I don't use wacky often...normally I go weightless Texas rigged senko or trick worm. One thing I do wacky is the old havoc moneymaker with a small nail in each end.

As long as it isn't an Ocho, my bass don't seem to care what brand. Wacky worm bite has really been declining around here the last few years.

I think I have tried them all and still go back to GYCB 5in Senko in Black with Blue Flake.  

Strike King Ocho is my favorite. I wish Berkley would try again with the Havoc Flat Dawg concept. That thing was a fish catching machine, if you could keep it on the hook long enough. They were so fragile that I'd cast about half of them off it seemed like.

9 hours ago, Michigander said:

As long as it isn't an Ocho, my bass don't seem to care what brand. Wacky worm bite has really been declining around here the last few years.

Here too. When I first started using it...how ever many years ago...the numbers were unbelievable. I caught of lot of big fish on it too. The magic seems to be gone.

 

The NED rig seems to be cooling off too.

10 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

I like the Pocket Rocket from Reaction Innovations for wacky rigging

I like how that looks in the water, but I haven't had enough time to fish with it to get a sense of what kind of producer it'll be for me.

 

My most effective wacky rig is a Dinger on a weighted hook.

Creme Scoundrel 6” in purple

21 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Maxscent General or Kalin’s WAC-O-Worm. Catch as many as with Yamasenkos but lasts 3 times longer...

I am going to be using the max scent generals this year a lot.  I found them for $1.94 per bag and stocked up hard!!   Glad to hear they are solid in Minnesota 

2 hours ago, galyonj said:

My most effective wacky rig is a Dinger on a weighted hook.

I know my Dingers sink slower than my Senkos. Is that why you use a weighted hook? 
 

I find at times the Senko sinks too fast, and when I switch to a Dinger I get bites on the slower fall. Haven’t experimented with a faster fall than a Senko. May have to try that. 
 

Nothing to me is as exciting as topwater, and working a Texas rig and feeling that “tap” and driving home a 3/0 EWG is likely my favorite way to fish, but I’ve gotten more catches on a 5” Senko WR than any other lure. I guess these pond bass just love ‘em. I also rarely ever see another angler casting it. Mostly spinnerbaits, T rigs and frogs. 

2 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

I know my Dingers sink slower than my Senkos. Is that why you use a weighted hook? 
 

I find at times the Senko sinks too fast, and when I switch to a Dinger I get bites on the slower fall. Haven’t experimented with a faster fall than a Senko. May have to try that. 
 

Nothing to me is as exciting as topwater, and working a Texas rig and feeling that “tap” and driving home a 3/0 EWG is likely my favorite way to fish, but I’ve gotten more catches on a 5” Senko WR than any other lure. I guess these pond bass just love ‘em. I also rarely ever see another angler casting it. Mostly spinnerbaits, T rigs and frogs. 

 

I think that's part of it for me, yeah. The weighted fall gives it a little more pronounced movement on the way down, too. Now, I've not had a chance to get out since it started getting proper cold (for the area), so I think it wouldn't surprise me to have more success with less weight (and the subsequent slower fall and less pronounced action) in colder water.

 

Hopefully I'll get to hit the water sooner or later, but it's not looking real good in the near future.

 

In any case, on my best day anything I throw is a SWAG anyway, so…I guess we'll see. lol

4 hours ago, MGF said:

Here too. When I first started using it...how ever many years ago...the numbers were unbelievable. I caught of lot of big fish on it too. The magic seems to be gone.

 

The NED rig seems to be cooling off too.

I haven't put enough time into the Ned Rig to have an informed opinion, but I have noticed that the people around here that fish it as a primary technique have been struggling more and more.

 

I think the fish get conditioned in pressured water to avoid the popular and more easily identified presentations.

 

Around here Wacky Worms, Whopper Ploppers, and Ned Rigs (as I'm told) have all been on the decline.

11 minutes ago, Michigander said:

Around here Wacky Worms, Whopper Ploppers, and Ned Rigs (as I'm told) have all been on the decline.

I wonder is that’s due to simple overuse, or that the anglers who first fished them when new were more experienced and as they became popular, more and more started throwing them and not really fishing them properly. 

I have gone back and forth with Senko's and Dingers for years. Senkos when I'm not on a budget, Dingers when I am. Both catch tons of fish, and both have won me lots of money.

