Weightless Texas Rig
No weight at all — a stick bait or soft jerkbait Tex-posed on a wide-gap hook, falling and darting on its own weight through the top 1.5 m (5 ft) of the water column.
Also known as: weightless Senko · weightless fluke · Texas-rigged fluke · weightless stick bait
The most-fished bass rig in the world: one offset hook, one bullet weight, and every soft plastic ever made.
- Always an offset (Texas) hook — the point buried in the bait is what makes it weedless
- The weight decides everything: pegged for cover, sliding for open bottom, weightless for the fall
- Hook size follows bait length: 3/0 finesse for 3.5 in, 6/0-8/0 heavy for 7 in+
- Lost fish are a rigging problem first, a hookset problem second
- What it is — A Texas rig with the weight left off: a 4-5 in (10-13 cm) salted stick bait or a soft jerkbait (fluke) Tex-posed on a 3/0-4/0 offset hook, fished on 12-15 lb…
- When it wins — Shallow bass in the top 1.5 m (5 ft): spawn and post-spawn fish cruising grass flats, fry-guarders, bass under docks and overhanging trees, and any calm, clear-water…
- When it fails — Deep fish, wind (you cannot feel the bait or keep in contact), current, and anywhere you need a fast fall. The first fix is a shank-weighted hook — 1/16-1/8 oz moulded…
- Gear notes — 7' (2.1 m) medium or medium-heavy fast casting rod, or a 7' medium spinning rod for skipping; 12-15 lb fluorocarbon (mono if you want it to fall even slower). EWG 3/0…
Setups
Post-spawn fluke over grass
A weightless soft jerkbait twitched over grass flats for post-spawn fish chasing bluegill and fry.
- Rod
- medium-heavy, fast
- Line
- 12-15 lb fluorocarbon
- Hook
- 4/0 offset (EWG), Tex-posed, on a loop knot
- Weight
- none
- Bait
- 4.5 in
- Season
- post-spawn, summer
- Water temp (°F)
- 60-68, 68-80
- Depth (ft)
- 0-4, 4-8
Dock-skip weightless stick bait
Skipping a weightless Tex-posed stick bait deep under docks and walkways for pressured summer largemouth.
- Rod
- medium, fast
- Line
- 12 lb fluorocarbon
- Hook
- 4/0 offset (EWG), Tex-posed
- Weight
- none
- Bait
- 4.5 in
- Season
- post-spawn, summer
- Water temp (°F)
- 60-68, 68-80
- Depth (ft)
- 0-4, 4-8
Finesse minnow, clear water
A 3.5 in soft minnow on a light-wire 3/0 finesse offset hook, weightless on spinning gear, for clear-water smallmouth and pressured largemouth that refuse everything bigger.
- Rod
- medium, fast
- Line
- 10 lb braid to an 8 lb fluorocarbon leader
- Hook
- 3/0 light-wire finesse offset, Tex-posed, non-slip loop knot
- Weight
- none
- Bait
- 3.5 in
- Season
- post-spawn, summer, fall
- Water temp (°F)
- 60-68, 68-80
- Depth (ft)
- 0-4, 4-8
Magnum stick bait to cover
A 7 in stick bait on a 6/0 heavy-wire offset hook, weightless on a flipping rod and 20 lb line, pitched to shallow cover for one big largemouth.
- Rod
- heavy, fast
- Line
- 20 lb fluorocarbon (50 lb braid in grass)
- Hook
- 6/0 heavy-wire offset (EWG), Tex-posed, Palomar
- Weight
- none (the salted 7 in body is its own weight)
- Bait
- 7 in
- Season
- pre-spawn, post-spawn, summer
- Water temp (°F)
- 60-68, 68-80
- Depth (ft)
- 0-4
Spawn cruisers on the flat
A weightless stick bait laid in the path of bass cruising a shallow spawning flat.
- Rod
- medium-heavy, fast
- Line
- 15 lb fluorocarbon
- Hook
- 4/0 offset (EWG), Tex-posed
- Weight
- none
- Bait
- 4.5 in
- Season
- spawn
- Water temp (°F)
- 60-68
- Depth (ft)
- 0-4