The Texas rig and Carolina rig are both staples in bass anglers’ arsenals. Out of all the setups considered to be the best bass rigs, they’re the two most traditional ways to throw plastics for largemouth, smallmouth, and spots. Both are bass slayers, so how do you decide when and where to choose one over the other? I’ve faced that dilemma for more than thirty years. That’s why I whipped up this quick guide to help bass anglers understand how these rigs work, where to fish them, and when to fish them.
Texas rig vs. Carolina rig
How the Texas rig works
The Texas rig is made to fish plastics on the bottom and in heavy cover. It works by fishing a plastic bait directly below a lightweight bullet sinker, which gets it to the bottom. The bullet shape cuts through cover without getting snagged as easily as other rigs. Plus, you fish Texas-rigged plastics with the tip of the hook buried in the body, so your plastic worm, Senko, or creature bait will be more weedless and snag-resistant.
Texas rigging is easy and likely the best bass fishing rig for beginners. Here’s how to rig a plastic Texas-style:
- Thread your line through a bullet sinker.
- Tie on a worm hook below the sinker.
- Press the hook point into the top tip of your plastic worm, crawdad, or creature bait about a ¼ inch (in other terms 2-3 worm segments) and then poke the barb back out the side of the plastic.
- Slide the plastic up the hook until its nose is flush with the eyelet of the hook.
- Twist the hook to align it with the plastic. Then embed the tip of the hook in the bottom of the plastic—right at the point that keeps the rig as straight as possible.
You fish Texas-rigged plastics slowly on the bottom, usually by lifting your rod tip a foot or two and then dropping it as you reel in your slack line. Plus, you can flip them or pitch them into heavy cover using a longer, medium-heavy baitcasting rod and reel combo.
How the Carolina rig works
The Carolina rig is made to fish a plastic bait just off the bottom—right where bass do a lot of their feeding. Unlike the Texas rig, it works by separating your sinker from your plastic with a bead, swivel, and a short leader. This not only allows your plastic to hover several inches or feet off the bottom but also frees it to wiggle, gyrate, and flutter more freely than a Texas-rigged plastic.
Importantly, then, Carolina-rigging gives your plastic worms, Senkos, flukes, and craws more visibility and action than Texas-rigging.
Carolina rigging is also easy—there are just some extra steps compared to Texas rigging:
- Thread your line through a bullet sinker the same way as you would for the Texas Rig.
- Add a bead below the weight and then tie a barrel swivel to the end of your line.
- Tie a short leader of line (often 1-3 feet) to the bottom circle of the barrel swivel.
- Tie on your worm hook and rig up your favorite plastic the same as you would in steps 3-5 for the Texas rig.
Carolina-rigged plastics are fished by dragging the weight along the bottom slowly, so the suspended plastic can dance off the bottom. Rather than reeling in the plastic slowly, use a long and slow sideways sweep of the rod to creep the weight along the bottom and then reel in the slack line. The dragging sinker scatters sediment—which attracts fish—and the short leader lets your plastic worm, lizard, fluke, tube, craw, or creature bait work its magic behind that bottom disturbance. That’s a great one-two punch that catches bushels of bass in the right conditions.
Where to fish a Texas rig
It’s best to fish a Texas rig in and around cover, such as weeds, brush piles, docks, and standing timber. Texas-rigged plastics perform better in heavy cover than Carolina-rigged plastics. They’re more streamlined and compact, and the tip of the hook is buried in the plastic, which makes Texas-rigged plastics more weedless and snag resistant.
When I know bass are swimming in the salad or holding tight to docks, stumps, and underwater trees, I’m choosing the Texas rig over the Carolina rig. It’s also a sound choice for spawning season. Dragging a Texas-rigged worm, lizard, or creature by a bass bed can provoke parental strikes from bass protecting their nests. Overall, I tend to use Texas rigs more in shallow water, where I can see fish and cast to visible cover.
Personally, I’m more inclined to flip a jig into brush, weed beds, and timber than a Texas-rigged plastic. However, Texas rigs also work for flipping and pitching presentations from a bass boat or a fishing kayak where you can stand up.
Overall, this is a better rig for fishing heavier cover and shallower water.
Where to fish a Carolina Rig
In contrast, Carolina rigs are the better bet for fishing open water and deep-water structure, such as creek channels and mid-lake humps and drop offs. Why? These rigs use heavier sinkers—usually a ½ ounce or more—to get plastics down deep. Plus, the added play in that short leader gives plastics more action than Texas-rigged worms, Senkos, and creature baits, so they can catch the eye of bass more easily in open water.
It’s also the right rig for covering more water. If fish are scattered along flats, points, flooded road beds, or drop offs, Carolina rigging can get your plastic in front of more fish. Just keep in mind they’re not as weedless or snag-resistant as Texas rigs, so it’s better to drag them over harder bottoms and areas with sparse or scattered vegetation.
I also like Carolina rigs for unfamiliar waters. Back before electronics, bass anglers used Carolina rigs to locate underwater structure and depth changes. That still works. Dragging that heavy sinker along the bottom lets me feel drop offs and humps, isolated pieces of cover, and changes in bottom composition—areas that often hold bass. When I feel these underwater features, I pause my retrieve to let my Carolina-rigged plastic hover and undulate above the structure. Deadly. If your fishing kayak isn’t tricked out with electronics, Carolina rigging can help you find and work underwater structure, so you can fish unfamiliar water more effectively.
Overall, this is a better rig for fishing the depths, covering open water, and fishing new water.
When to fish a Texas rig
I turn to tried-and-true Texas rigs when I’m:
- fishing weeds and other shallow cover
- worried about getting hung up
- sight fishing in the shallows
- fishing bass that are holding tight to the bottom
Given these uses, I do more Texas rigging in the spring. From spawn to post-spawn, Texas rigs can comb the bottom where bass are bedding and guarding their eggs and fry.
However, if you fish heavy cover—and you should—Texas rigs can torment bass year-round with their subtle, snag-resistant presentation.
When to fish a Carolina rig
In my mind, I’m going to Carolina rigs when I need to:
- cover more water
- fish deeper water
- target fish holding off the bottom
- fish flats, points, and drop-offs with less cover
- search for underwater structure in an unfamiliar lake
Overall, Carolina rigs are more useful when fish are holding deeper—which happens when water is super warm or cold. Summer is peak season for fishing Carolina rigs since that’s when many bass relate to offshore cover and deep-water structure. If you fish colder weather, Carolina rigs can also get down to winter holes and pre-spawn staging areas adjacent to shallower spawning grounds.
I’m also choosing Carolina rigs over Texas rigs when I want to maximize the action of my plastics. Thanks to the added leader, Carolina rigs encourage a more natural presentation that can catch bass whenever they’re in open water.
Texas rigs and Carolina rigs are both good for bass—one’s not better than the other. It’s just a matter of knowing how, where, and when to fish each of them. If you carry tackle for both types of rigs, you’ll put more bass in your boat since these two presentations combined can cover deep and shallow water, heavy and light cover, and all four seasons.
