Tough Bite Right Now? Try Rigging a Lizard These 4 Ways
Salamanders are one of the enemies of bass eggs and will gobble them right up if the daddy bass is not diligently protecting his brood. You can also fish a weightless lizard like you would a frog on top of heavy vegetation. You can swim it over the holes in the weeds or between the lily pads to catch those big bass that are lurking in the thick stuff. It makes sense that you don’t see a lizard fished on a Carolina rig all that much anymore because you don’t see a Carolina rig fished all that much, either. Personally, I don’t blame anyone for putting the old “ball and chain” down. But I will say, anglers who are good with a C-rig often dominate when the conditions are right for it.
I think that dark lizards work better than dark worms because of all of the extra appendages that are fluttering through the water. Go get yourself a few bags of dark colored lizards for dirty water conditions. Sure they might have a watermelon red with some red glitter in the soft plastic but the main color will be watermelon. The light green plastic is more translucent for clear water bass fishing.
There are some companies coming out with even larger sizes but the go to sizes are those three. If you ask me it is hard to beat a 6 inch lizard for all around fishing purposes. This is the best time of year to pitch your lizard, worm, crawdad or whatever your go to soft plastic lure is. You can also pitch a weightless lizard up to the bass beds to catch those males that are guarding their nests.
His unique setup causes the lizard to plane and glide away from you as it sinks toward the bed. This lets you swim the lure under cover, such as overhanging branches. Moreover, it keeps your bait in the strike zone longer, because when you lift it off the bottom, it swims right back into the bed, where it should be. This might be because of the advent of creature baits and the various other soft plastic baits that bass fishermen have access to these days. BUT do not underestimate the power of the lizard to catch some monster bass. You can catch lots of big bass all year long with a lizard bait in many different underwater scenarios.
Well today, we’re going to circle back and look at four ways to rig a lizard and see if we can’t breathe a little new life into an old bait. So why do so few anglers fish with a lizard these days? In my opinion, it’s because of the same reason kids buy “Yeezys” or whatever they’re called when a pair of New Balances would do just fine. Make a cutting tool from a piece of 1/4-inch copper tubing available at any hardware store, or use a spent .22-caliber shell casing.
Fishing a lizard weightless is a great way to catch finicky bass. A wacky rig is usually a senko style of worm with a hook in the exact middle of the worm. Bass Fishing Charter Guide on the Treasure Coast of Florida.
The length of rod used for Texas-rig fishing varies by angler. I always recommend anglers purchase the longest rod that feels comfortable to them. A rod in the seven-foot to seven-foot four-inch range will provide effective leverage when battling big bass in and around cover. Fish it similar to how you would a texas rig and you’ll catch plenty of bass. Most anglers think of swimbait hooks as the preferred rig to use for swimbaits.
You can swim lizards with a slow and steady retrieve if you want, but most anglers would fish it nice and slow like they would with a Texas rig. The swimbait hook gives the bait a gliding action down to the bottom, so a quick jerk and pause will give the bait awesome action on the drop. Texas-rigged soft plastics are very effective at catching bass in a variety of water and cover conditions. There are as many different ways to fish a Texas-rigged soft-plastic bait as there are anglers casting them.
Dion Liriano is a 51-year-old American zookeeper who has retired from the business. He was once a highly successful director of the Zoo and Aquarium, but he has since hung up his gloves and moved on to other ventures. Dion's passion for animals began at a young age, when he would help his father care for their family pets. This love grew exponentially when he started working at the zoo; Dion quickly became one of the most experienced keepers in the business. He credits his success to the relationships he built with both staff and animals over the years.