I was talking with a local tournament fisherman recently, about bottom fishing t rigs and weedless jigs with soft plastic baits. This makes up the bulk of my summer fishing.                                   He told me he fishes a t rig with a constant tight line, never allowing any slack in the line. Immediately after he cast, when his bait hits bottom, he quickly reels all slack line, and, after each hop or drag of the bait he turns his reel to have a constant tight line.                                                                This method is counter to the way I was taught, and the way I've fished t rigs for a long time.                                                               I was taught years ago to leave a slight amount of slack in the line after each hop. Not much, but a little slack. I turn the reel handle just maybe half a turn, depending on the reel, and always have a little slack in my line this way.                                                   When I have fished t rigs with a tight line, some bass have picked up the bait, and spit it very quickly, feeling some resistance when they strike. I've done far better by having a small amount of slack line. When I feel a strike, I quickly take up the slack, and set the hook.                                                 His method may work well for him, but, I'm inclined to think a small amount of slack line will hook more fish overall.                     What are your ideas on this? Do you do better with a little slack, or a constant tight line with a t rig?

The only time I use a slack line presentation is with unweighted wacky rigged Senko’s. Otherwise the bottom contact works, jigs I use “controlled” slack so I am in contact with the lures movements. I feel line movements and watch it closely. I find soft plastic worms more forgiving regarding being rejected by bass.

Tom

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

The only time I use a slack line presentation is with unweighted wacky rigged Senko’s. Otherwise the bottom contact works, jigs I use “controlled” slack so I am in contact with the lures movements. I feel line movements and watch it closely. I find soft plastic worms more forgiving regarding being rejected by bass.

Tom

Controlled aka semi-slack is how I fish bottom baits. You can get a boatload of guthooked bass fishing a T rig with slack line, as it takes too much time to detect a strike. Wacky rigs tend to be different, as even with a liberal amount of slack, it seems the bass tend to hit and run with those presentations much more than they do with a T rig. You can see the line move even when slack most of the time on a WR. Not so much with a TR. 

  I  let the worm fall straight down but there was a day a year or two ago where I was pretty sure  there were bass on the point I was fishing , they were showing up on the depth finder . I could not get them to bite  a worm or crankbait . I just kept trying different retrieves and finally lifted the worm , held the line tight and let it glide back down . That day , it was the ticket , catching several fish. I have not caught any with that technique since , but its planted there in the back of my brain .

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Controlled aka semi-slack is how I fish bottom baits. You can get a boatload of guthooked bass fishing a T rig with slack line, as it takes too much time to detect a strike. Wacky rigs tend to be different, as even with a liberal amount of slack, it seems the bass tend to hit and run with those presentations much more than they do with a T rig. You can see the line move even when slack most of the time on a WR. Not so much with a TR. 

How do you mean semi-slack? That's one thing I've never totally understood. I interpret it as, with my rod tip down there is a bit of slack in the line, but with my rod tip up it is tight.

Controlled or semi slack line is subjective. So let’s define slack line that is objective. Slack line is line floating on the surface or so much loose line when you move the rod you don’t feel anything.

Controlled slack is having a blow in line between the rod tip and waterline and you can feel lure or line movements. Feel is subjective and we are all different in how we interpret feeling line movements or changes in line tension. Lots of time programming your brain to knowing the difference between strikes and everything else.

Tom

1 hour ago, ThatFishingGuy said:

How do you mean semi-slack? That's one thing I've never totally understood. I interpret it as, with my rod tip down there is a bit of slack in the line, but with my rod tip up it is tight.

Well, Tom got to it before I could. And likely explained it a helluva lot better than I would have! ?

Retrieve 1:

pop-pop-pop-pause, then reel in slack, repeat

 

Retrieve 2:

long, slow lift of the rod tip, pause, reel down line to lower rod tip, repeat

 

Retrieve 3:

shake it, making sure I have constant feel of the bait, repeat

 

slack, semi-slack, tight, whatever-slack, point is I want to be able to feel the bait, line watching confirms the strike

Must be in constant contact with your bait to feel anything. 
Sure you can be a line watcher and only set when it moves but you’ll never know what happens before. 
 

 A controlled slack as @WRB explained is an art to discern what you’re feeling.

 

In other words being one with the line and rod, the result is why you’re there. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

I think the only time I fish a slack line is when I'm vertically jigging a balanced jig. Otherwise a bottom contact horizontal bait, I need to feel it with a semi-slack line.

I try to keep a slight bow in my line with T rigs. I've had fish hit and let go if they felt too much resistance when they hit.

4 hours ago, WRB said:

Controlled or semi slack line is subjective. So let’s define slack line that is objective. Slack line is line floating on the surface or so much loose line when you move the rod you don’t feel anything.

Controlled slack is having a blow in line between the rod tip and waterline and you can feel lure or line movements. Feel is subject and we are all different in how we interpret feeling line movements or changes in line tension. Lots of time programming your brain to knowing the difference between strikes and everything else.

Tom

 

Very well said.  My "semi-slack" is enough slack to keep tension off the lure, but not more than I can take up with a rod dip and a quick handle crank or two as soon as I feel something, see something, or just know it's time to set.  This is obvious a lot easier the shorter your cast is.  For jigs I keep the line a little tighter, for most plastics I keep it a little looser.

