The “MO-WAK” Rig
(By “The Bass Coach” – Roger Lee Brown)

I know it’s been awhile since my last
article and I certainly appreciate all the daily emails, phone calls and
letters that I have received (at least 200+ per week), but I have been
having a bit of a painful recovery after my back surgery last Spring. I
also wish to apologize to, and thank all of the 3-day (bass fishing
school) students and charter inquiries that I couldn’t schedule this
past season due to a full schedule (along with my recovery.) Lord
willing, this season I hope to accommodate those of you that I couldn’t
get to this past season. I am scheduling 3-day students and charters at
the present for this upcoming season, so if you wish to enroll into the
3-day bass fishing school now would be the best time to do it! My
teaching and charter season usually starts around mid April and
continues through October or November (depending on the seasonal
climate.)
Now that that’s out of the way, here is
the one! Numeral uno! The cat’s meow!..... The rig that will definitely
make the difference between catching fish and not catching any at all.
I simply call it the “Mo-Wak” rig because it’s really two
different rigs (which are the Mo-Jo & Wacky rig) put into one.
First, let me explain what these two
rigs are and their presentations.
1. The “Mo-Jo” rig (or also known by some anglers as the “Mo-Jo Magic”
rig) which is rigged by either using a 1 to 2 foot leader with a swivel,
hook, and a light weight. This rig can be also rigged without a swivel,
using a pegged weight to allow it to slide up and down for what ever
leader size you wish. This is a rig that has been used by some of the
top pros for years but has been a well kept secret because of how well
this rig really works at catching bass. I would even go as far to say
that 80% of my former bass fishing school students have never even heard
of this rig, so the Mo-Jo may be a new rig for you as well.
The Mo-Jo rig can be used just about any
place under certain conditions that will allow you to use it. When I
rig a Mo-Jo, I usually use the lightest weight I can get away with due
to the conditions where I choose to fish it. First I will grab a 3/16th
oz. slip weight and put it on my line (always put it on the line point
first!); next, I will usually tie on a 1/0 or 2/0 worm hook to the end
of my line. Next I will grab a tooth pick (or you can use a rubber peg
made by some of the different companies, but a tooth pick is much
cheaper!) and peg my weight. After this is done I will choose my bait
to what I feel the bass would want under the many different conditions
and environments that I will fish the rig. I found that some of these
following baits are very effective on the Mo-Jo rig: (Yamamoto’s)
Senkos, (Zoom) Centipedes (or also known as French Fries), (Yamamoto’s)
Twin Tailed Hula Grubs, Lizards, Worms, and there are of course, many
more. (Yamamoto’s Senkos are probably my favorite!) Now, to complete
this rig I will choose one of these baits and Texas rig it on the hook,
and then I will slide the “pegged” weight up the line to what ever
leader size I wish. That’s it! We have just rigged a Mo-Jo rig (-:
Now, cast it to where you think the fish are, let it slowly drop to the
bottom, and periodically slowly lift the tip of your rod, and let it
fall again and reel up the slack in your line. The slower you work this
rig the better! If the wind starts to pick up when fishing this rig you
can do one of two different things which are; use a heavier weight or
face the boat into the wind and cast straight in front of the boat.
These two changes will keep some of the slack (or bow) out of your line.
The next rig mentioned is the well known
“Wacky Rig” made very popular with the (Yamamoto) Senkos.
The difference between the Wacky rig
and the Mo-Jo rig is quite simple. The Wacky rig is usually used
without using any weight, and instead of Texas rigging the Senko, you
insert the bait into the middle of the hook, thus causing a dangling of
plastic on both sides of the hook when working it. This rig can be
deadly in itself and many anglers have been using this rig in recent
years with much success, but again like any presentation you can find a
flaw. Without any weight added with windy conditions makes this a very
tough rig to work. Sometimes a Senko can be very effective just Texas
rigging the bait without any added weight, but again the wind can be
somewhat of a deterrent. This technique can also be used just about
anywhere you can find fish with great success.
