Stick baits are a staple soft plastic lure with virtually limitless rigging configurations but perhaps best know for wacky rigging. Wired2Fish’s Ryan DeChaine has come to rely on weightless Texas-rigged stick baits as an excellent alternative to wacky rigging and standard fluke-style baits. Weightless Texas-rigged stickbaits slide through cover with ease on a long cast — this makes them an excellent choice for covering expansive flats quickly but with the subtlety of a Ned rig in shallow, clear water.
TACKLE USED:
- Savage Gear Armor Tube Worm, color: Watermelon Red
- Mustad Grip-Pin Big Bite Soft Plastics Hook, 3/0
- Megabass Orochi XX Spinning Rod, 7′ Shakeyhead
- Daiwa Luvias LT Spinning Reel, 4000
- Sufix 832 Braided Line, 10lb
- Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon (leader), 15lb
DeChaine stresses the importance of using a medium to medium-heavy power spinning rod and reel setup for driving hooks home and hauling bass up and out of cover. A strong braided mainline to a 15-pound fluorocarbon leader transmits bites and drives hooks home with minimal stretch while the fluorocarbon leader preserves stealthiness. Bass bite and hold on to soft stick baits like few other lures so this is an excellent great rigging system for kids, newbie anglers, and pro fisherman alike.
