The Texas Rig is a tried-and-true system for fishing soft-plastic baits such as worms, lizards, tubes and creature baits. Since this rig is virtually weedless, it excels in and around heavy cover.

Rigging Up
Slide a worm weight onto your line and tie on the worm hook of your choice. Insert the barb into the nose of your worm, lizard, creature or craw and push it about a 1/2 inch into the bait, then exit the body. Slide the body over the eye of the hook, turn the hook 180 degrees, and re-insert the point. Push it all the way through, then back it off so that the hook point lies just beneath the surface of your bait. This rig is weedless, and the hook is poised to penetrate.

When
Anytime you need a weedless, natural-looking bait worked slowly. You can allow the worm weight to slide freely to hold onto a light bite, peg it for better control in heavy cover, or fish the rig weightless.

Where
A Texas rig can be fished successfully through the thickest cover you can imagine -- bulrushes, lily pads, grass, brush and timber. It performs best in shallow to moderate depths.