I’m just getting back into bass fishing after being away from it for about 12–15 years. When I fished before, it was mostly for crappie, so I’m trying to relearn bass techniques from the ground up.

I’m looking for help understanding when and why to choose certain soft plastic styles, along with which rigging methods make the most sense for each.

There are so many types of plastics:

• Curly-tail worms

• Lizards

• Trick/shaky worms

• Senkos / stick worms

• Craws

• Ned (stick) baits

• Tubes

• Flukes

• Swimbaits (straight-tail or paddle-tail)

And just as many ways to rig them:

• Texas rig

• Carolina rig

• Drop shot

• Wacky rig (weighted or unweighted)

• Neko rig

• Ned rig

I understand some basics—for example, using minnow-style baits when shad are the primary forage, or choosing a Texas rig when fishing heavy cover. But I’m still fuzzy on the why behind a lot of these choices.

For instance:

• Why choose a wacky or Neko rig over a Texas rig?

• When does a Ned rig really shine?

• Since Carolina rigs and drop shots can also be weedless, what situations make one better than the other?

• Are there general guidelines tied to season, water temperature, or spawn phases that help narrow these choices down?

Any insight, rules of thumb, or real-world examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help

Too many things to to address here so I will take the Ned rig. I can only speak for my area of the country. The Ned rig can be used all year long but it really shines in the post spawn to summer. It also becomes a very good bait from early fall into at least mid winter.

7 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Too many things to to address here so I will take the Ned rig. I can only speak for my area of the country. The Ned rig can be used all year long but it really shines in the post spawn to summer. It also becomes a very good bait from early fall into at least mid winter.

What’s your preferred way to fish it? Dragged on the bottom or gliding it?

I drag it with it ticking the bottom, I hop it with rod lifts and swims, I also swim it. I rig it with a variety of hook shapes sizes and weights.

@Checkerfred

You have quite a bit of catching up to do, but it's all good.

As mentioned above, there is too much to respond here with any actionable assistance.

My advice is to pick, learn and then fish a couple deals (like Texas rig and maybe a tube),

and then just keep reading.

It's all about the journey, not the destination.

https://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish

Best of Luck and have fun

A-Jay

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

@Checkerfred

You have quite a bit of catching up to do, but it's all good.

As mentioned above, there is too much to respond here with any actionable assistance.

My advice is to pick, learn and then fish a couple deals (like Texas rig and maybe a tube),

and then just keep reading.

It's all about the journey, not the destination.

https://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish

Best of Luck and have fun

A-Jay

There’s just so much now lol. Back in the day it was Texas rig if you fished plastics, that’s it. Definitely have some catching up to do

Texas rigged, straight or ribbon tail worms are my favorite and most productive for me. Like @A-Jay said good place to start and you can fish it almost anywhere.

Just have to keep trying different colors and different retrievals.

Colors…. Green pumpkin, junebug, black and something red.

Venture out from the with different variations….. glitters, etc…

Retrieving…. You got yo-yo ing it, drag it on bottom, straight crank….slow, fast.

It is really kinda endless…. Have fun

8 minutes ago, Checkerfred said:

There’s just so much now lol. Back in the day it was Texas rig if you fished plastics, that’s it. Definitely have some catching up to do

The bass are the still the same #bobseger

But you know kids,

always have to come up with some newfangled deal . . . .

Go with what you know.

Bet you get a few.

A-Jay

Rage Rig . Weighted keel hook with a screw lock. Called a swim bait hook now . Throw on a Rage Bug across the bottom and start catching em

10 hours ago, bowhunter63 said:

Weighted keel hook with a screw lock.

Keel hook….. haven’t heard them called that in a long time…..

3 hours ago, GRiver said:

Keel hook….. haven’t heard them called that in a long time…..

Im old 😎

I dont try to do everything. I Texas rig almost everytime I go fishing.Worm, craws, tubes and everything else gets the T-rig treatment. I'll fish tubes and Neds if snags are not a problem. Hate dropshots. I think I have the worse hookup percentage on a drop shot than any other technique. Never tried a Neko, free rig or any other of that new stuff. I dont have time for it all. Show me some wood and I'm throwing a Texas rig in there.

