A Complete Guide to the Texas Rig

The Texas rig is often regarded as the most versatile rig in bass fishing. Ironically, this also makes it one of the most difficult to master.

In this article, we'll provide a detailed guide to four different Texas rig setups and when to use them. We'll also cover some key mistakes to avoid when selecting your tackle.

Why is the Texas rig so versatile?

The Texas rig consists of a sinker and a soft plastic bait rigged weedless (i.e., "Texas-rigged") onto a hook. Due to its simplicity, the Texas rig is adaptable to a variety of situations. For example:

1. It works with any style of soft plastic bait, so you can imitate any type of prey.
2. You can choose from multiple hook styles, each with unique advantages.
3. You can remove the sinker for a totally different presentation.
4. It works with a variety of different techniques and retrieves.
5. It can be scaled up or down, so you can throw it on anything from light spinning rods to heavy baitcasters.

It doesn't matter the season, location, or conditions you're facing. If there's fish in the area, you can target them with this rig.

In fact, instead of thinking about it as a single rig, we actually break it into four separate categories: standard, finesse, punching, and weightless. The secret to success is understanding how and when to use each of these variations.

Before we go into details on how to setup and fish each variation, let's get some of the basics out of the way.

Components of a Texas rig

The sinker

For weighted Texas rigs, a bullet-shaped sinker is most common. This will help the rig come through cover, like vegetation and brush piles, without picking up weeds and other junk.

The hook

There are 3 main hook styles to choose from when Texas rigging. Picking one is somewhat down to personal preference, but there are unique advantages to each.

• Straight shank – A classic, reliable J-hook. The large perpendicular distance between the point and the eye makes for better hookups on short casts.
• Offset shank – These hooks feature a bend just below the eye, which helps keep the bait from sliding down the shank.
• Extra wide gap (EWG) – Similar to offset round bend hooks, but with a wider gap for accommodating bulkier baits. The point and eye are inline with each other, which sometimes leads to poorer hookups on short casts.

The bait

Bait selection is one of the most complicated aspects of bass fishing. The nice thing about a Texas rig is that you can hook pretty much any type of bait you want.

Experiment around with different styles and sizes to see what works on any given day.

Key tackle considerations

There are a few critical points to be aware of when setting up a Texas rig. Even experienced anglers get these things wrong sometimes, and it ends up costing them fish.

Matching hook and bait size

Regardless of your hook and bait type, you should always make sure that they're appropriately sized for each other.

Here are our guidelines when Texas-rigging soft plastics:

• For long, slender baits like worms and lizards: use a hook with a gap that is approximately 2 – 3 times the height of the bait.
• For short, bulky baits like grubs and craws: use a hook with a gap that is at least 1.7 times the height of the bait, bare minimum.

Finding the right hook for short, bulky baits can be difficult. In some cases, you'll have to use the biggest EWG hook that the bait can accept.

Check out our article on hook sizing if you're still struggling to figure out what size hook to use for a particular bait.

Thinking about wire gauge

When you set the hook on a Texas rig, it has to penetrate both the bait and the fish’s mouth. Therefore, it's crucial to make sure that the wire gauge of your hook is appropriate for the rest of your setup.

Hooks with a smaller wire diameter (i.e., "light wire" hooks) generally penetrate more easily. The drawback is that they are more prone to bending when paired with stiff rods. Conversely, thick hooks are stronger but are more difficult to drive through the bait and fish when paired with light rods.

Finding the right wire diameter might take some trial and error. The general rule is that lighter rods need lighter hooks, while heavier rods need heavier hooks.

Choosing the right rod

The Texas rig can be scaled up or down to match whatever situation you're in. For bass, anything from a medium-light spinning rod to an extra heavy baitcaster will work, depending on the situation.

This chart will help you decide what rod to use for each variation of the Texas rig. More detail on each of these variations is provided in the next section.

Texas rig variations

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the four main Texas rig variations and their uses.

1) Standard

When somebody mentions "Texas rig" without specifying any other details, this is probably what they're referring to.

This variation is mostly used for getting a bait into or against some type of cover that bass are hiding near, such as lily pads, reeds, docks, stumps, laydowns, and brush piles.

If the cover is close by (within 15 feet or so), you can use a technique commonly known as flipping and pitching:

1. Make a short cast to quietly drop your bait into the water. Try not to make a big splash.
2. Bounce or drag the bait around for a moment.
3. If you don't get bit within a couple of seconds, pull your bait out and make a new cast.

The goal of this technique is to fish the cover as quickly as possible while still being thorough.

However, this rig works well with a variety of other techniques too. For example, you can:

• Swim it through the water horizontally using a straight retrieve.
• Use a "stroking" technique to work it more vertically.
• Hop it off the bottom and let it glide back down.
• Slow-drag it along the bottom.
• Skip it under docks.
• Target offshore structures like points and ledges.

There's really no limit to what you can do with this rig, so don't be afraid to try different approaches.

For a standard Texas rig, you can use anything from a medium-heavy spinning rod to a heavy baitcaster. The thicker the cover, the heavier your rod should be. You want to be able to quickly pull the fish away the cover before it has the chance to wrap your line around any stems or branches.

