Rediscovering 'Old School' Angling Techniques in Contemporary Times
By Derrek Stewart, 3/11/19, updated 11/8/25
Tony Lain has been a professional competitive tournament
angler for the past 27 years. Lain has witnessed many trends come and go. There
is one 'Old School' rig that may have faded from popularity, but Lain has kept
it in play, and he's at the Fred Hall show to let you know why you should be
fishing the Chicken Rig.
Lain's professional career started in the San Diego area,
fishing the region's numerous lakes. From there, he moved on to the
ever-popular Diamond Valley Lake located in Hemet, California. Recently, Lain
retired to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where he enjoys fishing both the main
lake and the Colorado River, including tournament fishing against the stout
competition Havasu attracts.
Lain demonstrates the Chicken Rig in the bass tank.
Discussing finesse rigs, Lain explains some of the attributes of
the Neko Rig. "In open water, the Neko set-up is an excellent
presentation, but when you're fishing in cover, frequently you're going to snag
the exposed hook, break off, and have to retie," says Lain.
Lain goes on to recall his fishing partner, who swears by the
open hook Neko Rig. "My partner spends half the day retying," laughs
Lain.
The Chicken Rig
Lain explains the acronym and
the history of Chicken Rig.
Why is it called the Chicken Rig? Lain has conducted research,
and based on his findings, he identified the source, Gary Yamamoto. While
crossing paths at a Lake Mead US Open, Lain discussed the rig with Yamamoto. Yamamoto
experienced excellent tournament success fishing the Chicken Rig. Yamamoto's
first set-up employed the Yamamoto Baits Kut-Tail Worm, and the rigging
involved a Backwards Weighted Whacky Kut-Tail – BWWK. "Bwwk pronounced
Bwak, say it with me, Bwwk Bwwk, it's a sound a chicken makes, and that's why
it is called a Chicken Rig."
Yamamoto
Kut-Tail Worm, Gary Yamamoto center.
"The Chicken Rig is a cross between the Neko and a Texas
Rig, providing the best of both worlds." It's a weedless set-up, so it's
perfect for fishing in cover elements such as brush, weeds, dock pilings, and
tulles. You can use your favorite finesse bait: a Daiwa Neko Straight, a
Roboworm, a Daiwa Neko Fat, a Yamamoto Pro Senko, just about anything you like.
Lain displays multiple plastic
worms, all rigged in a Chicken Rig Style with wide-gap hooks, and nail weights
are concealed within the plastic.
Weedless
You can throw the Chicken Rig directly into cover elements and
'wiggle' the presentation through the nasty stuff and
produce a bite. Drywall screws, carpenter's nails, or specialty weights; insert
your favorite nail weight into the back end of the worm. The individual
conditions determine weight size, the rate of fall, and the depth at which an
angler finds themselves fishing. When targets exceed a twenty-foot depth, Lain
will opt for other fishing rigs like a drop shot or a shaky head.
Using a wide gap hook, rig the hook backward, starting towards
the middle of the worm, and bring the hook point through the plastic behind the
nail weight. Finally, Tex-Pose the hook point, and the set-up is weedless. Base
the hook size on the size of the bait; in most applications, Lain uses size 2/0
and 3/0 wide gap hooks.
Lake Havasu and the Buoy Pattern
On Havasu, during the Pre-Spawn staging, any buoy that marks a
high spot, a hazard, or a no-wake zone, bass will sit in the shadow of the
buoy. "Long casts with the Chicken Rig will produce a lot of bites when
running the Buoy Pattern." The Buoy Pattern occurs all over, not just in
Havasu. Wherever you find wave attenuators, dock pilings, and other floating
objects, the Chicken Rig will allow you to fish directly through all the ropes,
cables, ladders, and gnarly hang-ups in these locations.
Lain demonstrates the action of a
chicken-rigged bait.
Pressured Water
Fishing finesse patterns when it's hard to find productive,
clean water is a standard tactic, especially during multiple-day tournaments.
The Chicken Rig is an excellent method for pressured bass. When you can fish
behind other anglers, and you're not snagging cover, not blowing spots out with
the trolling motor, and you're not constantly retying, you're making more
casts.
"That's the game changer." More casts mean more opportunity for more bites.
That can be the difference in winning a tournament, catching a limit, and
earning a check, especially when the conditions are challenging.
Equipment
Tony Lain uses a Daiwa 7’-1" Tatula Elites Series Medium Action Brent Ehrler
Drop Shot Spinning Rod. Lain says the rod's action is more like a shaky head
rod than a drop shot rod. "That's important when moving the hook through
the plastic on the hookset." Lain pairs the rod with a Daiwa 2500 series
spinning reel.
Lain spools up with high-visibility chartreuse 10-pound J-Braid
for the main line. Depending on the conditions, he will use as light as a
5-pound fluorocarbon leader. At times as heavy as 10-pound test, with 7-pound
Sunline Sniper being his go-to line.
Lain breaks down his equipment
preference for the Chicken Rig.
Reel Speed
6.3:1 is Lain's preferred spinning reel retrieve ratio. He has
learned from Havasu's smallmouth that many times bass will pick up a bait and
swim quickly directly towards him. If your gear ratio is too slow, you'll never
catch up to the fish, and you'll miss them every time. "Whenever I'm
fishing a finesse technique, line watching, or fly lining, I want a fast reel
to pick up the slack and get them coming to me."
Line Visibility and Long Leaders
Lain runs his leader length, so the connection knot is between
the reel spool and the first rod eye guide. Never wind a leader connection knot
into the reel spool. The cut tag ends of the knot will catch and create a nasty
backlash.
The long leader length works in conjunction with high-visibility
braid. The long leader keeps the bait away from the chartreuse braid, and the
fish don't care about the braid color. The color of the braid allows anglers to
easily see it on top of the water.
Couple high-visibility with the 10-pound diameter, and the
floating braid will noticeably twitch and pop with the slightest influence from
a bass. Often, this visual aspect is the only indication that a fish has your
offering; this is critically important when your bait is falling after a cast.
"I can only wonder how many fish I've missed because I couldn't see the
bite with straight fluorocarbon."
Lain fielded audience questions
after the seminar.
The Follow-Up
"The Chicken Rig is always on my deck." There
are many situations when you have a blow-up or an attack, and the fish misses
the lure. If you're prepared, you can quickly cast a follow-up bait to that
fish and catch it. The same thing applies when you're playing a fish to the
boat, and other bass are following the hooked fish. If you and your partner are
ready, you can catch the follower with a follow-up rig. "I'll hand my team
partner my rod with the first fish, and pick up the Chicken Rig, throw out, and
double up." Usually, the second fish is the bigger fish."
The Bonus Catch
Lains says if I'm fishing crankbaits and I boat a fish, before I
manage that fish at the livewell, he'll cast out the Chicken Rig, dead-sticking
the worm. When handling the fish is over, he'll check the Chicken Rig. Often, a fish has bitten the worm; it's a bonus catch! "Always have a line in
the water."
"The Chicken Rig is
a Weedless Neko Rig." Wow, Tony Lain is in the zone. Thank you for the
excellent information-packed tutorial.