 

For various reasons I use a lot of shorter rods and proper slack line management is the only way I can ever get a good hookset a lot of the time, so I had to learn quickly.  

I like a slight bow in my line with a Texas rig where I can feel the tick and quickly reel up the slack in the bow , then set he hook.

 

Once a bottom crawler has reached bottom I want some feel as to what is happening with that bait at all times. I "feel" the logs, limbs, grass and rocks it comes in contact with and I waiting to feel that "tap" or "thump" that tells me a bass has picked up (small bass) or sucked in the bait. Even then, sometimes a bass will take it and you feel nothing, you might see the line going sideways or you may not feel your bait anymore which means a bass has it. That only increases the chance that a bass will be throat hooked because he has it too long before you set the hook. Yep, better to have as much contact with your bait on the bottom as possible for the sake of both you and the bass.   

I'm still liking WRBs controlled slack line method the best. I've had fish drop a t rig quickly if they feel resistance. Not all bass will do this, but some.

I try to avoid slack when fishing a true T-rig (with an unpegged weight). I position my rod tip high and any suspicion on my part about a bite and I drop the rod tip creating enough slack that the fish can move the bait a little without feeling the resistance of the weight.

Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line.

 

To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense. 

I'm in the "controlled slack" camp. How much slack is bait and cover dependant. I tend to let ribbontail worms or other baits with an action tail fall on a fairly tight line, so that it swims back to the bottom. I let tubes and beavers fall on a pretty slack line because they need the slack to get that erratic spiraling fall that fish love so much. Thick weeds I always want a straight fall, so I give it a fair bit of slack, and use weight size to determine fall rate. Rate of fall can be critical to getting bit. 

 

So, I guess when I think about it, I always give a certain amout of slack. That amount can vary from just a slight bow in the line, to completely slack on the fall, but it's always controlled. If it's slack on the fall, it's barely slack. I'm watching the line, and I'm not out of touch for long.

 

I also try hard to stay in my batting stance. Rod in that 9-10 o'clock area, so I'm ready to swing  the instant I feel/see a bite.

Shouldn't the type of line and sensitivity of the rod be included in the equation?

 

I like to keep a bow/sag in the line.  With fluoro and a good rod, you can still feel a tap very easily.  With braid, I find that a deep bow really cuts down the feel, but a breeze can put enough light, even tension on the bowed braid to still let you feel any activity.  Otherwise, I tend to hold at least a little bit of tension with braided line.  (But, it's easier for me to watch braid for movement and that helps make up for the lack of slack-line sensitivity...)

90% of my T-Rig fishing is not slack line.

The only time I will have slack in my line is when fishing 15' of water or deeper.

 

I'll make a cast & as soon as the lure touches down I take my thumb off the spool & lift the rod straight up & behind my head. Then I replace my thumb on the spool & whip slack in my line. Depending on depth I may even strip 3-4 arms length of line.

 

I'm wanting that lure to fall straight down & not pendulum back towards me.

 

With this technique you had better be paying attention for slack line bites.

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

The only time I will have slack in my line is when fishing 15' of water or deeper.

 

I'll make a cast & as soon as the lure touches down I take my thumb off the spool & lift the rod straight up & behind my head. Then I replace my thumb on the spool & whip slack in my line. Depending on depth I may even strip 3-4 arms length of line.

 

I'm wanting that lure to fall straight down & not pendulum back towards me.

 

With this technique you had better be paying attention for slack line bites.

Catt, I make a cast, and let the bait fall straight down on a slack line. I keep my rod tip up, and raise and lower the rod from 10.00 to 12.00 position, taking up any slack when I lower the rod back down. I can still feel the strike, which usually comes on the drop. Windy days are harder, as I need to take up slack line quicker. It's actually not as simple as some guys might think. As you and WRB have said, it's about controlling your  slack line. Too much reeling, you can pull the bait out of the zone. Not enouph reeling, and you've easily got too much slack line out. This is when the best fish of the day will hit, and you'll miss him. It takes some practice for sure.

15 minutes ago, Catt said:

The only time I will have slack in my line is when fishing 15' of water or deeper.

 

I'll make a cast & as soon as the lure touches down I take my thumb off the spool & lift the rod straight up & behind my head. Then I replace my thumb on the spool & whip slack in my line. Depending on depth I may even strip 3-4 arms length of line.

 

I'm wanting that lure to fall straight down & not pendulum back towards me.

 

With this technique you had better be paying attention for slack line bites.

Even that’s controlled. As soon as you let go of the spool and jerk your rod up, you can slowly drop your rod down with just enough slack in the line in case you see your line jump, you won’t have as much line to recover in case you need to set the hook. If you drop all line down at once you may not have enough recovery time. 
My opinion/way of doing I guess.

I like to keep my rod tip up through all this. I can see the line and see hopefully see any strikes I can't feel.

7 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

My opinion/way of doing I guess.

 

It totally depends on the depth, if I'm casting into 15' I obviously don't need that much slack to get a vertical fall. If I'm casting into 30' I'm definitely gonna need more slack & a heavier weight.