How to Fish a Weightless Texas Rig
The weightless Texas rig is by far the easiest way to catch bass. If you are an inexperienced bass fisherman or are just having a hard time getting a bite, the weightless Texas rig is the perfect technique for you.
It is easy, weedless, versatile, and gets more bites than just about anything else out there. So lets break down everything you need to know about fishing the weightless Texas rig.
Rigging Setup
The rigging process is super simple and easy. All you need is either an offset or EWG worm hook and the soft plastic bait of your choice.
I will give my two favorite soft plastic baits later in the article, but there are plenty that will work great, so don’t feel like you need anything super specific.
Next, you just Texas style hook the bait with your worm hook and tie it up on your line. That’s it.
One of the quickest and easiest bass rigs that there is. Of course the original Texas rig adds a bullet weight in front of the hook, but because this is a weightless variation of the Texas rig, you don’t include the bullet weight at all.
How to Retrieve a Weightless Texas Rig
When it comes to the retrieval, there is literally no wrong way to retrieve this rig. No matter how you fish it, the weightless bait will glide, swim, dart, and fall very naturally in the water because it doesn’t have any weights attached.
Usually when you have weights in your rig, it causes the bait to sink much faster and have a much quicker, more robotic swimming action that isn’t super natural.
Because of this, most weighted rigs require specific retrieve techniques or speeds to make sure they look natural and don’t get ruined by the weight.
But as a weightless soft plastic bait, the weightless Texas rig always moves and glides very naturally and looks very life like underwater, no matter how you retrieve it.
Now to give you some general structure that will help you stay more confident and efficient, these are the retrieve techniques that I suggest for best results.
1. Lift and Drop
The lift and drop technique is certainly the most popular weightless Texas retrieval when you are using a Senko or stick bait soft plastic.
Just cast out the bait, let it sink for 4-8 seconds, and then slowly lift your rod tip up to about 45 degrees.
Then let the bait slowly sink back down, and repeat that process all the way back in. This lift and drop retrieve causes the weightless Texas to slowly glide up and forward as you lift your rod tip up, and then slowly glide and shimmy back down as you let it sink again.
Bass absolutely love that action from a subtle soft plastic bait and it can catch bass in the absolute toughest fishing conditions.
Additionally, because the rig is weedless, you don’t need to worry about it sinking into some wood, grass, or rocks because it will just glide over all types of cover with the hook point protected.
The lift and drop is the first retrieve to test out and is the most reliable bite getter in my opinion.
2. Jerk It
As a kid, this was my personal favorite retrieve technique because it allowed me to fish the bait a little faster, which helped my short attention span that I had as a little kid.
For this retrieve, you are going to treat the weightless Texas rig just like it is a suspending jerkbait. Cast it out, let it sink down a couple of feet, and then start jerking it along with your rod tip.
Play around with the jerking cadence until you find one that you like and that isn’t too fast that the bait comes all the way up to the surface.
Personally, I like a 1-2 cadence, meaning 1 jerk, pause, 2 jerks, pause, repeat. But play around with it as much as you like.
This retrieve is most popularly utilized when weightless Texas rigging a fluke style soft plastic, because it turns the fluke style bait into a perfect, erratic, baitfish imitation.
And it looks pretty much exactly like a true suspending jerkbait, but is weedless and easier to control its depth. With that being said, I have also had tons of success fishing a Senko style worm this exact same way.
It isn’t quite as perfect of a baitfish imitation, but bass seem to love eating that worm profile no matter what.
So it just allows me to speed up the Senko worm and cover a bit more water. Regardless of what bait you decide to use, the jerking retrieve technique is a phenomenal way to add a bit of speed to your weightless Texas rig.
3. Slow Roll
Slow rolling is by far the most underrated way to fish a weightless Texas bait. And let me tell you, it is a phenomenal technique that can get bites when absolutely nothing else will.
And it may just be the simplest retrieve of them all, which makes sense because less is often more when it comes to catching bass.
All you do is cast the bait out, let it sink all the way or almost all the way to the bottom, and then super slowly reel the bait along.
You want to reel it in slow enough that the bait stays down towards the bottom and doesn’t lift up very much in the water.
Because the bait is weightless, this requires quite a slow retrieve to keep the bait down, but that is the beauty of the slow roll.
If forces you to fish the bait very slowly and convince even the laziest bass to bite. I might be a little bit biased, but I think that the slow roll is actually my personal favorite retrieval technique for the weightless Texas rig, and is probably the retrieve that I use the most.
Especially when I am fishing more open water that doesn’t have lots of wood, rocks, grass, or other forms of cover. The slow and steady reel is simply a fantastic and very underrated retrieve.
Choosing the Right Bait
Similarly to the retrieve, there isn’t really a wrong answer to bait selection. Feel free to have as much fun with baits as you like.
Just about every single soft plastic bait can work great on the weightless Texas rig. With that being said, there are certainly two baits that stand out amongst the rest.
These two baits just seem to catch the most bass and are trusted by the most bass fisherman.
1. Senko (Stick Worm)
The Senko style worm has become the most utilized soft plastic bait in all of bass fishing. And it is the absolute favorite bait to rig up on the weightless Texas rig.
If you have been around bass fishing for any period of time, you have seen people catching bass on a weightless Senko worm.
It is the king of simplicity, and like I mentioned earlier, less is generally more in bass fishing. There is just something about simple profile baits that bass love to eat.
And a weightless stick worm is about as simple as it gets. You can never go wrong with a weightless Senko!
Best Colors for Senko:
- Green Pumpkin
- Baby Bass
2. Fluke (Soft Jerkbait)
The fluke style bait is very similar in shape and profile to the Senko, but it has a much more realistic baitfish design.
When bass are keying in on shad, bluegill, or other baitfish forage, it is hard to beat a fluke style soft plastic bait on a weightless Texas rig.
By utilizing each of the different retrieve techniques and speeds, you can perfectly imitate the natural action and speed of real baitfish depending on water temperature, wind, season, and other factors that can effect bass activity day to day.
When bass have seen a million worms and you need to show them something a bit more realistic, the fluke or soft jerkbait can be the perfect option.
Best Colors for Fluke:
- Smoke/White
- Green Pumpkin
Gear Setup
The gear that you use with a weightless Texas rig can vary quite a bit depending on your personal preference. Contrary to many other bass fishing techniques, this rig doesn’t require a super specific gear setup, so literally anyone can fish the weightless Texas rig with very high effectiveness.
General Gear Guidlines:
- Don’t use straight braided line: This rig is a finesse oriented rig, and straight braided line is very visible to the bass and often causes them not to bite the bait.
- Medium-Heavy rod or lighter: This is a weightless technique, so you don’t want a super heavy rod. Too heavy of a rod will reduce casting distance and accuracy. And there is no need for all that power when using relatively light wire hooks and light line.
- Spinning or Casting Gear: The weightless Texas rig is one of the few techniques that works great on both spinning and casting gear. So whichever you prefer is the best rod and reel type for you.
Reeling this In
The weightless Texas rig is the ultimate “old reliable” for a reason. Its simplicity, weedless design, and incredibly natural action make it a must-have technique for any angler facing tough conditions or just starting out.
Whether you’re lifting and dropping a Senko or jerking a Fluke, remember that “less is more.” You don’t need fancy gear or complex retrieves to catch big bass—you just need a hook, a soft plastic, and a little patience. Now, grab your rod and get out on the water!
