When preparing his wacky rigs, tournament pro John Cox chooses the size of his plastic worm based on how fast he wants it to fall. If he’s looking for a faster sinking presentation for deeper water, he’ll go with a 6″ worm. For fishing those mid-range depths around weeds and docks, he goes with something a bit smaller that can skip easier like a 5″. In shallower water (3-5′) with heavily pressured fish, he opts for a much smaller worm that sinks really slowly like a 2-3/4″.
For his setup, John prefers to use a 7′ Medium-Heavy rod setup with 6-8 lb Fireline with a 10 lb fluorocarbon leader tied to a #1 Berkley Fusion Finesse Wide Gap Hook and simply wacky hooks his plastic worms right through the middle.
Besides picking the size of the worm based on how fast he wants it to fall, he’ll also often add weights to his wacky rigs. If he wants it to fall nose first, he’ll add a small nail weight to that end of the plastic. In clear bodies of water in the spring, he’ll often place a nail weight right in the back of the worm below where the hook is to help pull it down even faster without changing the way it sinks which also helps him cover water more quickly.
