Rigging Baits

[marcel haber]

Good day fellow Raiders,

I would like to throw out a few questions in regards to rigging up live and dead baits.

With the Kingie season just around the corner, I am asking about the techniques and variations fellow raiders use with bait presentation.

How do fishos prefer to rig up livies eg. Live Squid or Yellowtail ?

What is the best way to hook up dead baits etc ?

If using a TWO HOOK RIG,what way should the top and bottom hook face in the bait? ,for I know time spent here placing the hooks right is critical.

Is it better to use a rig with one hook thru the bait or a rig with two hooks?

Pictures, photos and diagrams explaining the various techniques used by fellow Raiders would add great dimension to this topic.

TWIN1

Marcel.

P.s Jewgaffer, your input in bait rigging for [jewies would also be beneficial as well.

Edited November 8, 2007 by twin1

[sanger]

Hey mate!

My usual method for rigging yakkas is a single mustad hoodlum hook through the nostrils!

For squid is the aforementioned live bait hook through the hood snelled to a treble that gets placed into the the tenticles or the lower part of the hood not between the eyes cause its very easy to kill the squid putting it there. If you must put it through the eyes only put it very shallow!

As for slimies i do the same way as a yakka but as kings dont have to eat them head first like a yakka to miss the spikes im going to start experimenting with a twin hook rig of some sorts, with the tail hook held to the fish with a rubber band rather than actually puncturing the fish so it can still be trolled without impeeding its ability to swim!!!!

Sorry im at work so no diagrams!!!!! Looking forward to everyone elses reply to see if there is some better ideas!

Edited November 8, 2007 by fishlexic

[netic]

Mate for kings i use a sliding snell rig as indicated by fishlexic......

heres a pic

I attached the treble right between the eyes and the live bait hook on the tip of the hood, If done right the squid will remain live for hours......i rarely ever have a squid die on my using this style of rigging, even i have been towing the squid for 4-5 hours

[stylo]

Netic, why do you use a treble ? What is the benefit as opposed to two octopus hooks ?

[netic]

Stylo, I used to use 2 Livebait/Circle hooks until i got put onto the treble technique by pretty much the sydney specialist for downrigging.....

One reason is it will help to restrict the spinning of your bait whilst downrigging

Before we switiched we use to lose 1 in 5-6 kings to pulled hooks.......now we lose practically none, 1 in 100 fish maybe are lost to pulled hooks, once hooked they come in.....but its important to use quality trebles like Owners and a good size treble too.

[kingiemaster]

Sliding snell keeper hook rig.

This is my new and preferred way to rig a squid for live baiting at anchor or drift. It’s a bit fiddly to make up but several can be done at home on a rainy day. The rig is discrete and the main hook is almost indivisible whilst solid hook ups are assured with a fishes jaw likely to find the main hook hidden in the tentacles regardless of which angle they attack the head. It also has minimal impact on the squid so it will keep longer and still allows movement. The leading hook is both a keeper and towing hook snelled to the shank and the 60lb mono trace (not tied to the eye) using 15lb line which allows adjustment for different sized baits. In my experience only small fish (Kings or otherwise) tend to attack the arrow end of the squid so this leading or towing hook needn’t be over the top whilst the longer shank is simply easier to snell and handle when rigging the bait up. The trailing main hook is held in the vicinity of and hidden in the tentacles by a small fine long shank hook inserted on the top of the head between the eyes or in hood of smaller squid.. The keeper hook is secured to the trace by a crimp. As I like to Flemish loop and crimp the main hook (for stretch and strength) it makes sense to crimp the keeper hook in place at the same time. You will have to cut the eye off the keeper hook to fit it through the crimp.The flemish loop and crimp will also stand upright so that the main hook will dangle down rather than sideways as it might if tied using a traditional knot. Main trailing hook should be a solid 6/0 live bait hook as this is the hook that will take the weight when a King is hooked. To rig the live squid insert the small keeper hook in such a way that the main hook is hidden firmly in the tentacles. If it is not placed firmly the main hook will lift out of position on the drop but not too the extent that the point of the hook is in the beak of the squid. This may take some practice with different sized squid. The bigger the squid the closer the keeper hook will be to the tentacles. Now adjust the snelled rear keeper hook so that the bottom of the hook is right on the tip of the arrow and then insert it less than a cm from the tip of the arrow. Done correctly the trace between the hooks should be a little loose. You don’t want it too tight as it may bend the squid on the drop and restrict movement once settled.

