Best Bass Lures

The Carolina bass rig is an old reliable; developed in the 80's it's an extraordinarily effective lure presentation.
With improvements in bass fishing technology, this Bass Pro standard has become even more effective for finding and catching bass.

Carolina Bass Rig Basics

Along with your lure of choice (usually a soft plastic bait), backing line and leader the classic carolina rig includes a sliding weight, barrel swivel and bead. The sliding weight allows your soft bait to suspend above the bottom and swim more naturally, along with spin of the barrel swivel. The glass or plastic bead prevents the weight from damaging the backing line knot tied to the swivel. Some folk claim the bead is to provide a bit of noise to interest your bass, more, or to provoke a strike. That may be true but seems likely only in very specific conditions. Regardless of whether the bead is for that purpose or to prevent further weakening of a knot (which in most cases reduces the strength of mono, polymer and flourocarbon lines), you'll want the bead. Of course, you'll also need a hook. A 3/0 to 4/0 offset wire hook will do the trick & the wire hook, being lighter than a standard hook, will allow a more natural action and more buoyancy to your lure.

Carolina Bass Rig Line & Leader

The new & sexy style is to use some premium flourocarbon line for the leader but I prefer monofilament for a few reasons.
1) Flourocarbon tends to be stiffer than regular monofilament and lessens the movement of the lure. Mono, being more flexible, allows the lure to swim more freely.
2) Have you seen the price of flourocarbon line? I use flourocarbon (or braided line; it depends on the water & conditions) to back my baitcasting rigs but for leaders, give me the less expensive, more effective monofilament.
3) The extra flexibility of mono improves the line strength of your knots. Flourocarbon lines, because of their stiffness, actually yield weaker knots. Flourocarbons strength is in it's longer life as it's not as susceptible to UV light. Leaders have a relatively short shelf life and you want to lose a leader when you cut it off, NOT because the knot gave way while fighting a lunker largemouth bass!
 

Baits for the Carolina Bass Rig

It's in the selection of baits available to fish with the carolina rig that the innovations become obvious. New soft plastic lures from Yum, Megabass & many others have made this rigging method even more effective than it was at it's inception. Improved buoyancy mean these proven bass lures suspend even better than their predecessors. For a little twist, try nicking off one leg of a Yamamoto plastic lizard, for instance, to change up it's swim.
Fishing the carolina rig hasn't really changed much. This rig is often used for feeling out stucture as well as presenting the lure to the bass in a more methodical & subtle manner. The tricks and twists are primarily in the components of the carolina rig; the newer, tougher but thinner & lighter offset hooks, the improved soft plastic bass baits and the increased sensitivity of the newest fishing lines.
Some folk suggest a second lure rigged to the swivel, perhaps to suggest a predator chasing prey. It seems to us that that's complicating things. We've been told you can catch 2 fish with one line; sorry, but for the largemouth & smallmouth we're after, 2 fish straining our rigs don't really seem feasible. Typically, when you complicate something that already works on it's own, you only increase the potential for trouble & aggravation. OUR goal is to land more, and bigger, bass and the carolina rig fills the bill quite well.