 

I'm firmly (for now LOL) a Senko user.  5" and 4".

 

Oddly when I'm using a Dinger, I always think I could be catching a few more, and a few bigger ones if I was using a Senko.....probably the one reason why the last few years I have let my Dinger supply deplete itself, and have just stuck with Senkos.

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

I wonder is that’s due to simple overuse, or that the anglers who first fished them when new were more experienced and as they became popular, more and more started throwing them and not really fishing them properly. 

Hard to say. I think it is more to do with the sheer number of people using these (at all skill levels). A lot of what I hear is from guys lamenting about how good the presentations used to be.

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I wonder is that’s due to simple overuse, or that the anglers who first fished them when new were more experienced and as they became popular, more and more started throwing them and not really fishing them properly. 

 

Well, it reminds me of fishing the Original Floating Rapala. How could that minnow

EVER go out of favor?

 

5 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, it reminds me of fishing the Original Floating Rapala. How could that minnow

EVER go out of favor?

Ummm - they haven't.

Originals in 07, 09, and 11 are the core of my jerkbait collection.

4 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

I am going to be using the max scent generals this year a lot.  I found them for $1.94 per bag and stocked up hard!!   Glad to hear they are solid in Minnesota 

I think all the colors work well enough... best for me have been June Bug for LMB, Baby Bass for SMB and Blue Pearl Black Hologram when our rivers get chocolatey... 

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Ummm - they haven't.

Originals in 07, 09, and 11 are the core of my jerkbait collection.

This is how I know how long I got away from fishing (and how older I’ve gotten)- they used to be called floating or diving plugs. Jerkbaits sound new to me, but they aren’t lol. 

34 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

This is how I know how long I got away from fishing (and how older I’ve gotten)- they used to be called floating or diving plugs. Jerkbaits sound new to me, but they aren’t lol. 

What's new (ish) are the neutrally buoyant jerk baits.

Top Shelf : 5" Senko Green Pumpkin / Black Flake

Premium : 5" Yum Dinger Green Pumpkin / Black Flake

Well : 5" Zoom Finesse Worm Green Pumpkin / Black Flake

14 hours ago, Michigander said:

I haven't put enough time into the Ned Rig to have an informed opinion, but I have noticed that the people around here that fish it as a primary technique have been struggling more and more.

 

I think the fish get conditioned in pressured water to avoid the popular and more easily identified presentations.

 

Around here Wacky Worms, Whopper Ploppers, and Ned Rigs (as I'm told) have all been on the decline.

That's because the same people go back to the same spots with the same baits and expect the same results over and over, it doesn't work like that. All 3 of those baits were staples for me this year like usual, but like every year, minor changes have to be made to stay a step ahead. When everyone is throwing natural colors, toss them a curveball. Fish aren't being caught on baits like a Ned or wacky rig because the conditions aren't right, or something the angler is doing, they'll always eat those baits. My 2 biggest largemouth, and 2 of my top 5 smallmouth of the year were on Ned rigs. LM were on the Sukoshi Bug and a Big TRD, both SM were on a Purple Death TRD TicklerZ.  I don't even feel like I fished them as much as usual this year.

Or just a whole different body style.

I usually use a Yamamoto in 5 inch of various color. I use an o ring so I don’t have to physically hook the worm. Seems to help with durability, of which Yamamoto is lacking.

 

Has anyone tried wacky rigging with a  Zman stick bait like a big TRD, or even a giant TRD? Obviously they don’t sink like most other stick baits but you could add a nail weight to one end and give it some interesting action, plus the durability factor.

On 12/19/2020 at 4:15 PM, Munkin said:

Unweighted senko, weighted Jackal flick shake. 

 

Allen 

This right here.  Exactly!   I would add a 4 inch robo worm wacky rigged will get bit....not the biggest bites...but ALOT OF STINKIN BITES.

On 12/20/2020 at 7:40 AM, galyonj said:

I like how that looks in the water, but I haven't had enough time to fish with it to get a sense of what kind of producer it'll be for me.

 

My most effective wacky rig is a Dinger on a weighted hook.

I like its action wacky rigged, think it is a bit different than the others because of the narrow middle section.  Just my opinion though