Carolina Rig
The Carolina rig separates a heavy sliding weight from the bait with a long leader - dragging deep structure fast while the plastic floats naturally behind.
Where the Texas rig is a precision tool, the Carolina rig is a search engine: a heavy egg or bullet weight rides the bottom on the main line, a bead and swivel stop it, and a half-meter leader lets the soft plastic drift naturally behind. You drag the weight; the bait follows weightless - covering deep flats and points at a pace no other bottom rig matches.
What it is & why it works
Weight-bead-swivel-leader-hook: the sinker telegraphs bottom composition up the line while the bait behaves like a free-swimming meal a leader-length away. Separation of duties - contact AND naturalness.
When to use it
Deep structure work: offshore points, ledges, gravel flats, pre-spawn staging areas - especially when you need to FIND fish scattered over big bottom.
How to set it up
Main line through a 1/2-1 oz weight, glass bead (protects knot, clicks), tie to a swivel; add 45-90 cm of leader to an offset hook with a floating-ish plastic (lizard, fluke, creature), Texas-hooked weedless.
Fishing it
Long cast, let it settle, then drag SIDEWAYS with the rod (not the reel) a meter at a time, pausing. The weight tells you sand-gravel-shell; bites feel like mush or weight on the leader - sweep-set.
Variations & sizing
Shorter leaders (30 cm) in stained water, long (1 m+) in clear; 'Mojo'/tungsten slim weights in grass; finesse Carolinas downsize everything for tough bites.
Common mistakes
Reeling instead of dragging (loses feel), leaders so long casting collapses, and ignoring what the sinker tells you - the bottom-composition intel is half the rig's value.