Rigging for clear water and Hydrilla

[Fish 4 Fun Txn]

C-rig
length of leader
mono or floro
weight size
Drop Shot
same as above
Ned rig
would you fish the TRD in Hydrilla?
Thanks

[Walkabout7781]

I don't think we have Hydrilla, but we've got LOTS of Milfoil. Sometimes, it "tops out" in 28' of water and is solid from about 3'. Some lakes are "scary clear", where you can ID beer can brands in 20' plus. I've been able to see my jig & #11 pork chunk tails wiggling in 22'.

Recently started "Bubba Dropshotting" and very impressed with how well it works and comes through the weeds. There's a thread on it here on this forum, from when I started to present developments. Haven't really changed anything, but found out the weight I was using was less than I thought it was, and changed baits...normal enough tweeks. http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=1140352

I like the C-rig in lakes where the predominent weed is "coon tail", 1/2 to 3/4 oz sinker, 18" > 36" leader, brass ticker, glass bead, etc. All copolymer for both rigs. I think FC is way over-rated as well as way over-priced. I've been a fan of Pradco lines for decades, but they dropped them. McCoy clear is fine, P-Line CXX is fine, but I'm really liking the Sunline Super Natural.

[Bassjam2000]

The c-rig is for more open water structure fishing, unless the weeds are pretty sparse I’d scrap the c-rig for the mojo-rig. Length of leader depends on conditions, general rule of thumb is the tougher the bite the longer the leader, 9-18” range is common for the mojo-rig. For leader I like mono/copoly for its abrasion resistance and more neutral buoyancy, great with a neutral or floating lure. Weight depends on depth of course, 1/8, 3/16 & 1/4 covers shallow down to 10’ or so. I usually use spinning gear with braid to leader, for thicker weeds I’d just go to a t-rig or jig.
Not real big on dropshot or ned but I flip-shot (bubba) occasionally, usually shallow on mh gear, 15lb fluoro, 1/4 or 3/8oz usually works, short leader, 3”-9”.

[DrewFlu33]

Similar to Walkabout in that we don't have hydrilla, but have milfoil and coontail. Coontail and hydrilla are super similar, in my experience, and that's the most common (good) outside weed edge on the lakes where I fish.

C-rig for me is something I usually save for the rocks in the areas past where weed growth happens. I do a mainline of 18 lb Shooter to a 16 lb Sniper leader, almost always 3/4 oz of weight (two 3/8 tungsten placed back to back), plastic bead (glass WILL cut your line, especially after it cracks from getting smacked by a tungsten weight), then a swivel to the leader. I like an 18" or so leader just about all the time. I used to do a braid mainline and while it is awesome for feeling what's going on, I just ended up snagged up way too much. My working theory is the lack of stretch made it more easily wedge in the rocks. The Shooter I went to as it is tougher than the Sniper I use for basically everything else...a little less well behaved, but tougher which is important for dragging in rocks. I also used to do a single 3/4 oz weight, but also found it snagged up more than two 3/8, plus the latter is cheaper and I think you get a clicking sound from the weights.

Drop shots, don't be afraid to Texas rig your bait and fish it IN the weed edge. I often go 7 lb Sniper as my leader in those conditions on super clear lakes, but on lakes with bigger fish, less defined weed edges, or where I can't position my boat to get the fish headed the right direction right away I'll step it up to 10 lb. More than once I've seen the line size make a difference in getting bites, and I think it's 100% due to the bait looking more natural, not the fish seeing the line. Be very careful about line diameters as one company's diameter may be wildly different than another for a given rating. I've mentioned it many times on this board, but when I was first learning to drop shot I couldn't catch a fish to save my life. Then I figured out the 8 lb Berkley 100% I was using was the same diameter as Sunline and Seaguar 12 lb, switched, and immediately things turned around for me. 1/4 oz weight 99% of the time, and I like the cylinder style for getting through the weeds. I'd probably not go lighter than 10 lb in Texas unless you really, really have to. The 7 lb will surprise you with its strength in grass where it's not getting beat up like it might around other cover, but it's still tough to winch a good fish out of grass when it's buried.

Definitely try throwing a Ned rig in it. It's a really common technique here in MN, along with something called "jig worming" where we use a bigger (heavier) head, intentionally get the bait buried up in the top of the grass, then rip it free. You'd be blown away at how often the exposed hook will come through cleanly, and the bites can be vicious! I like throwing a Big TRD (or even bigger--5" Senkos and 7" ribbontail Power Worms are very popular here, and I've gone bigger than that with luck) on a 3/16 or 1/4 oz head for that technique.

[Alumicraft145]

C rig, Mono, 3 feet or length of arm. 3/4 oz to start. Drop shot, let the weeds tell you how heavy. I've used everything from 6# mono to 50# braid. Ned/ jihead, drew got it right, the old jigworm was very good. I still got mushroom heads from the jigworm days. I used to use a French fries alot, which is pretty close to a overpriced ned bait.