Success of the wacky tube apparently is not an isolated event. Andre Moore rigs Reaction Innovations’ Boom Boom Tube with a W.W. Hook, impaling it so the fibers of the guard hold it perpendicular to the hook eye. He runs the hook from front to back on the tube instead of side to side. “That hook position makes it flare with each pull,” he says, “and the rig won’t twist your line when hooked like that.” Moore fishes the tube on a weightless hook, making long casts to schooling bass feeding on shad. For a nose-diving presentation, Moore glues a BB shot in the nose of the tube.

Moore also wacky-rigs minnow-style baits. “You can make a Fluke swim sideways,” he says, “by hooking it along the side, with the hook point entering the bait just below the center line on the side and exiting at the edge of the back. Cast it straight out from the bow of your boat, and it will plane off and run parallel to the boat.”

He scoots a wacky Fluke under willow trees and other overhanging cover, and also works it along the edge of windblown points and bluff banks. “Keep your rod tip high and twitch the bait. It swims along on its side, just like a wounded shad,” he notes.

Wacky Details

One attraction of wacky-rigging is simplicity. All you need is a hook and a worm—once through the middle, and you’re ready to fish. In a pinch, almost any hook will do, and almost any soft-plastic bait can be wacky-rigged. But like most presentations, artful combinations of hook, line, and lure generally outperform haphazard selections.

Line Selection: Many wacky-worm aficionados, particularly those who fish clear waters, have turned to the new breed of castable fluorocarbons. Andre Moore has gone 100 percent to fluoros. “It helps sink baits faster, offers an advantage of lower visibility, and also stretches less than mono. So, you feel soft bites and set the hook more easily.”

Recent developments in castable fluorocarbon line are great. Berkley’s Vanish Transition incorporates solarchromic molecules that turn the line bright gold when exposed to UV light, which greatly enhances line visibility.

Yo-Zuri’s new Hybrid Ultra-Soft line molecularly bonds nylon and fluorocarbon during the extrusion process, yielding a strong, dense, yet supple product. The Japanese company Kali has made available in the U.S. their line of fine fluorocarbons, in 2- to 12-pound test. For most of his drop-shot fishing, Kota Kiriyama favors 6-pound Kali.

Seaguar has added Carbon Pro, a 100 percent fluorocarbon line that’s designed for filling spools. This line is made of a softer resin than that used in leaders, so it’s easier to spool and cast. And Gamma Technologies just released Edge Fluorocarbon, formulated with a new molecular alteration to yield a combination of flexibility, low memory, strength, and shock resistance. Check it out. These lines join a great lineup of castable fluorocarbons, including P-Line, Maxima, Silver Thread Fluorocarbon, and Sugoi from Yamamoto.