Comparing Micro Wacky vs. Standard Wacky Rigs

The micro wacky rig and the standard wacky rig share a similar approach, but with key differences in size and presentation. 

Here's the breakdown:

Standard Wacky Rig:

• Bait size: Uses standard-sized soft plastic baits, typically 4-6 inches long.
• Weight: Often uses no weight, relying on the bait's buoyancy and natural action.
• Hook: Wacky hook specifically designed for the wacky rig, inserted weedless through the bait's center, perpendicular to the body.
• Action: Slow fall with a subtle wiggle or shimmy, mimicking a dying or injured baitfish.
• Best for: Targeting larger fish, open water, and covering more ground.

Micro Wacky Rig:

• Bait size: Utilizes much smaller soft plastic baits, usually 2-3 inches long.
• Weight: Can use micro jig heads, small tungsten weights, or even be weightless depending on the situation.
• Hook: Similar to the standard wacky rig, but uses a smaller hook appropriate for the bait size.
• Action: Even slower fall with minimal movement, offering a subtle, finesse presentation.
• Best for: Targeting finicky fish, pressured waters, and tight cover like brush piles and vegetation.

Key Differences:

• Size: Micro rigs are significantly smaller, offering a more delicate offering.
• Weight: Micro rigs can incorporate weights, allowing for faster sinking or adjustments to water depth.
• Action: Micro rigs offer a subtler, almost motionless presentation, ideal for finicky fish.
• Applications: Micro rigs excel in finesse situations and pressured waters, while standard rigs cover more ground and target larger fish.

Steve Rogers of the Bass Fishing Life created a short video discussing instances when the micro wacky rig is most effective. Take a few minutes and hear what he has to say...

In the video, Steve identifies the three most common rigging methods include a) weightless, b) weighted jighead & on a drop shot; all great options but I also see where it could be a great addition to a hot shot rig, free rig and even simple split shot rig.

Whenever you're looking for a subtle, finesse rigging option for clear water or pressured fish, the micro wacky rig might be worth a try!

The Reverse Wacky Rig: A Unique Way to Catch Bass

The wacky rig is a popular bass fishing technique that involves rigging a soft plastic worm with the hook point inserted into the middle of the bait. This creates an erratic, darting action that is irresistible to bass. 

However, the wacky rig can be difficult to fish in deeper water and is a popular rig bass are exposed to on almost a daily basis. So is there a way to change up the standard wacky rig and address these issues? Absolutely, enter the reverse wacky rig.

What is the Reverse Wacky Rig?

The reverse wacky rig is a variation of the wacky rig that allows you to fish a soft plastic worm deeper in the water column using a unique presentation bass likely have not seen. To rig a reverse wacky rig, you will need a highly buoyant soft plastic worm, a light wire hook, and a small weight.

How to Rig a Reverse Wacky Rig

• Thread a closed-eye, drop shot styles weight onto your line.
• Tie a light wire hook onto the end of your line.
• Insert the hook point into the middle of the soft plastic worm.

How to Fish a Reverse Wacky Rig

• Cast your bait into the water around cruising bass or submerged cover.
• Allow the bait to sink to the bottom.
• Twitch the bait by adding and releasing tension to the line pulling the worm down to the weight and then float back toward the surface.
• Work your bait slowly by the bass or cover.

Tips for Fishing a Reverse Wacky Rig

• Use a highly buoyant soft plastic worm that is designed for the wacky rig.
• Use a light wire hook so that the worm will readily float when line tension is released.
• Use a small weight when possible so that the bait will not sink too quickly.
• Twitch the bait erratically to increase action.
• Reel in your bait slowly so that the bass has time to strike.

Take a few minutes and watch as bass pro Matt Stefan discusses the conditions he uses the reverse wacky rig as well as his approach to rigging and the gear he uses in the following video…

Beyond using the reversed wacky rig as a sight fiishing tool, it interests me even more as a wacky rig option when fishing heavily pressured waters. I believe that when lurking bass see the bait slowly rise to the surface with an undulating motion will trigger more strikes from fish wary of typical falling wacky presentation.

Fishing Wacky Worms for Spring Bass

Springtime is an exciting time for a little bass fishing after a long. cold winter. Since the days are getting longer and Sun higher in the sky, the fish start to invade the shallows, become more active, and feed more aggressively. 

