5. WIRE ARM GAUGE
The Schooler Rig comes standard
with .040-gauge wire arms. They work
most of the time, but Smith often swaps
to a rig with thinner wires. The change
reduces the overall weight, which allows
the rig to be fished higher in the water
column, in shallower water or at a slow-
er retrieve speed.
Since Smith prefers not to use jig-
heads lighter than 1/16 ounce, adjusting
wire size is a good way to lighten the rig
further if his jigheads are already at the
“minimum” size. The tradeoff is that, with
thinner wires, the rig is less durable.
“At Oneida, as an example, I went to
a very light wire, and the reason I did
that was I wanted a bait I could keep up
a little bit easier,” Smith says, “but you
definitely want the heaviest you can get
away with.
“With a heavy wire, the arms are
going to be straighter during the
retrieve. When you start to get really thin
wire, the arms want to clump close
together and bend really easily. A fish
can really tear a bait up with light wire.
But there are situations that you’re not
going to get a bite with heavy wire.”
6. WIRE ARM LENGTH
Adjusting wire arm length is similar to
adjusting wire gauge. Shorter wires are
lighter. Smith tends to stick with the
Schooler Rig’s standard wires unless he’s
fishing shallower than about 8 feet, in
which case he’ll consider a rig with
shorter arms if he can’t lighten the stan-
dard rig enough by other means.
7. BLADE SIZE
58
Blade size also impacts retrieve
speed and depth, and achieving the per-
fect presentation is a balancing act
between blade size, jighead size and
wire selection. The Schooler Rig comes
standard with a No. 2 willow-leaf blade
on each of the four outer wires.
“The smaller the blade you have, the
less the rig is going to drag or the less
the rig is going to lift,” Smith explains. “If
you put big blades on there you’re going
to have to reel slower to keep your bait
down. It’s the same with double versus
single blades on each wire.
“Every time I throw a rig, I use
blades,” he adds. “They create more
flash and make it look like more bait in
the school.”
Also, if a rig is spinning during the
retrieve, try experimenting with different
blade sizes to balance it out.
Casey Smith’s umbrella Rig Gear
Rod: 7-foot, 10-inch, extra-heavy Duckett
Fishing Micro Magic pro
Reel: 6.3:1 Shimano Curado
Line: 20- or 25-pound-test Seaguar InvizX
fluorocarbon
Bigger blades create more “lift,”
which can be good or bad,
depending on the situation.
FLWFISHING.COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017