I base rigging and more importantly the soft plastic lure itself on what I want that lure to do. If I want it on the bottom, moving slowly without much action, a pegged Texas rigged straight tail worm would fit the bill. Swimming something most likely would have built in action like a Rage Tail and I could rig it a number of ways. An action tail worm, can be rigged Texas with either a pegged weight for targeting brush or rock, or unpegged for yo yoing it.

What I'm saying is; ask yourself where and how you want to fish a soft plastic bait and then choose a bait and rigging that will fit that situation the best. You don't need to know a dozen different rigs to accomplish that.

Most of the time it depends on where I am fishing. I use a split shot rig, Texas rig, or weightless Texas rig around vegetation and brush. If I happen to be fishing around open water I'll try a presentation with an exposed hook.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. This helps. I just need to dumb it down and be more simplistic with it

@Checkerfred - I have a little time, am cooped up in the house, and don't want to do the work I have so I'll take a stab for you.

Separate the techniques and the plastics. You can rig most of those plastics on most of those techniques. There will be some natural pairings, but you can throw just about anything on just about anything.

Within the techniques, think about the cover you're in and how much water you're trying to cover. A carolina rig is design for covering water. You fish it by casting it out and dragging it back to you, sometimes at a fairly quick rate, but almost always at a constant rate. Because of the amount of weight you're fishing most of the time, you can cast them a mile to search for fish. In contrast, a wacky rig (with a senko for example) is the opposite. You're tossing it at a specific 'thing' and letting it settle/sit. Give it a twitch and let it sit again. The others will fall between those. Read about the different techniques and watch a video of someone fishing that technique. A dropshot is generally a spot based technique where you leave the weight in place and shake the rod, though you can drag one. A Neko is similar to a wacky rig, except you have a nose weight which means you can hop it along the bottom like a bottom feeding fish. It also sinks a little faster. You can cover more water that way if you want or make casts faster (I will toss it as a spot, let it hit the bottom, a couple twitches, and reel it in). A ned rig can by fished steady or stopped- you can swim one steady with pops and stops or you can dead stick it and drag bottom. Quite versatile in that regard but a ned is typically going to be a smaller/lighter/more finesse operation. A texas rig is probably the most versatile of the bunch. You can cast it at a spot like pitching into cover or punching. You can bomb cast it like a carolina rig and work it back over a point or hard patch along the bottom. You rig it lighter and swim a bait. It is also the most weedless of the bunch. You can rig it weightless or with 2 oz of weight (for punching). If you're only going to learn one technique of the list, start here.

For the baits, think about what the fish are eating and what type of cover you're going through. Baits like a trick worm, senko/stickworm, a curltail worm, craws, and beavers (you didn't list them but I will) can all be fished on texas rigs, carolina rigs, neko rigs, etc. They all give a little different look on any given rig. A stick worm or trick worm is going to have minimal action/motion of its own and sometimes that's what the bass want. A curltail worm or a craw worm is going to have a lot more action as the tail/craws undulate through the water. Sometimes the fish want that. I'll use the time of year and water conditions to give me my starting point, but then listen to the fish. If you know the fish are focusing on crayfish then a craw or beaver is a good starting point. If shad or bluegill are on the menu then one of the more baitfishy plastics might be the answer. I noted that there are some natural combinations. Dropshots normally will have a plastic that has minimal motion from appendages but have a thin tail that flickers with minimal motion like a straight robo worm or one of the other dropshot specific worms. A ned rig (mini jighead) is most commonly used with a 2-4" basic plastic (often floating) or similar. Swimbaits are normally fished on a jighead (weedless or not).

• Why choose a wacky or Neko rig over a Texas rig?

