Some anglers excel with a Shakey head, some anglers dominate with a drop shot, and some are equally skilled at both. But combine the two techniques together on the same line and you just took it to a totally different level. For the anglers that recognize the benefits and implement this method of fishing, dragging a Double Rig serves multiple purposes for finding and catching bass. It’s not only a simple and effective way to fish, but it can quickly help you figure out the bass you’re after, and more importantly, fill your livewell in less time as well. Before we get into the “how to” part of rigging a Double Rig, let’s go over all the benefits this well kept secret has to offer starting with the most obvious;

1) You double your chances of catching fish on every cast with two baits tied to your line (that’s a no brainer).
2) Offering bass both a Shakey head and Drop Shot presentation on the same line allows you to target bass that are hugging the bottom and bass that are suspended slightly above the bottom.
3) Using two different baits that mimic two different types of prey will help you identify which kind of forage the bass are responding best to.
4) You can simultaneously experiment with different colors to find out which shades are triggering the most strikes.
5) This is the coolest thing about this technique! If you’re dragging a bass out of a pack of fired-up schooling bass, often times a second bass will crush the other bait on your line and you’ll land two bass on the same cast. Two for one never gets old!

Now onto the rigging…For the top bait, tie a basic Palomar knot (as if you were drop shotting) leaving the tag end about 2’ long, then run the tag end back through the eye of the hook so the hook sits in an upright position. You can opt to fish the top bait nose hooked (hook point exposed) if you’re in an open water situation or you can Tex-pose the top bait with an EWG hook to prevent snags if you’re fishing in or around cover. At the end of the tag line, tie on a Shakey/Stand-up head so that the jig head is about 12" to 20" below the top hook. Here’s my personal set up for Double Rigging; A 6'8" medium heavy spinning rod, 30lb braid topped off with a 6 foot section of 15lb Fluorocarbon leader (this might seem like overkill but when you hook two 3 pounders on the same cast and you’re near cover, you’ll appreciate the extra backbone). I always use a craw imitation for the bottom rig and a bait fish or worm imitation for the top rig. The bass pic above shows my “go to” craw and bait fish combo for the Double Rig. A 3.5" Craw D'oeuvre rigged on a ¼ Stand Up head for the Shakey presentation on the bottom and 3.6" JP Hammer Shad Tex-posed on a 2/0 EWG hook for the drop shot presentation above it. If I’m fishing a worm on the top hook, I’ll Tex-pose a 5" Finicky Tickler on a 1/0 hook. Once you’re rigged up and ready to hit the water, fishing a Double Rig is super easy. Simply cast it out, let it hit the bottom, and SLOWLY work it back to the boat (or bank) with a combination of tiny shakes, short hops and frequent 5 to 15 second pauses. It’s really that simple. The Double Rig is very effective for fishing near docks, rock piles, wood/brush, points, humps, flats and beds. There are times when the top rig will out fish the bottom rig and vise versa, but normally you’ll catch an equal amount of bass on both. So if you’re looking to add a winning technique to your arsenal and double your chances of catching bass with each cast, give the Double Rig a try and you’ll find out why the anglers who use it keep it a “well kept” secret.