I have seen some videos with underwater footage of floating lures rising up on the free rig. Can anyone recommend some specific baits? Also, what line and what hook are you throwing it on?

anything z man. as for the line and hook depends on what fits he bait.

Take any bait you like, put a hook in and throw it in your sink full of water. If it floats, you’re good to go.

I’m throwing a Ragebug on a 3/O hook with a 1/4oz bell sinker on 12# Suffix Advanced.

I'm less of a fan of elastomer on a free rig than I thought I'd be. I feel that the complete vertical stand up on the bottom doesn't look natural to me and doesn't seem to really help getting bites. I have used a 1.5g weighted worm hook to get the correct look of a baitfish feeding off the bottom and had success shaking and small hopping. When the free rig does best for me I'm working it similarly to cracking a tube, and the baits that excel at that have an interesting and unique swim up and weightless sink once the weight has contacted the bottom. The holy grail for this action is the dolive beaver.

scott

Some elastomer baits are good, others aren't. The Zman baits with 0 salt, streaks, floating worms, trick shots, finesse shads, lizards, tubes, and a few others have very little or no salt at all. Theyre so bouyant, you can use a 3x hook and it wont make any difference, those baits will stand straight up, which just isnt natural. Thats not to say I havent caught fish on them, because I have, especially with the lizards and floating worms. I try to rig a heavier hook as close to the center of gravity as I can without causing the bait to roll or look goofy.

As far as mojo/T/Free rigs, my favorite Zman bait is by far the palmetto bug. You can fish all day with 1 pack. I like to use them with a 2/0 G finesse heavy cover hook. BKKs fliping hook should work well too, I just havent got around to using it yet.

With a free rig you want a fast separation from the weight and the bait so it falls as vertically as possible, otherwise you may as well use a T rig. You either use a heavier weight, like a 3/16 and 1/4 and or use a bait that has some kind of resistance. The resistance could be in the form of a wide ribbed body that catches water adn glides, like a bellows gill, or the crowd favorite, dolive beaver. There are so many good baits that ae overlooked, its not hard to stumble on a good one that you already have.

I think the Biffle Bug (now scutter bug under yum) is a great free rig and T rig bait. It has small tabed arms that slow it down and a long tail that glides like a champ. The appendages make the biffle bug versatil, but the cavity in the bait steps it up another notch. You can add a rattle to give it more weight and sound, you can add an ear plug soaked in pro cure or megastrike to get fish to hold on longer or you can just leave it as an empty air pocket for a slow fall. The only real problem is that they can be a 1 or 2 fish bait. Theyre cheaper now Yum is making them in Guatemala, but the plastic quality has suffered slightly, as well as not being available in the great colors they were when Gene Larew made them.

The other 2 baits I really like are the Bubbling Craw and the discontinued Berkley Water Bug. You can look at the Bubbling Craw and can tell it would be good on a free rig, but they cost. You can get them for 50% or more off once or twice a year, so i take advantage. The water bug is another one of those Ike baits that just didn't catch on. Its made of light buoyant plastic, and has a flat bottom with a small kicking tail. Ive caught fish dragging them on a mojo or free rig. I dont know why either. They dont look a lot like anything, but look a little like a lot of things, if you know what I mean.

Bottom line is you just have to test baits out yourself and see what works for you. One of the reoccurring motifs in this sport is, "Its hard to catch other people's fish." Meaning just because someone can catch them on a certain bait or using a given technique doesn't mean anyone can.

Strike King has a great lineup of elastomer baits. Kind of an underrated secret.

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

Strike King has a great lineup of elastomer baits. Kind of an underrated secret.

The videos I watched and things I have read on the Strike King elastomer say that it is significantly less buoyant than Z-Man Elaztech because of salt content. Glenn, is that your experience?