There is a lot of overlap in when you'd use one or another. As noted above, you can cover more water with a Texas rig over a wacky rig so if you're doing more searching then a texas rig might be better. If the fish are tight to cover and in a negative feeding mood (like after a big cold front) then a wacky rig that you let sit on the bottom a bit might be enough to get them to eat.

• When does a Ned rig really shine?

Lighter cover, depths less than 10', fish that are looking for smaller profiles. It's not the best to be throwing into heavier grass/vegetation. You can rig them weedless and the nedlock type weighted hooks are good for that, but neds work best on lighter line (6 lb and lighter) and light line doesn't mesh with heavier cover.

• Since Carolina rigs and drop shots can also be weedless, what situations make one better than the other?

A carolina rig is a searching rig. Bomb casts, keep it moving, etc. The rig with the length of leader lets the bait pop up off the bottom and glide back down. Great with a fluke, a wide beaver, or a lizzard that has a wide profile and will flutter down. A drop shot is better as a small spot lure where you can cast it onto a spot and shake it in place. You can drag a dropshot also but if you're going to be dragging there is probably a better option.

• Are there general guidelines tied to season, water temperature, or spawn phases that help narrow these choices down?

See my comment above in the baits section. Colder weather fish are often going to want less action, will be tighter to cover and less aggressive. All generalizations, but that will be true more often than not. Fish that have gone negative whether from a cold front or fishing pressure will want a little less action/energy in a bait. All of that will push you towards one bait or presentation over another. If it is June in the north and the bluegills are spawning, the bass are going to be a bit more agressive and will eat baits with more motion like beavers and curl tails, though they will also eat sticks, tricks, and neds also. The spawn (bass on beds portion) is a whole 'nother animal and the bait itself will often be less critical than where you put it in the bed and how that fish is feeling today. If you're talking about sight fishing, a white craw or ned will let YOU see the bait on the bed and find the spot that the fish is defending the most. If the cover permits it, a small bait with a long open hook will maximize hookups (bass will often grab the tail of a long bait).

I let my friend the Bait Monkey all of my soft plastics and terminal tackle. He makes sure I have everything I might need. I may not know how to fish a particular soft plastic, but I guarantee I will have it. If I fail to catch a bass on a certain bait, he is nice enough to recommend one I should buy that will work next time.

If I get overwhelmed and can't decide which soft plastic to buy, I throw a spinnerbait.

I'll tackle the wacky vs neko portion.

I use both. They are essentially the same presentation with a plastic stickbait, hooked in the middle.

A wacky rig is unweighted. It relies on the natural fall rate of the stickbait. A neko has a nail weight inside the stubby end. It relies on the weight to fall.

Wacky is better in shallow water (less than 5 feet), whereas a neko is better suited for deeper water because it has a faster sink rate.

I use the wacky a lot around docks in midsummer because they skip well and it's usually 3 feet or less under/around them. I use the neko a lot when fish are set up along the deep weed line, also in midsummer. This is usually around the 12-18 foot depth.

Describe your typical water body? Lake/river, clear/stained, deep/shallow all dictate which I’m going to pick. If you’re fishing points on deep reservoirs, the T-rig, C-rig, and Dropshot cover you in most situations. If you’re fishing grass you may never throw anything but a t-rig. Around docks or shallow chunk rock a ned rig or wacky could be major players.

Each setup is just a delivery method to fish the particular plastic based on your situation. Think of rigging as a way to fish your desired structure/cover rather than what to do with each individual plastic. I.e. nothing will beat a Texas rig in the grass and getting into a laydown, Carolina rigs excel fishing dropoff/shellbeds/chunk rock, wacky’s do best for me on strictly vertical cover or culverts. Ned’s do best in smallmouth water along current seams for me.

IMO the best way to go about it is pick just one setup at a time and fish it for the whole day. Start with what you know, a Texas rig worm, and go around fishing all sorts of different cover/structure and pay attention to what you like and don’t about it. Then do the same all the way down the list until you find ones that work, and equally as important, the ones that don’t work for you.

Then rinse and repeat with the different plastics. For example I never have any luck fishing a weighted t-rig or wacky fluke, but tear fish up weightless on a C-rig.

