Seaguar Hookpoints – Cody Meyer’s World Record Wacky Rig

For those of you who may not know, in December, FLW Tour pro Cody Meyer caught a 10-pound, 8-ounce, potential world record spotted bass. In the short weeks leading up to that occurrence, we had the opportunity to sit down with him and learn how he rigs the Wacky Rig setup that he used to catch that fish. Meyer is a West Coast angler that has done very well fishing across the country. His wacky rig technique has been a key to his success. He shared his tips to making this technique successful in this edition of Seaguar Hookpoints.

Meyer uses 15-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid for the main line and 8 to 10-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon for the leader. The leader is tied to a size 1 Owner wacky rig hook with a weed guard or an Owner Mosquito hook. The weed guard will help prevent snags when fishing around cover.  In the video below, Meyer demonstrates how he ties his leader knot

A Palomar knot is used to attach the leader line to the hook. Like always when tying knots, remember to wet the line when cinching up the knot to prevent line burn and weakening the line.

Cody’s bait of choice for the Wacky Rig is the 5-inch Strike King Ocho. He caught his 10.80 on the KVD Magic color.

An o-ring is used to hold the bait on the hook. Cody buys size #10 car o-rings in bulk; this is the perfect size for the Ocho. You can get them in packs of 100.

Start the o-ring on the head of the bait and roll it down about a third of the way down. The #10 size is easy enough to simply roll it down by hand.

If you have trouble getting the o-rings on the bait you can purchase a Wacky Tool to help. You can find similar Wacky tools to the one pictured above at tackle retailers like MonsterFishingTackle.com. These tools come preloaded with o-rings and you can add more as needed.

Insert the Ocho inside the wacky tool and roll the o-ring down the tool onto the bait. This helps keep the o-ring from messing up the plastic.

Cody’s secret, that he reluctantly now gives up to readers of AdvancedAngler.com, is a nail weight in the head of the bait. He holds the nail weight on the back end with a pair of pliers, then uses a lighter to heat it up, then he inserts it into the head of the bait. Once inserted the plastic melts around it and securely holds it. Another option would be to insert the nail weight and add superglue after. Heating or super gluing the nail weight will keep the nail weight from coming out of the bait as it is being cast or bouncing along the bottom. This gives the bait great action on the fall, and as the head of the bait bounces along the bottom.

Insert the hook under the o-ring on the side of the bait. Do not puncture the plastic. Just hook the o-ring. This will allow for more fish catches on one bait preventing the hook from tearing up the plastic.

Continue the hook all the way under the o-ring. Notice in the photo above how the tail of the bait is lower than the head of the bait. When this bait reaches the bottom, it will rest head down and the tail will rise. The nail provides a unique action to the bait in the water that often fish just cannot resist.

Daiwa spinning gear and 7’ 3” Daiwa Cronos is his rod of choice. Seaguar Smackdown 15-pound-test braid tied to an 8 to 10-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leader. This technique requires a slightly stiffer rod than would normally be used for finesse techniques due to the weight of the bait. Casting this bait around docks, lay downs and even deep water ledges or points can trigger a strike. Allow the bait glide down to the bottom and work it on the bottom. Raise the tip of your rod and work the bait with the rod. Be careful not to over work the bait. Once you feel a strike use a fast reeling, sweeping hook set. The bait has been proven to work. Spotted bass find it extremely hard to resist.