On 4/7/2026 at 6:55 AM, softwateronly said:

I'm less of a fan of elastomer on a free rig than I thought I'd be. I feel that the complete vertical stand up on the bottom doesn't look natural to me and doesn't seem to really help getting bites. I have used a 1.5g weighted worm hook to get the correct look of a baitfish feeding off the bottom and had success shaking and small hopping. When the free rig does best for me I'm working it similarly to cracking a tube, and the baits that excel at that have an interesting and unique swim up and weightless sink once the weight has contacted the bottom. The holy grail for this action is the dolive beaver.

scott

Same - I actually prefer baits that sink fairly fast after the initial bait and weight separate - unsalted normal plastics work great when you want more undulation and slow fall after separation.

Floating plastic has potential to get bites but it’s never worked for me.

A few people have said that these look "unnatural" standing straight up on the bottom. But for those who favor this style of Free Rig, that isn't how you fish these. Sadly, there isn't a ton available on this technique or much, if any, underwater views. I've heard this technique called the Reverse Free Rig and the Free Texas Rig...no idea if there's an agreed upon term.

The only time these stand up on the bottom is when the hook/bait is "connected" to the weight on a tight line. The secret sauce with these is when you put slack in the line the bait floats back up...several inches to feet. And then you can work or swim the bait back to the sinker again and again and again. All while the weight never leaves the bottom....which is slightly different from typical Free Rig fishing.

And there's even a preferred weight for this type of Free Rigging by Ryugi called "The Bean". It allows the bait to float vertically STRAIGHT back up. Once again, this allows you to work the bait up and down while never losing bottom contact. It's a unique presentation.

I've fished it with The Bean with great success. With a baitfish style bait, you can get it to look like a baitfish feeding ; pecking the bottom, then moving back several inches in the column, then back down again. Etc, etc etc Doing the same wacky rigged looks like a dying bait fish. Twitch it to the weight, then slack it looks like the baitfish just died or is about to...starts floating up. With a worm, it looks like the worm is doing its best not to sink and struggling to go back "up". Jerk, jerk....slack....Jerk....slack. Etc etc etc

It allows you to stay in the same spot and work it...before moving along with a lift and drop like a normal Free Rig. It's also great on a "snotty" algae bottom.

I myself prefer the "standard" Free Rig using the technique associated with the Dolive Beaver.

I’ve only fished it a few times. And found I like a lil heavier weight no matter the water depth. And you really have to give a good snap of the rod to get that separation. But I was fishing the bellows gill. Don’t count that bait out. It catches so much water. And separates well. And has a nice slow sink. That said they are expensive as all get out.

59 minutes ago, RRocket said:

A few people have said that these look "unnatural" standing straight up on the bottom. But for those who favor this style of Free Rig, that isn't how you fish these. Sadly, there isn't a ton available on this technique or much, if any, underwater views. I've heard this technique called the Reverse Free Rig and the Free Texas Rig...no idea if there's an agreed upon term.

The only time these stand up on the bottom is when the hook/bait is "connected" to the weight on a tight line. The secret sauce with these is when you put slack in the line the bait floats back up...several inches to feet. And then you can work or swim the bait back to the sinker again and again and again. All while the weight never leaves the bottom....which is slightly different from typical Free Rig fishing.

And there's even a preferred weight for this type of Free Rigging by Ryugi called "The Bean". It allows the bait to float vertically STRAIGHT back up. Once again, this allows you to work the bait up and down while never losing bottom contact. It's a unique presentation.

I've fished it with The Bean with great success. With a baitfish style bait, you can get it to look like a baitfish feeding ; pecking the bottom, then moving back several inches in the column, then back down again. Etc, etc etc Doing the same wacky rigged looks like a dying bait fish. Twitch it to the weight, then slack it looks like the baitfish just died or is about to...starts floating up. With a worm, it looks like the worm is doing its best not to sink and struggling to go back "up". Jerk, jerk....slack....Jerk....slack. Etc etc etc

It allows you to stay in the same spot and work it...before moving along with a lift and drop like a normal Free Rig. It's also great on a "snotty" algae bottom.

I myself prefer the "standard" Free Rig using the technique associated with the Dolive Beaver.

