Our Wired2Fish staff was pleasantly surprised when Jacob Wheeler grabbed an old school Carolina rig and started catching the heck out of pressured bass from an offshore school on the Tennessee River. Wheeler has been making good use of classic presentations like deep cranking, Texas rigging and Carolina rigging in recent tournaments with outstanding success. He takes the time to provide a detailed rigging walk-through and explanation of how to fish the Carolina rig to catch bass others are missing.
TACKLE USED:
- VMC Ike Approved Wide Gap Hook, size: 3/0
- VMC Tungsten Slider Weight, size: 3/4-ounce
- VMC Roling Swivel, size: 4
- Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon main line, 17- or 20lb
- Sufix Advance Monofilament leader, 14lb
- Googan Baits Trench Hawg 6″, color: Blue Baby
- Googan Baits Mondo Worm 10″, color: Plum
- Googan Baits Slim Shake Worm, color: Green Pumpkin
- Duckett Pro Series Casting Rod, 7’6″ Heavy
- Duckett Paradigm Casting Reel
Wheeler walks through the entire rig from terminal tackle (i.e., hook, weight, swivel & bead) to his top 3 soft plastic baits. He spends a good deal of time explaining his preference for light-wire wide gap hooks attached to a lighter monofilament leader while using a heavier fluorocarbon mainline. Wheeler goes so far to classify his Carolina rig setup as a finesse system – the bait glides along in an extremely natural fashion that bass can’t resist. Additionally, Wheeler explains the offshore situations when a Carolina rig excels and how to fish the setup in the current.
