Wacky Rig

The wacky rig is a modern finesse technique. The word wacky means something along the lines of crazy or off-the-wall, and that description captures the nature of this rig rather well.

<h2>Buying Guide for the Wacky Rig</h2>When fishing a wacky rig, the go-to baits are elongated, worm-like soft plastics. Rather than threading them onto a hook in the conventional way, you push a wacky hook through the bait at or near its centre of gravity. This gives the bait a completely wild, unique action. It sinks horizontally towards the bottom and, each time you lift the rod, it folds briefly into a U-shape before falling back. That behaviour is also the key difference from the Neko rig, which falls vertically. So if you need to work tight cover in a confined space, a Neko rig is usually the better call. If you have a bit more room and want to trigger fish with a prolonged, intense action, a wacky rig is the one to reach for. The action of these rigs drives largemouth bass - the species these methods were originally developed for - absolutely wild.But our native perch are equally fascinated by these erratic, wriggling baits.When it comes to combining soft plastics, hooks and optional weight, there are now countless possible variations, which are covered in more detail below.<h3>Which Baits Work with the Wacky Rig?</h3>As already mentioned, wacky-style fishing calls primarily for elongated, worm-like soft plastics. You could simply push the hook straight through the middle, but that would inevitably lead to a lot of lost baits. Imagine a perch grabs just one end of the bait without getting the centrally placed hook in its mouth and you strike firmly - the hook tears straight out of the bait and it is gone. To prevent that happening, there are various methods and small accessories that secure the hook more reliably. One option is to slide a piece of heat shrink tubing over the bait and push the hook through that. It works, but it is fairly fiddly. Slightly easier to handle are small rubber bands of the kind used in orthodontics, though these tend to break fairly quickly.The best solution is to use dedicated wacky O-rings, placed on the bait with a wacky rigging tool. You mount two rubber rings crossed over each other and then pass the hook through the gap between them. This presents the bait perfectly and keeps it firmly on the hook. Another option for rigging a wacky bait is to use Neko spirals. These small items consist of a short spiral that is screwed into the soft plastic and a pre-drilled plastic head into which the hook is inserted. Neko Masters are probably the most secure way of keeping the bait in place.<h3>Suitable Hooks for the Wacky Rig</h3>Which hook to use depends quite a bit on the situation. In principle, any single hook with a wide gap will do the job. That said, there are also dedicated wacky hooks, with or without a weed guard, where the width of the hook gap is taken to the extreme. These hook predators very reliably. A weedless setup is a real advantage when fishing tight cover or heavily weeded waters, as you can present your bait right in the thick of it where the fish often hold.Because perch are not always found in shallow areas, there are also weighted wacky hooks that look similar to a jig head with a short shank and wide gap. In a pinch, standard jig heads can be pressed into service as wacky heads too.You can also use nail sinkers or wacky weights to add weight at one or both ends of the bait. At that point, though, you are getting very close to a Neko rig - and the boundaries between the two are fairly fluid in any case.If you fancy trying something a little off-the-wall or want to show the perch and zander something they may not have seen before, give a wacky rig a go. Everything you need for it is right here in the shop.

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Wacky Rig