Experimenting and time on the water will teach you what to use.

8 hours ago, king fisher said:

I let my friend the Bait Monkey all of my soft plastics and terminal tackle. He makes sure I have everything I might need. I may not know how to fish a particular soft plastic, but I guarantee I will have it. If I fail to catch a bass on a certain bait, he is nice enough to recommend one I should buy that will work next time.

If I get overwhelmed and can't decide which soft plastic to buy, I throw a spinnerbait.

Thank you for this! That cleared up several things I had wondered about. I definitely need to use a Carolina rig more for searching

8 hours ago, gim said:

I'll tackle the wacky vs neko portion.

I use both. They are essentially the same presentation with a plastic stickbait, hooked in the middle.

A wacky rig is unweighted. It relies on the natural fall rate of the stickbait. A neko has a nail weight inside the stubby end. It relies on the weight to fall.

Wacky is better in shallow water (less than 5 feet), whereas a neko is better suited for deeper water because it has a faster sink rate.

I use the wacky a lot around docks in midsummer because they skip well and it's usually 3 feet or less under/around them. I use the neko a lot when fish are set up along the deep weed line, also in midsummer. This is usually around the 12-18 foot depth.

This makes sense. What makes you choose neko though over Texas, Carolina, or shaky head?

2 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

Describe your typical water body? Lake/river, clear/stained, deep/shallow all dictate which I’m going to pick. If you’re fishing points on deep reservoirs, the T-rig, C-rig, and Dropshot cover you in most situations. If you’re fishing grass you may never throw anything but a t-rig. Around docks or shallow chunk rock a ned rig or wacky could be major players.

Each setup is just a delivery method to fish the particular plastic based on your situation. Think of rigging as a way to fish your desired structure/cover rather than what to do with each individual plastic. I.e. nothing will beat a Texas rig in the grass and getting into a laydown, Carolina rigs excel fishing dropoff/shellbeds/chunk rock, wacky’s do best for me on strictly vertical cover or culverts. Ned’s do best in smallmouth water along current seams for me.

IMO the best way to go about it is pick just one setup at a time and fish it for the whole day. Start with what you know, a Texas rig worm, and go around fishing all sorts of different cover/structure and pay attention to what you like and don’t about it. Then do the same all the way down the list until you find ones that work, and equally as important, the ones that don’t work for you.

Then rinse and repeat with the different plastics. For example I never have any luck fishing a weighted t-rig or wacky fluke, but tear fish up weightless on a C-rig.

Experimenting and time on the water will teach you what to use.

This is good info thank you. My lake has lots of everything. Lots of grass but also you can fish rock/rip rap, boat houses, offshore ledges, humps and shell beds. Clarity is usually stained to kind of clear. I’m in northeast Alabama so not many small mouth. I do have a few other lakes I fish that are deep water highland reservoirs.

14 minutes ago, Checkerfred said:

This is good info thank you. My lake has lots of everything. Lots of grass but also you can fish rock/rip rap, boat houses, offshore ledges, humps and shell beds. Clarity is usually stained to kind of clear. I’m in northeast Alabama so not many small mouth. I do have a few other lakes I fish that are deep water highland reservoirs.

Fishing Coosa Chain or TN River? Or smaller lakes?

1 hour ago, Checkerfred said:

Thank you for this! That cleared up several things I had wondered about. I definitely need to use a Carolina rig more for searching

This makes sense. What makes you choose neko though over Texas, Carolina, or shaky head?

The thickness of the vegetation dictates if I need to use a Texas rig and bury the hook in the plastic. I prefer not to do that if I don’t have to.

I can’t help you with a Carolina rig, I don’t fish it.

There are weighted wacky hooks, and you can wacky dropshot if you want to.

On 1/27/2026 at 7:19 PM, bigbassin' said:

Fishing Coosa Chain or TN River? Or smaller lakes?

TN River. Mainly Guntersville. The other lakes are Smith Lake and Inland Lake which are the highland reservoirs