rig loses feel in a bowed line.
Then match the hook to the bait. A 5 in. stick bait wacky rigged takes a #1 to 1/0. The same bait Texas rigged takes a 3/0 to 4/0 EWG. The hook size chart explains the numbers.
Every rig here depends on 1 or 2 knots. The Palomar and the uni cover most of them. See fishing knots by connection for steps and turns.
Parts every rig shares
Most rigs come down to 4 parts. A hook, a weight, something to connect them, and line.
Hooks follow the bait. Thick soft plastics take EWG hooks. Live bait takes circle or octopus hooks. Finesse baits take small drop shot or wacky hooks.
Weights follow the depth and the cover. Bullets slide through grass. Egg sinkers let line slide on Carolina and catfish rigs. Drop shot weights clip on below the hook.
Connections are swivels, beads and knots. A swivel stops a sliding weight. A bead protects the knot. See swivels and snaps.
Line carries everything. Fluoro for low visibility and feel. Braid for cover and depth. Mono for stretch with circle hooks.
Line for each rig
Finesse rigs like the drop shot, wacky and Ned use 6 to 12 lb fluoro, or light braid with a fluoro leader, on spinning gear. Texas and Carolina rigs step up to 12 to 20 lb fluoro on casting gear, or heavy braid in mats.
Catfish rigs run 15 to 30 lb mono for channel cats and heavier for big blues and flatheads. Striper downlines use a 12 to 20 lb fluoro leader.
Too heavy, and the bait falls unnaturally. Too light, and cover wins. Each rig page lists the line range we'd start with, and the knots that join it to the hook, swivel or leader.
Rigs by season
- Spring, 2 to 10 ft: wacky and weightless rigs on spawning flats; Carolina rigs on points.
- Summer, 10 to 30 ft: drop shots on ledges; Texas rigs in shade and grass; striper downlines deep.
- Fall, 5 to 20 ft: swimbaits and Carolina rigs as fish follow bait.
- Winter, 10 to 30 ft: slow rigs, like neko and drop shot; Alabama rigs over bait schools where allowed.
These are broad patterns. Your water, its clarity and its temperature matter more than the date on the calendar, so adjust as you go.
Terminal Tackle / Gear
- Soft plastic baitsworms, creatures, swimbaits and how to rig each
- Bass hooks by typeoffset, EWG, drop shot, wacky and circle
- Fishing weights by rigbullet, drop shot, egg, split shot and bank
- Fishing line for bassline type and lb test by technique
- Hook size charthow hook numbers run
Sources: hook, weight and leader ranges from each linked rig page, with their own sources. Method on our methodology page.