I have thought about putting a couple finishing nails inside of the palmetto bug to get it to sit “level”

I definitely initially was drawn to the “let it float and pull it back down” novelty idea for sure and have had the bait get pecked at doing it but haven’t caught fish yet.

That said - it was the first thing I ever tried with the free rig and I failed for years with the free rig until cracking the code last year.

Probably need to revisit the floating plastic and nail weight it so it sits horizontal for extra saucy presentation.

@Joedodge - missile baits d bomb is a great cheap alternative to the bellows gill.

Save them when they get torn up and cut the last 1/4 off where the hook blows the bait out on a pair of them and heat them up and join them together for a long ribbed straight flat worm shape - hang on tight.

The elastomer stuff seems to be recommended to be used with a Gika rig

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I have thought about putting a couple finishing nails inside of the palmetto bug to get it to sit “level”

I definitely initially was drawn to the “let it float and pull it back down” novelty idea for sure and have had the bait get pecked at doing it but haven’t caught fish yet.

That said - it was the first thing I ever tried with the free rig and I failed for years with the free rig until cracking the code last year.

Probably need to revisit the floating plastic and nail weight it so it sits horizontal for extra saucy presentation.

@Joedodge - missile baits d bomb is a great cheap alternative to the bellows gill.

Save them when they get torn up and cut the last 1/4 off where the hook blows the bait out on a pair of them and heat them up and join them together for a long ribbed straight flat worm shape - hang on tight.

That’s a great! Idea and I have a ton of d bomb already. Thanks Pat!!!

7 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

Glenn, is that your experience?

Honestly I don't use elastomer baits anymore due to all the hassles of storing and using them, plus they have less action than regular baits. That Z-Man Senko knockoff, for example, is just a lifeless chunk of plastic compared to the Senko.

I was just letting folks know that there are other elastomer options available besides Z-Man.

I have a few elastomer baits but I am slowly getting rid of them with no plans to resupply for the same reasons mentioned above. I prefer to go with no salt versoins of baits like the Deps Bull Flat. Some baits are just special on a free rig, like the 4in OSP DoLive Beaver. I don't know what it does but it gets bit more than any other free rig bait.

21 minutes ago, FishTank said:

. I don't know what it does but it gets bit more than any other free rig bait.

Surely you've seen the underwater footage??

@RRocket

Yep. There are other baits like it but the Dolive Beaver seems to be the one they like on my lakes the most. I'm just not sure what the magic appeal is.

8 minutes ago, FishTank said:

@RRocket

Yep. There are other baits like it but the Dolive Beaver seems to be the one they like on my lakes the most. I'm just not sure what the magic appeal is.

I think it's the combo of the unique action of the arms on the drop....and the way the bait stalls once the weight hits the bottom. Very unique!

On 4/8/2026 at 11:25 AM, Glenn said:

That Z-Man Senko knockoff, for example, is just a lifeless chunk of plastic compared to the Senko.

Right out the pack, I think the zinker has great action. Just like a senko, the zinkers action changes as the salt dissolves. The hangup is that zmans elastomer formula (and other brands ive used) is considerably more permeable than plastisol. Thats good in 1 respect, in that you can soak zman baits in pro cure and the bait will actually absorb the scent. Even after the pro cure or bait fuel washes off, the elastomer will still emit that scent for some time.

The drawback to that is that the salt content in those baits degrades quickly as the water dissolves the salt. As the density and weight of the bait changes, especially in the case of the zinker, bouyancy increases, decreasing the ROF and changing the action of the bait. If you start out with a 1/32 wacky head, the longer you fish that bait and or catch fish, the heavier jig head you need to use sustain the ROF. Eventually the zinker will float, even with a heavy wire hook.

Zinkes get softer too, as the salt disolves. Eventually you need to use an O ring, instead of just skin hooking it.

My other issue with them and other elastomer baits, like Duos slim wriggle stick, is tha baits are prone to lose their round shape. Any kind of weight on the front or back of the bag, will cause the baits to have 2 flat sides, where they should be round. Heat can have a similar effect as well. The baits become very soft and are prone to deforming.