Your sinker should typically weigh somewhere between ⅛ and ½ oz. If you're dealing with light cover or you want a slower rate of fall, then go toward the lighter end. Conversely, if you're trying to sink the bait through some thicker vegetation or you want the bait to fall faster, go toward the heavier end.

You have the option to "peg" the sinker to prevent it from sliding freely along the line. Because the bait and sinker aren't able to separate from each other, you're less likely to get your line tangled around something. However, this also causes the bait to nosedive as its falling, which looks less natural.

If you're fishing in moderate-to-heavy cover, we recommend pegging the sinker. In other situations, you can leave it un-pegged for more natural action.

For lines, straight braid and straight fluorocarbon are most common. We avoid using monofilament because its high stretch can make it difficult to get a good hookset, especially when using beefier hooks.

2) Finesse

This is a scaled-down version of the standard Texas rig, using smaller baits and lighter tackle.

It excels in many of the same situations as other finesse rigs, like:

• During extreme temperatures
• In crystal clear water
• When targeting smaller species like smallmouth and spotted bass
• After prolonged rainstorms
• In heavily-pressured areas
• Whenever the fish seem generally unwilling to bite

Like the standard version, this rig can be cast, flipped, pitched, and skipped. Also, you can work it variety of ways like swimming, hopping, dragging, and stroking.

It does everything that the standard Texas rig does, with one caveat: you should only fish it in open water or around sparse cover. Finesse rods aren't stiff enough to pull a powerful bass out of thick cover.

As with many finesse rigs, a medium or medium-light spinning rod is best. To ensure you get a good hookset with these lighter rods, we recommend using light wire hooks.

Your sinker should weigh somewhere between ¹⁄₁₆ and ¼ oz, depending on how shallow you're fishing and how quickly you want your bait to fall. Keep in mind that buoyant baits (like the Z-Man Goat) will partially counteract your sinker. At times, this can make the rig feel almost weightless.

Since you're not fishing this rig around heavy cover, there's no reason to peg the sinker. You'll get more benefit from the natural, unpegged presentation.

For lines, straight braid and straight fluorocarbon work here as well. However, we prefer using a braided mainline with a fluorocarbon leader. The mainline provides extra sensitivity and hook-setting power, while the fluoro leader helps trick finicky bass into biting.

3) Punch

This is a scaled-up version of the rig, using super heavy duty tackle.

It's used for the same flipping and pitching technique described above, but it's far less versatile. You should only use it for attacking the absolute heaviest cover.

We recommend using this rig when dealing with heavily matted grass, super dense brush piles, vast fields of tightly packed lily pads—things of that nature. The only reason for using such a heavy setup is to "punch" through vegetation that the standard Texas rig wouldn't be able to. In any other situation, it's probably overkill.

Punch rigs are thrown on heavy or extra-heavy rods. If you want to use spinning gear, you might have to use an "inshore" rod, which is typically marketed toward saltwater anglers.

Use whatever sinker is heavy enough to punch through the cover. Usually, it will be somewhere between ¾ and 2 oz. Keep it pegged.

For lines, we're going with straight braided line, 40 lbs and up.

4) Weightless

This one is quite different from the other three variations.

Without a sinker, the unique action and characteristics of each bait are able to shine through. As a result, techniques for this rig depend heavily on the exact bait you're using.

For example, the Zoom Horny toad has two kicking tails and a flat body which allows it skim along the surface. This makes it an excellent topwater bait, similar to a buzzbait.

On the other hand, the streamlined shape of the Super Fluke Jr. causes it to dart erratically through the water. This makes it good for imitating bait fish using a "twitch-twitch-pause" technique.

When fished weightless, you can pretty much think of each bait as being its own separate technique. We'll cover some of them in future articles.

Despite their uniqueness, there are a couple of things that most weightless Texas rigs have in common:

• When paused, the bait will sink very slowly.
• The slightest rod movements will cause the bait to rise in the water column.

Consequently, the weightless Texas rig great for targeting fish that are feeding near the top or middle of the water column. It's also great for fishing lakes with a very silty bottom, because your bait won't be able to sink down into the muck.

For rods, you can use anything from a medium-light spinning rod to a heavy baitcaster. To get good casting distance without a sinker, it's especially important to choose a rod that's appropriate for the weight of your bait.

For lines, high-visibility braid offers a huge advantage. One of the main challenges with fishing weightless is that bites are often hard to detect. Using high-vis braid makes it easier to both see and feel when a fish takes your bait.

If the bass are particularly finicky, you may want to use a fluorocarbon leader as well.

Conclusion

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced angler, the Texas rig is something you should always have at your disposal. By understanding how to use the different variations of the rig, you'll be able to take advantage of its versatility and adapt it to a variety of situations.

Be aware of the common pitfalls when setting up and fishing a Texas rig—doing so will prevent you from losing a lot of fish. And lastly, experiment around with different baits and retrieves. There's really no "wrong" way to fish this quintessential rig.

Good luck! 🪝