Open the following Word attachment for a diagram.

Snelled_Keeper_Hook_Live_Squid_Rig.doc

[Steve07]

I like the single hook through the nostrils for live yakkas & slimies as well,as long as you match the hook

size with the size of the yakka being used.A hook too big will restrict the livebait,it wont live for very long

and most of all it will stand out to the kingys,which means less baits being taken.

Generally a 6/0 mustad hook will do the job most of the time, pass the hook sideways carefully through the

yakka's nose & drop the bait straight over the side,its quick,easy & very effective.

[Robbielites]

For Yakkas I use a cable tie through the eye.

Squid I use a pre rigged Owners sliding snell from the tackle store, about a dollar each I think but I have crap eye sight so my knot tying can be below average some times

Robbie.

Edited November 21, 2007 by Robbielites

[jewgaffer]

Sliding snell keeper hook rig..........

Snelled_Keeper_Hook_Live_Squid_Rig.doc

Hi Marcel and Ray (Twin One and Lumpookey) ! By the look of this rig it has the makings of a good alternative dual purpose rig for both jew and kingfish.

Thanks kingiemaster, Do you think it would improve your rig set up if you dropped the top hook (the control hook) down the line and snelled it to slide and turning it around so that the barb faces the other way ?

Would it be no good slipping the bottom hook up thru the point of the head with the barb going thru the middle edge of the head and kept clear of it, thus ensuring that the hook doesn't have any chance of penetrating into the flesh (in a practical situation) where the barb may become covered up inside the head, during a take ?

It looks as though there would be an equal amount of fiddling around reversing the sliding hook direction.

I would be inclined to upsize the keeper hook to a solid hook around 2/0 or 3/0 .

I'd probaly have to have a think about the long shank hook and up the size for jew to an 8/0 mustard hoodlum, which is very solid and stubby and a good live bait allrounder for this excersize .

I like kingiemaster's rig and I am gong to rig one up tomorrow and have a good think about it hooked up on a squid.

Cheers Marcel and Ray. Thanks again kingiemaster!

jewgaffer

[marcel haber]

Sliding snell keeper hook rig.

This is my new and preferred way to rig a squid for live baiting at anchor or drift. It’s a bit fiddly to make up but several can be done at home on a rainy day. The rig is discrete and the main hook is almost indivisible whilst solid hook ups are assured with a fishes jaw likely to find the main hook hidden in the tentacles regardless of which angle they attack the head. It also has minimal impact on the squid so it will keep longer and still allows movement. The leading hook is both a keeper and towing hook snelled to the shank and the 60lb mono trace (not tied to the eye) using 15lb line which allows adjustment for different sized baits. In my experience only small fish (Kings or otherwise) tend to attack the arrow end of the squid so this leading or towing hook needn’t be over the top whilst the longer shank is simply easier to snell and handle when rigging the bait up. The trailing main hook is held in the vicinity of and hidden in the tentacles by a small fine long shank hook inserted on the top of the head between the eyes or in hood of smaller squid.. The keeper hook is secured to the trace by a crimp. As I like to Flemish loop and crimp the main hook (for stretch and strength) it makes sense to crimp the keeper hook in place at the same time. You will have to cut the eye off the keeper hook to fit it through the crimp.The flemish loop and crimp will also stand upright so that the main hook will dangle down rather than sideways as it might if tied using a traditional knot. Main trailing hook should be a solid 6/0 live bait hook as this is the hook that will take the weight when a King is hooked. To rig the live squid insert the small keeper hook in such a way that the main hook is hidden firmly in the tentacles. If it is not placed firmly the main hook will lift out of position on the drop but not too the extent that the point of the hook is in the beak of the squid. This may take some practice with different sized squid. The bigger the squid the closer the keeper hook will be to the tentacles. Now adjust the snelled rear keeper hook so that the bottom of the hook is right on the tip of the arrow and then insert it less than a cm from the tip of the arrow. Done correctly the trace between the hooks should be a little loose. You don’t want it too tight as it may bend the squid on the drop and restrict movement once settled.

