The wacky rig is so simple you’d think a toddler made it up. You simply stick a hook through the middle of a soft stick bait or Senko and cast it out.
I was skeptical the first time I saw a wacky-rigged plastic. These things look like a mistake or accident—not a serious way to catch largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass when they’re reluctant to bite other baits. But what matters most is what bass think. And they must think that wacky-looking, slow-sinking piece of plastic looks a delicious dying minnow or the crawfish they crave.
Similar to the Ned Rig, this is a silly-looking finesse rig that simply catches bass.
How to rig a wacky rig
It’s pretty generous calling a wacky rig a “rig” at all. All you do is shove a hook through the middle of a soft plastic stick bait. But experienced wacky-riggers—or anyone who hates losing their plastic Senko on every fish—will add a simple O-ring contraption to prevent bass from shaking off the plastic mid-fight.
Here are three easy steps to rig a plastic wacky-style:
- Slide an O-ring toward the end of a wacky rigging tool.
- Slip the worm inside the tool and slip the O-ring off the tool onto the worm’s mid-section.
- Secure your hook under the O-ring to hold it in the wacky position.
Why is a wacky rig effective?
Wacky rigs let plastics sink slowly to the bottom, hovering and fluttering in front of fishes’ faces with both ends of the stick bait undulating underwater. Their action is both subtle and tantalizing: the slow but erratic movements of wacky rigs mimic injured prey. Easy meals that entice bass to bite.
Sticking a hook in the middle of a Senko—not through the nose—lets it fall more naturally with a horizontal profile. Plus, this rigging lets both ends of the plastic flutter and dance, imparting extra action.
I normally think of wacky rigged stick baits imitating dying baitfish. But they also look like crawfish. When the ends of the Senko ride above the sinking hook in a U-shape, they look like crawfish claws. This means they resemble bass’ favorite forage in most bodies of water.
Like most of the best bass rigs, this is a finesse presentation. Overall, this is a good rig to choose…
- for finicky fish in shallow water
- to pitch or skip under docks
- in spring for spawning and post-spawn fish
- to coax strikes from wary fish in clear water
How to fish this rig
Wacky rigging is a finesse system that calls for anglers who are patient and disciplined line-watchers. For the most part, this is a system where you cast out a wacky rigged plastic and let it fall slowly without working it. Leave a little slack in the line to let it fall naturally (but not too much slack). If it hits bottom without inducing a strike, you can raise your rod tip or twitch it once or twice to make your plastic jump off the bottom and slowly settle again.
Most of the time, fish hit on the fall. This is more of a vertical presentation that works different depths at a snail’s pace—not a bottom-working rig like a Texas rig or Carolina rig.
Most bites are subtle, too. More than feeling for strikes, you’re watching your line for any pause, twitch, or change of direction that might indicate a bass slurping your bait and slowly swimming away with it. To set the hook, reel down your slack and slowly sweep your rod back.
I mostly pitch wacky rigs into spawning grounds, skip them under boat docks or overhanging branches, or splash them a few feet in front of fish I’ve sighted from my kayak. For me, this is more of a shallow water presentation that’s most effective in spring when bass are starting to bed or defending their nests. You want these rigs to flutter helplessly in front of turned off or pressured bass.
Drawbacks of the wacky rig
If you’re a hyper-active, over-caffeinated, impatient, or aggressive angler, you might get bored fishing a wacky rig. Less is more with this finesse presentation. The unusual rigging gives your Senko or stick worm all the action it needs without anglers needing to work the lure. If you manipulate its fall or pop it too much, you’re likely to ruin its natural presentation and spook skittish fish.
Similarly, wacky rigs aren’t wise choices for covering a lot of water or combing deep water cover. In those conditions, I’m throwing Carolina rigs, not wacky rigs.
This is a slow fishing system for finessing bites out of wary fish that aren’t feeding aggressively.
Gearing up for Wacky Rigging
This is a relatively easy system that only requires anglers to pitch their favorite plastic stick bait and choose from weightless, weedless, and weighted hooks based on their specific situations:
- Yamamoto Senkos are standbys, but many 3-5-inch plastic stick baits work wacky-style
- Use weightless hooks to slow your sink rate and keep your plastic pulsating in front of bass
- Use weighted wacky jig hook or flick shakes to fish deeper water or combat current or wind
- Weighted jig hooks may also help a wacky-rigged stick bait look more like a crawfish
- Weedless wacky hooks have nylon or metal weed guards for fishing heavier cover
- Most anglers prefer hooks sizes 2, 1, 1/0, or 2/0 to wacky rig 3-5-inch plastics
Personally, for wacky rig plastics and hooks my tackle box includes:
- 5-inch Yamamoto Senkos
- Strike King’s KVD Perfect Plastics Ochos
- size 1 VMC Neko hooks
- 1/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hooks
A slow dance for tricky bass
Wacky rigs aren’t the best choice for actively feeding bass. But their slow-sinking dance down the water column can help you bust bass that ignore more active presentations, especially in the shallows in spring. If you add a few small hooks, O-rings, and cigar-shaped plastics to your tackle box, wacky rigging can be an important addition to any bass angler’s toolbox of finesse presentations.
