Weightless Rig

There are plenty of lures and situations that call for the simplest of all rigging, a Texas-rigged soft plastic with no weight at all and a light wire hook. Lures include floating worms, topwater frogs and sometimes creature baits and plastic minnow lures when the fish are feeling exceptionally finicky (like after a cold front). An unweighted rig provides an extremely realistic and slow sink rate, or allows the angler to work a soft plastic on top or just under the surface.

How It’s Done: Simply tie on a light wire hook and Texas rig a soft plastic. For a floating retrieve use rapid twitches that keep the worm within a foot or so of the surface. Minnow lures are retrieved in a similar manner, but often more slowly. For topwater frogs retrieve over and through cover with twitches and shakes of the rod tip to impart action without moving the bait too far forward. Frogs can be reeled at a constant speed once they clear the cover just like you would a buzzbait. For minnow baits, quick twitches of the rod tip prompt a walk-the-dog action in open water. When using an unweighted rig with creature baits simply cast and retrieve with a slow-motion pump-and-pause.

Soft Plastics for Weightless light wire Hook Rigs: Any soft plastic can be used with an unweighted hook, but most effective are floating worms, minnows and topwaters.