Who said there is only one way to fish a lure? Most fisherman know that you can Texas Rig and Wacky Rig a senko style lure…..but did you know that you can Carolina Rig it too? You can Carolina Rig just about any lure, worms, creature baits, tubes, Slammin Sink Worms and Slammin Beavers.      

 That is what my Centre Sportsman Pro Staffer, Herb Wadsworth does, he is the Carolina Rigging king! He always has several Carolina Rig rods on his boat at all times. He says” the Carolina Rig is his favorite way to fish, because you can cover a lot of water and it gives the lure a slow presentation.

What is a Carolina Rig? Basically the Carolina Rig is a weight, bead and barrel swivel attached to the main line and 12”-18” leader of fluorocarbon or mono tied to the other side of the barrel swivel, and a hook. The hook size is determined by the body size of the bait, 3/0 is the basic all around size.  

Fishing the Carolina Rig has a technique of its own, casting and retrieving are different than a basic fishing style. You lob cast the bait and use the rod to sweep the rig slowly back to the boat.  When you feel the strike sweep the rod back…not up!

We started fishing down the mountain side of Sayers Dam and it didn’t take long for Herb to hook up with a nice largemouth bass. “Hey they are biting today….great!” said Herb. Herb was fishing a Slammin Beaver bait and I was fishing the Slammin Sink Worm.  Both of us were fishing the baits Carolina Rig style.

We caught several fish down the mountain side (the side of the lake that the Bald Eagle Mountain meets the water) that morning. The trick to fishing the mountain side is….fish deeper than normal, because the old railroad bed runs parallel with the shoreline. The bass like to stage on the deeper side of the railroad bed and there is a ton of rocks.  Another trick is when you feel  hung up on a rock….don’t pull on your line but move directly above your bait and give it a pop with your rod tip. Most of the time this will get your Carolina Rig un-stuck.

We decided to move to one of the many road beds that are hidden at Sayers and fish them. (HINT: when at Sayers always fish the roadbeds) The bigger bass already moved out to the deeper road beds. The females are always the first to leave the spawning area, and they start to feed up.  I caught several nice smallies off of the roadbed in front of the Howard ramp.

Conclusion:  want to fish something different? Try a Carolina Rig with your favorite lure, or try Centre Sportsman’s Slammin Sink Worm or Slammin Beaver. Fish the roadbeds on Sayers, and you will be successful, “that’s guaranteed!”

Tight lines, Scott