TAKEOFF
TECHNIQUES
CAROLINA RIGGING IN CURRENT
c
TIPS FOR MAKING MORE ACCURATE PRESENTATIONS IN MOVING WATER
cur
urrent positions bass in predictable areas, but
the force of moving water can also nega-
tively alter the action and presentation of
a bait, if it’s not accounted for by the angler.
While dealing with current isn’t complicated,
there are ways to tackle it more effectively.
La Crosse, Wis., pro Jimmy Johnson knows
a thing or two about catching bass on the
bottom in heavy current. He won the
2014 Costa FLW Series event on the
upper Mississippi River by slowly drag-
ging a Carolina rig across current-laden
points, wing dams and ledges.
He has two primary strategies for
presenting a Carolina rig when the
water’s moving, but his general
anchor
down
advice is to visualize the target spot
and to position both the cast and
the boat to get the rig there.
“Keeping good contact with
cast downstream
the bait is imperative,” Johnson
adds. “Sometimes you need to
get creative to get the bait in
front of the fish in a way you
can still hook them. It may
retrieve
take some time to get set up
upstream
on the sweet spot, but I can
promise you that some of the
biggest fish are holding on
the bottom, and they will
jump all over a properly present-
ed Carolina rig.”
shorten up, Quarter up
“The key to fishing on the bottom in heavy current is
to make precise casts, and that usually means shorter casts,”
By TJ Maglio
illustRation by bRian linDbeRG
Johnson says. “You want to visualize where the fish
are holding and make short casts quarter-
ing into the current so that when
the bait washes through the area
you think the fish are holding,
there’s no slack.”
Slack line makes it difficult, if
not impossible, to feel bites and fol-
low up with solid hooksets. Casting
straight upriver might cause the rig’s
leader to drift past the weight, prevent-
ing an angler from feeling a bite. Plus, it
necessitates having to drag the rig along
faster, which also robs sensitivity. Cast
too far across the current, and the
water will pull against the line too
hard. About a 45-degree angle upriver
is right.
short
45-degree
If fishing a large area, don’t length-
casts
en the cast. Instead, make a short cast,
then reposition to cast again – repeat-
ing as necessary to cover the area.
Walk it up
If the current is strong enough or an
obstruction prevents him from setting up as
described above, Johnson actually anchors or
locks down with Power-Poles upstream of the tar-
get area and casts back below it, then retrieves his
rig at an extremely slow pace. Even though bass
usually position facing into the current, a slow
retrieve heading upstream gives them enough time
to see the bait. The trick, says Johnson, is to try to feel
every pebble as the rig crawls back to the boat. The
Carolina-rig leader allows the bait to flutter enticingly
through the strike zone.
Why the RiG?
22
a lot of anglers fish jigs, tubes and various moving baits in
heavy current, but johnson thinks he’s found a winner in the
lizard
carolina rig.
“the carolina rig may not seem like the most effective bait to fish in cur-
rent,” he says, “but by separating the weight from the bait, it gives the bass a
really natural look, with the bait just drifting by.”
his go-to soft plastic is a 7-inch lizard fished with a 7-foot, 3-inch G. loomis GlX rod with a
shimano metanium (7.4:1) reel and 20-pound-test fluorocarbon main line with a 16-pound-test leader.
in current, johnson uses a shorter leader, usually 12 to 24 inches, so that the lizard doesn’t get too far below the
weight. in most current situations, a 1/2-ounce weight is sufficient for johnson, as river fish are seldom deeper than
about 8 feet.
FlWFIshIng.com I July 2017