I know it works. It works really well in certain situations.

But I hate Carolina-rigging.

For you riggers, what's your go-to bait in summer and how long of a leader do you use?

i always liked a zoom magnum lizard

I only use Carolina rigging for inshore 😁

For summer I used 4"-6" worm on a 3' leader. Larry Nixon once said you can catch every fish in a school on a C-rig. I've caught a ton of fish on'em, big and just keepers. I use a shorter leader and a Zoom lizard in the spring. For me they work best on lakes with very little cover with pretty clear water so the fish can see the bait dart and flutter.

4-6 inch zoom lizards on about a 2 ft leader. My favorite foot way to catch them.

1/2oz egg weight, bead, swivel and 3-5 foot leader depending on situation. Key, at least for me, is to find a lizard, dinger or something like that that will float. Hard to find plastics, especially Zoom, that will float these days. Chartreuce or cotton candy colors are good dead of summer especially for spots.

Paca Craw in Alabama Craw color. 2 foot of lead. Leader weight depends on how thick it is.

Using a floating lure could defeat a Carolina rigs action. When you pull the rig, the bait rises. When you stop it the bait flutters or settles. Depending on the mood of the fish, you need to adjust the speed of your retrieve to match the activity level of the bass. I too prefer a 1/2 egg to a 1 oz bullet. You should also move the rig with a sideways sweep of your rod. You can move it much further than raising your rod. This is also the preferred method to hook the fish.

Used shorter leaders with 4" ring worms and 6" curl tails on smith...same leader with paca craws or any sort of craw imitator on the low end of wheeler thru pickwick. Cuz's fil throws one out with 1/4oz weight or so and lets it drag as he fishes along banks. Can't tell you how many times he's outfished us on the "drag pole" alone. smh Longer leader and magnum baits from nuclear plant to g'ville.

I know all y'all on here can keep a secret so I'll just throw this out there. You can carolina rig an albino zoom super fluke in heavy current with a 1 oz weight and a 3-4 ft leader and you just might catch a decent fish or two here and there. It is especially not very effective behind those rock wing dam jetties and other current breaks on the Bama and the Bigbee.

Used to use them alot, especially on windy days if I was someplace with sparse vegetation. Caught lots of fish even in waters that weren't that deep.

Tiny Brush hog, #1 hook, 3/4 Oz brass sinker, glass bead and 4 foot leader.

I use a 1 ounce egg sinker with a 3-4 foot leader. If I'm fishing it in the spring I use a lizard and in the summer I use a zoom trick worm in green pumpkin,red bug or June bug. During the summer on ledges if I find one with shad on it I have rigged one with a fluke and caught them pretty good at times.

When I lived in Ga, I enjoyed fishing the ones with bream hook sized hooks molded in. The hooks were heavier and you could bend the point to touch the plastic and make them weedless.

do nothing worm

Not bass fishing, but I use a sort of a C-rig to Striper fish below dams. I slide an egg sinker on the line above a barrel swivel without bothering with a bead. Then snell a bait hook on a 2'-3' leader and a loop to attach to the swivel. Threadfin or Gizzard Shad on the hook finishes it off. It's quick and easy to rig and works great for Stripers.

Yum dinger hooked straight. Try it, it works. Pull it through scattered grass pretty fast.

I throw one more than anyone I know. Love it!

If Im fishing deep ledges this time of year its a 5'-6' leader with a brush hog, big lizard, or big worm(12"+). 3/4oz to 1oz

Rock banks or Points I will often shorten up to a 3'-4' leader with a paca craw or Critter Craw. 1/2 to 3/4oz

Fishing on top of the humps which often is less than 6' of water and grassy= 3'-5' leader and white ocho type bait
(Stick Bait). 1/2oz to 3/4oz dependent on current.

Other baits will work these are just where i start. Find a color they like in a brush hog that day and you will catch them anywhere on the lake that holds fish, off a C-rig

/thread

I am the C-rig Master (capitalized because that's my legal name). I personally claim to have caught more fish on a C-rig than any twenty other fishermen combined. Any lake, any season, any depth. If you have a better lure, I don't believe you.

Although I'm being funny above, I'm dead serious about it.... I have a dedicated C-rig rod in the boat 100% of the time, period. I literally buy a specific rod/reel, terminal tackle, line and lure(s) for it, and over the course of every fishing season for 20+ years it's likely that's what I catch more fish on than anything else. I would estimate I use a C-rig to some degree on 8/10 trips, less in the cold months, more in the warm ones. I hope, therefore, I can speak to the matter with "some" authority....

30" leader, NEVER longer or shorter (except I'd rather it be shorter than longer). The whole leader-length debate is pure rubbish, it makes NO difference, except the longer you make it, the shorter you can cast it.
3/4 oz lead egg weight (because you'll just frankly lose too many to afford tungsten), NEVER use a bullet weight (you cannot keep it from getting hung non-stop). No reason to ever use lighter (it takes away the whole purpose), no reason to go heavier (seriously, if you can't reach and stay on the bottom with a 3/4, you're too deep or too strong of current, use some other lure). 90% of my C-rigging in in 5' of water or less, it's a SHALLOW water killer.

Only caveats I say is you must have a hard bottom, rock or shell or just hard clay. If you have a long tapering point with a hard bottom, or a hump, or roadbed, and you have spots in your lake, I will take your money with a C-rig.

There are ONLY two baits for a C-rig: (1) Zoom centipede (affectionately called a "spot remover"), and a Zoom lizard (99% of the time the 4" or 6" version). If you throw anything larger, or anything with appendages (like a brush hog or creature) you're going to lose casting distance and feel. Seriously, find a hard bottom and drag a centipede, then a lizard, then a brush hog, and you'll feel progressively less. In the past two weeks I've probably caught over 100 fish on a C-rig centipede.

I won two tournaments on the Coosa last year with spots, every one coming on the C-rig. I've sat on a grass line at Guntersville before with 6" lizards and caught 3 to 5 pounders for two hours. I hope nobody else ever wants to use a C-rig.