When it comes to finesse fishing there are a few stand out techniques; wacky rigging seems to be one of most popular ways anglers are getting their finesse fish lately though.
Wacky rigging is a technique that can be used in many ways and in a variety of presentations; from weightless or weighted to drop shotting, the possibilities of wacky rigging only end with what you can envision. The standard wacky rig setup however uses a finesse wide gap hook with either a finesse worm or a Yamamoto senko. The basic presentation can be altered by adding nail weights to the end(s) of the piece of plastic you are presenting, the nail weights will ensure the worm will bend more violently when twitched though it will make the sink rate change rapidly.
I find the wacky rig shows most of its promise when fishing near cover, especially docks, lay downs, and stumps. The slow sink rate of a weightless worm falling horizontally will often get most bass to bite though wiggling the worm between the fish’s eyes might help you get the extra bite or two.
Being as it is a finesse technique I find it is usually best to use light fluorocarbon line, somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-8lb line, this is usually matched with a 6′ 6″ Medium spinning rod. When hooking the fish with this technique more often than not you will be just applying pressure to let the fish hook itself, if you do the ol’ jerk and sweep you are likely to catch the plastic right between your eyes instead of the fish’s.
With that being said the wide gap finesse hook is a great hook for this technique, though many anglers have moved to a shiner straight eye hook since it gives them a little more “bite” on the hook. I will admit, I am an oddball, I like to use a 3/0 straight shank or shiner straight eye hook because it allows me to really drive the hook home on days I am feeling a little jumpy.
Overall the wacky rig is a great technique that is often used by anglers like Shinichi Fukae and Mike Iaconelli.
