Preston Henson is a pro angler who fishes the BASS opens, and is on the Black Dog pro-staff. He's here to share his tips on spring time wacky-rigging.

It's spring time: the fish are coming to spawn and they begin cruising the shallows. I want to talk about a good technique for this situation.

My favorite go-to bait is a good old fashion Senko-type bait, rigged wacky style. Most of us know what this is, but for those new to the game I will go a little more in depth on the term "wacky worm".

Wacky worm is just taking any style of worm or stickbait and hooking it in the middle of the worm with a smaller hook.

First, let’s start with what we will need to have to fish this technique.

My favorite rod to use for this is a Powell 703 spinning rod. You want a rod with a soft tip but still have plenty of back bone to it. The reel I use is a Johnny Morris BPS spinning reel. I love these reels for their wide spool. The wider spool handles fluorocarbon so much better than conventional reels. For line I use 8lb fluorocarbon, and when around a lot of heavy cover I will use 10lb.

The hook I have come to love for this technique is a #2 Gamagatsu G-Lock. The hook-up ratio on this hook is unreal, and once hooked up they stay hooked. For stickbait selections you can look to a variety of companies. I use a 5 inch Net Bait Stick-O for all my colors except for natural shad and baby bass, for those I use Yamamoto senkos.
This is a deadly way to catch them when you see them cruising the shallows.

My favorite colors to throw in this situation are my natural type colors: your green pumpkins, watermelon, and for really clear water, natural shad and baby bass.

The first thing you want to do is when you spot a fish cruising is to watch the way he is heading. You want to try and cut him off with your bait. I like to lead them about 10 feet or so. This is when you want to be as quiet as you can with your cast and the bait entering the water. Too much splash and the fish will be gone.

Once your bait hits the water, make sure you have enough slack line to let the bait free fall, don’t do a thing – don’t twitch it, drag it, or pick your nose if you have to. I will leave it set once it hits the bottom. That fish knows the bait is there and a lot of times will pick it up once it has been on the bottom.

A lot of time though, they will rush over and eat it on the fall. I am constantly watching the fish more than the bait to see her reaction to my presentation. The reason I do this is to see the fish’s mood. If the fish runs away like a dog with its tail tucked I know this fish in un-catchable at that time, or I made the fish aware of my presence by making too much noise with my cast. If the fish holds course I know I have a legitimate chance of catching it. It’s a lot like fishing a fish on a bed.

I hope this helps you next time you’re out and you see those fish roaming the shallows.