If you're looking to catch more bass this spring season, then one bait to add to your arsenal and consider fishing: the wacky worm. In this article, we'll explore what wacky worms are, why they're effective for spring bass, and how to fish with them.

What are Wacky Worms?

A wacky worm is a soft plastic bait that is rigged in a unique, almost comical manner. Instead of rigging the worm through the head and down the length of the worm as in a Texas rig, a wacky worm is hooked through the middle at 90 degrees to the worm's length. 

This definitely creates a "wacky" appearance but provides a presentation that mimics the movement of struggling forage, making it an appealing target for bass.

Why are Wacky Worms Effective for Spring Bass?

Spring is a time when bass are starting to move from their winter haunts to their shallow spawning grounds. During this time, they are looking for food and tend be more active and aggressive as they feed-up for the coming spawn. Wacky worms are particularly effective during this time because they offer a slow and natural presentation that mimics wounded or dying bait, which is an easy food source for hungry bass.

Wacky Worm Fishing for Bass

Many new bass anglers are constantly on the look-out for different bass fishing lures and methods for rigging them.  One of the apparently simplest bass lures to use can often be a tad more difficult for many fisherman who are just starting to try them out … these baits are basic plastic worms.

Almost from the first time we hear of plastic worms, it conjures up images of the first “live bait” many of us fished with … the ever-present earthworm!

So it’s easy to see why many new plastic worm fishermen think it should be a snap to use the artificial version right … just push the hook tip through the worm, cast it out and you are ready to go …

Though many plastic worm rigs can be a little more complicated there is at least one plastic worm rigging method that is straight forward … the wacky worm rig.

The best part, fishing the wacky worm rig for bass is also pretty straight forward.

Here is a short instructional video from Shaw Grigsby and the folks at Strike King providing the ins and outs of rigging and fishing the wacky worm rig using soft stick baits for bass fishing …

Next time you head out to your local bass lake, take a few wide gap hooks, 5 to 7 inch plastic worms and have a blast fishing the wacky worm rig!

You’ll be glad you did!

A Different Take on Adding Nail Weights to Soft Stickbaits

Is it a weighted wacky or Neko rig?

Bass pro James Niggemeyer presents a different approach to nail weighting a soft stickbait...

Different, yes but what do you think?

G-man's Advice on Springtime Wacky Rigging

Springtime and wacky rigs go together like "soup n sandwich" for many bass anglers. It's often one of the presentations I use each spring to connect with the first bass of the season like this one...

Just give me a 5" salted stickbait and wacky-style hook and I am good to start probing shallow cover with my weightless wacky rig!

Like me, many anglers fall back on a "senko-style" soft stickbait when rigging it wacky!

Bass pro, Gerald "G-man" Swindle has a different approach to springtime wacky rigging as he demonstrates in this W2F video...

Looks like it might be time to break out some weights and trick worms though I may make a few adjustments 😎

Getting Wacky With It During the Spawn

From spring through fall, the wacky worm is one finesse technique that can usually help put bass in the boat. Just like other presentations fished during the spawn however, a few adjustments can help trick cautious bass into striking.

In this video, BPS pro Ott Defoe discusses the gear, presentations and tricks he uses when using a wacky worm to coax spawning bass into the boat...

Everyone Loves Wacky Rigs

Most bass anglers love simple bass catching techniques and there aren’t many as popular as the wacky rigged worm.

Originally fished with 5″ to 8″ soft plastic worms, one of the most popular soft stick baits used in wacky rigs today are soft stick baits like the Yamamoto Senko or Yum Dinger…

Take a moment and listen to why FLW Touring Pro, David Dudley believes the wacky rigged soft stick baits is one of his most power bass catching tools…

Soft stickbaits are one of my favorite baits to fish from early spring through early winter and the wacky rig is used at least 1/2 of the time...

How about you?

Save Soft Stickbaits With O-Rings

Wacky rigged soft stickbaits like the Senko can be killers on bass and your bank account at the same time…

There is one simple and quick fix to extend the life of each soft stickbait you use…

Just add an o-ring as shown in this short “how-to” video!

A great quick fix for those times you misplace your favorite o-ring tool (or drop it overboard by accident) 😅