I could spend a lot of time writing here about the Carolina rig but will just try and hit some of the highlights.

C-rig is bar none the best technique to use to learn your water..ie..what type bottom structure...type cover...cover location. If fished properly the C-rig will tell you more about the area you are fishing than your depth finder.

C-rig is a great search bait technique and shines during transitional periods, post frontal, post spawn and deep summer patterns.

C-rig can be fished at any depth....and any time of the year....like any technique, it is sometimes the best technique to be using on any given day or time of day and sometimes it isn't...ie....you normally can catch some fish on it in most situations (shallow to deep) but sometimes another technique (jig, crankbait, spinnerbait, topwater, t-rig....you get the idea) may the most prolific to be using...only way to find out is experiment..this is why it is a good search technique.

Some tips:

Generally speaking bass tend to sit tighter to cover in spring and fall and suspend over cover in summer and winter...adjust your leader length accordingly.

Maintain constant contact with the sinker...that is do not have a bow or slack in the line...you do this by dragging the rig with rod down and at angle to the rig....this is the only way you can feel the fish biting your lure and the best way to feel the structure/cover you are searching out and fishing. If you are dragging the rig and the sinker is losing contact with the bottom you need a heavier sinker.

I prefer to use a lead egg sinker with my rig rather than a bullet type sinker. The rounded egg sinker tends to come through cover better by virtue of the rounded ends rather than having a bullet nose jamming up into the cover. Since I use the lead egg instead of a brass bullet..I use two glass beads between the sinker and swivel...lead against glass has no sound..glass against glass does.

98% of the time you need to fish it slow..you can't fish it too slow. Ask any bass guide and they will tell you most women will catch more fish on the C-rig than a guy will...the reason is most women have more patience than men and will tend to fish slower.

As for the jig as a weight..it works...my experience with this is that unless the fish are keying off on jigs that the amount of fish taken on a jig rigged C-rig is not enough to warrant the expense of losing a lot of jigs..because if done properly the weight is going to be constantly pulled into cover. If you use this rig and the fish are taking the jig a lot..you need to just throw a jig and work it better than you can on a C-rig.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different plastics. I have taken bass on virutally every type soft plastic lure made on a C-rig. Just like the T-rig...you gotta match the bait to what the fish want...ie..they not want a lizard or brush hog right now with all that action but they may inhale a do nothing bait like a french fry.

Well, I will stop here...I could write for a long time here about this technique and bore you to death if I got started...lol.