Open the following Word attachment for a diagram.

Snelled_Keeper_Hook_Live_Squid_Rig.doc

thanks kingie master for your detailed suggestions and top diagram, will look into making these up on a rainy day and putting them into practice in the near future.

I AGREE WITH JEWGAFFER in regards to turning the hook lodged into the tenticals the other way to expose the barb more, I guess I will need to experiment both ways to see which comes up trumps on the water.

Once again thankyou all for your input.

[kingiemaster]

Hi Marcel and Ray (Twin One and Lumpookey) ! By the look of this rig it has the makings of a good alternative dual purpose rig for both jew and kingfish.

Thanks kingiemaster, Do you think it would improve your rig set up if you dropped the top hook (the control hook) down the line and snelled it to slide and turning it around so that the barb faces the other way ?

Would it be no good slipping the bottom hook up thru the point of the head with the barb going thru the middle edge of the head and kept clear of it, thus ensuring that the hook doesn't have any chance of penetrating into the flesh (in a practical situation) where the barb may become covered up inside the head, during a take ?

It looks as though there would be an equal amount of fiddling around reversing the sliding hook direction.

I would be inclined to upsize the keeper hook to a solid hook around 2/0 or 3/0 .

I'd probaly have to have a think about the long shank hook and up the size for jew to an 8/0 mustard hoodlum, which is very solid and stubby and a good live bait allrounder for this excersize .

I like kingiemaster's rig and I am gong to rig one up tomorrow and have a good think about it hooked up on a squid.

Cheers Marcel and Ray. Thanks again kingiemaster!

jewgaffer

Thanks for the encouranging words and thumbs up for the rig jewgaffer.

To be honest I only tried it last weekend and as I didn't have any luck finding any Kings I still don't know how effective the rig is. But it was a success as far as hook placement and worked excatly as I had hoped.

I don't see any problems with the turning the control hook around so long as it tows Ok on the retrieve. But I only really see it as a keeper hook so not fussed either way.

As the for the main hook placement I am going to experiment with different positions and hook sizes which of course is the beauty of the rig. I used the 7/0 rig on the weekend. Whilst it found it was a bit big on small squid it worked perfectly on a bigger squid with the hook more or less fitting nicely in between the tentacles around the head, as you suggested , so the barb didn't actually penetrate or dislodge. The keeper hook needs to be small and fine to fit discretely in the crimp and have minimal impact on the squid head but you could always snell a bigger hook. But at the end of the day I'm sure variations on the theme would work.

Good luck experiementing with the it. I'll be very interested to know how everyone goes.

[jewgaffer]

Marcel and Ray. I mean reversing the direction of only the tail hook so that both barbs face one another to prevent the fish's mouth just rolling back over the curve part of either shank and thereby avoiding the "pull and slip" which often causes a run with no hook up

Mind you, having those two hooks facing one another also prevents the "spit out" factor which actually does happen in practice, for example when jew run with off with the bait but manage to miss the hook barbs or when kingfish miss the head hook and pull on the bait down towards the tail hook as you strike, which as far as I am concerned is just another no brainer. Whilst being a popular and widely used method it is in reality an excellent reason for failure.

I must say I like kingiemaster's rig and the main difference to my own jew and kingfish rig is the addition of a third hook which is the keeper hook and the loop and the crimp as described in kingiemasters's drawing.

I am going to give lot of thought to kingiemaster's rig overall.

Fishermen should always put different ideas to the test and experiment until they find what works best and then stick to it.

Cheers

jewgaffer