Now, between these two different rigs
the best is yet to come. Here are a couple of short stories that I have
encountered in the past couple of years with some of my students, pros,
and a couple of charters.
About two years ago I had two students
from Nevada that fish club tournaments. Both of them were fairly new at
bass fishing and wanted to learn how to catch bass during the conditions
where the bass seem to shut right down (boy does this happen a lot!),
anyway, the second day of the school sure enough we encountered these
same conditions on Lake Champlain (which is usually where I teach) and
found that a good variety of different baits and presentations weren’t
doing the job. Normally when you have a lake shut down the best
technique one can use would be about the slowest presentation one can
muster. Well, we tried the Mo-Jo rig without much success, then we went
to the Wacky Rig which we had a couple of short strikes, but as soon as
we went to the Wacky Rig the wind started to pick up a bit and I knew we
needed some weight to fish this rig consistently. Now, about mid day
with a couple of fish caught between my students and myself I started
getting a bit frustrated like most of us do under these conditions
right? Anyway, after taking three steps back and a deep breath I
starting thinking of a way to catch these stubborn fish so that’s when I
can up with the Idea of joining these two rigs together. So, I took a
Mo-Jo rig, and instead of Texas rigging the bait, I took a Senko and
Wacky rigged it on the Mo-Jo and made a cast. A couple of minutes after
it settled to the bottom, a fish just about ripped the rod out of my
hand and literally hooked itself, and guess what? To our surprise about
a 3 1/2 lb. smallmouth bass boated on the first cast. A few minutes
after I released the fish Ron, (one of my students) screamed YEAH! I got
one on, and before he even got it in the boat, Fred (the other student)
yelled “It Works!”
Long story short, we caught several fish
in a short time it the same area where we were getting the short
strikes. So, wanting to be sure about this modification I went to from
these two different rigs we went to another place and the same thing
happened…..yep!, we caught several fish there as well, and for the
remainder of the class period we caught plenty of fish for the day.
This started me thinking about how to refer to this modification of the
two rigs which I came up with the “MO-WAK” rig.
Since I have been using and teaching
this new rig, all my clients and students have been amazed on how well
it actually works and plan to keep a rod rigged with it always on deck.
Later on in the season, I had a well
known pro that was going to be fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series
tournament out of Plattsburg, NY and needed some help, so having a 3-day
open slot in the school well before the cut off period and he enrolled.
We went out for a three days and fished different parts of the lake to
get him somewhat comfortable with different areas to fish, and guess
what? He was one of these “Drop Shot” fanatics that caught numbers more
than the quality for weight. The same time he was using the Drop Shot
rig, I used my “Mo-Wak” rig and my fish averaged at least a pound (if
not more) that each of his fish.
Don’t think for a moment that the
“Mo-Wak” rig is just a geographical location technique that works just
for us “Frozen Brains” up here in the North East, because since I have
started using this rig, I have taught students on Lake Anna, Va., Shasta
Lake, Ca., Lake Norman, NC., Don Pedro, Ca., Sam Rayburn, TX., St. Johns
River, FL., Santee Cooper, SC., Lake Lanier, GA., Kerr Reservoir, NC.,
Candlewood, CONN., and a few other places with GREAT SUCCESS!
One question that I get from students
that I forgot to mention about the “Mo-Wak” rig is how to work this rig
in grass or vegetation? The answer is quite simply by using a hook with
a little wire weed guard on it…..
I really suggest that you give it a try
and see for yourselves. I think that you just may become addicted to
the “Mo-Wak” rig and will be using it for years to come…… If you have
any questions about the “Mo-Wak” rig, or wish to enroll in my 3-day bass
fishing school at your home lake or mine, or just wish to charter a day
of bass fishing you can call me at: Phone (518) 597-4240 or visit my
website at
www.capital.net/~rlbrown or
email me at
rlbrown@capital.net .
Until next time, take care and God bless
you always!
“The Bass Coach” – Roger Lee Brown