Sabiki Rig - How?

[HighCap56]

I have some interest in Sabiki rigs and have two of them unopened in my box.

How/Can you fish them by casting, or must it be a drop down and jig routine? Looks like it would be easy to tangle.

Curious as I have never used one. I am told the purpose is for catching bait, but others seem to have caught some decent fish with them.

Thanks for your responses!

Bob

[davehunt]

I used a Sabiki for the first time last year, worked great for picking up Snapper (juvenile bluefish) to ue for bait. Rig/hooks was too large for anything smaller like spearing, but I use an umbrella net for the little guys. I imagine the sabiki will work well for small spot as well.

Can't imagine you could catch anything larger with this rig.

[HuskyMD]

they have all different kinds and sizes of sabiki rigs--some with rubber squid like skirts and others with bucktail like feathers. What kind do you have?

[HighCap56]

What I have are Daiichi rigs with bleeding bait hooks, white bucktail (like termite wings) with No 6 hooks.

These have 6 hooks on the rig.

Thanks for the assistance. Trying to learn about them.

Bob

[SeaSalt]

sabiki magic?

[HighCap56]

If you are referring to the brand, no.

If not, then please "expound" a bit. ;)

Think I picked them up at Lighthouse Tackle in VB.

My bet is that it'dss only good for baitfish, but wondered if it could be cast without tangling, perhaps for Spot or Croaker.

Bob

[Shoeless]

I have had success catching specks and even tried cast and retrieve for spanish. The rigs don't last too long when the spaniards are around.

[skunked]

Sabinki rigs will just tear up the spanish and blues. You can cast them and kinda jig them back in but this gets a bit tricky and can have some intresting .... and exciting results..6 sharp hooks flying around can be a bit much. Just droping them straight down and jiging will work well if the fish are there.
The rigs don't last to long and are hard to store. I have seen a special hollow rod that the rig reels into for storage.

[Fish Bait]

Are they legal in MD? Thought you could only use 2 hooks per line/rod.

[Duke of Fluke]

I have caught some big fat alberts on sabiki rigs in Mexico while trying to jig sardines for bait. The fish were in the 12 pound class. I don't know if they were actually attacking the teaser or trying to steal one of the struggling sardines. It was no fluke as we caught several this way. Snappers do love them as do tinker mackerel, spot, pinfish, you name it.

[HuskyMD]

I think the correct answer is that they are not legal in MD. But people use them. I guess people think that they are using the rigs to catch bait so the 2 hook rule may not really apply.

[OldBay]

I think the sabiki rig would be legal if you consider it to be "one hooking unit". That is probably a big stretch of the rules though. It is legal to have 3 treble hooks on one big lure, so if you consider the sabiki to be one lure, then I guess its legal. This could be tough to show because you can obviously catch a fish on each hook on the sabiki. You do tie it on once though, like a single lure.

Just thinking out loud.

[kingfisherman23]

I buy Sabiki rigs with gold hooks and white feather wings every once in a while and drop them straight down off the pier. If you jig them up and down they work great for greenback shad and menhaden for king rigs. I usually use them for one weekend and then cut off the hooks and toss the line. The rig by itself is impossible to store. The next time I'm out I tie a few of the hooks from the rig on inch-long droppers in front of a Gotcha plug. This will catch small blues and spanish, but like Shoeless said, the hooks don't last long with Spanish in the water. :D

JMHO,
Evan

[Duke of Fluke]

I have seen guys store sabiki rigs in home made pvc tubes. I saw instructions on how to make them on another site a while back, but I don't remember where. It was probably the Bass Barn.

[davehunt]

Duke of Fluke,

Have you been down to the Wildwood area yet?

I'm hoping to get down there this weekend and fish Saturday night and/or Sunday morning, wondering if you heard any reports.

Thanks!

[Duke of Fluke]

I'll be out next weekend for sure. Blues are in thick in the back, and weakies are starting to turn on. Numbers on trout are low right now, but the fish are all large. I'll be at the point during peak times and corsons for toothies the rest of the time. Sunday is a definate if the weather holds, with Sat depending on work.

[jkcam]

I have one of the Sabiki rods with a small conventional reel. I use it exclusvely for catching bait. Generally, I drop it straight down once a school of "Greenies" (Threadfin Herring) or Cigar Minnows are located with my depthfinder on the boat. The purpose of the rod, which is a large diameter tube with a flange on the "tip" is to make it easier to cast, retrieve and store the sabiki rig. The hooks are small enough and the flange large enough so they don't get hung up when you reel in the rig, and the tear drop sinker just nests in the flange. Generally, the rigs are good for one or maybe two outings before they are torn up. If mackrel, or blue runners are around, they are good for about 2 minutes. In my 17' Scout, without the sabiki rod, I could almost guarantee that I would hook myself in the back when trying to walk around the console. Trust me, those are some sharp nasty little hooks. I would definatley use a sabiki on the surf to catch bait, but I would most likely just tie one on to a 6-7' rod and cast out and retrieve. Pretty much, once bait is located, especially on a Saturday morning, it is a wild scene with boats jockying for position around the school, the spirit of competition also overtakes many an angler and near colisions are not uncommon. Neither is some "colorful" language, nice for a family outing. That's pretty much the scene along the E. Coast here in So. Florida. If I go outside in the boat, I look for some greenies and then drift for Kings, Sail or some great "fun" when the Bonita blast through. It's all good.

Enjoy,
jim

[davehunt]

Duke of Fluke,

I'll probably stick to the usual spots on the island, Rocks in North Wildwood or 2 Mile Bridge.

Good luck, let me know how you do.

[HighCap56]

http://www.rivermarinesupply.com/xcart/customer/search.php?substring=sabiki+rod

Here's another approach to storing these rigs..

http://www.clip-itusa.com/

Wonder how hard it would be to simply modify an old rod/reel to do the same job?

Look's like its "project time"!

Bob