To peg or not to peg.... that is the question.

There is always a debate when it comes to fishing soft plastics & how to rig your sinker, here are a couple tips to help you make the right decisions...
There are advantages to both, hopefully this will help you make better decisions.

Not Pegged
In that case, when you set the hook, the sinker goes away from your bait and you don't lose very many fish. Any time you peg your sinker, the fish sucks it in with the bait, and when you set the hook, you knock the fish's mouth open. Once in awhile, the hook will come flying out, too. Also sometimes when fishing sparse cover you want your bait to drift up or lift a little from your sinker.

Pegged
Any time you are fishing heavy cover, docks, brush or any flippin' or pitchin' situations. Pegging your bait will keep your lure close to the weight which gives you better feel so a big fish does not take off and wrap you up while you are lifting on your sinker. It also keeps you from hanging up as much and at the same time lets you make a more accurate presentation, ecpecially skipping under over hanging objects. Another place you really need a pegged weight is in current situations, in heavy current its is impossible to feel your lure without it. Pegging can be done with a toothpick, threaded rubber skirt material or Top Brass Peg-It II Rubber Pegging System.

Nice Compromise
You can use a small rubber bobber stop in front of your sinker and put it a few inches up when you are fishing sparse cover and then push it down tight when you need to get into tight cover. Its the best of both worlds and you can adjust in a split second from cast to cast as you fish along a bank. It does not wear on your line, but holds the sinker tight when fishing. At the same time it moves easily enough that the sinker will slide up the line on a hook set and let the weight slide up the line to it reduces the chance of hook coming free when a bass surfaces.
You can find these at Basspro.com

The small splash of color in front of your sinker can actually be an attractor as well. Its also a good way to fish a brass and glass rig while maintaining a semi-fixed weight.

HellaBass
www.richlindgren.com
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