Making your own rigs

[rob@wilson.org]

So I've got a spool of 50# test, now what? I've got swivels and snaps and was planing to just tie a knot, easier said than done. I soaked the line in near boiling hot water and it still was impossible to get a good looking knot out of it. The few rigs I have left over from last year's fishing used little metal clips that are crimped down instead of knots. Is that how you guys do it? I looked at BPS and found this...

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=8568&hvarDept=151&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=5&hvarSubCode=8&hvarTarget=browse

Is that what I should pick up to make my own rigs? Being up in KY, I mostly bass fish and only get to surf fish on vacations. I figure any rigs I tie, I can use them for the couple times a year I go catfishing too.

Any suggestions and advice? I plan on making about 20 pompano rigs???, sinker on bottom, hook about 8 inches up and out from the bottom and then another hook up and out from that. And about 5 fish finder rigs. I have 3 rods that I will be pretty much just let set in the surf/lagoon down St. Andrews catching whatever hits it. 2 of the rods will be 8 # test and the other one is 30# I figure the fish finder will be on the 30# one and that one will be mostly cut bait. I'll be there for a week fishing most mornings and evenings. Do you think 20 pompano and 5 fish finder's will be good enough?

Thanks in advance. I know a lot of this has been asked before, but please go easy on me for not finding all the answers.

Rob

[AtlantaKing]

First, learn to tie a Uni Knot (http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_uni.html), followed by Dropper Loop (http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_dropper_loop.html). These two knots will tie both of the rigs you're trying to tie. A word on tying rigs on heavy line: tie them neatly and slowly, wetting down with some spit before cinching them down. With the uni, I find it helps to lightly cinch down the "knot" portion before cinching down the loop then finish by tightly cinching down the tag end. Tying the dropper loop requires a lot of spit and cinching slowly so the wraps are neat.

For the fish finder rigs, tie a uni to the swivel and a uni to the hook.

For the dropper loop rigs, tie the two droppers first, followed by a uni to the swivel and a uni to a snap for the weight.

Different lines are easier or harder to tie. I like Berkley Big Game. Ande has been hard to tie for me.

[RuddeDogg]

Hey Rob,

I tie my own rigs. No need to soak your line in water. I have found that it depends on the brand of line you are using. For example.....for my striper rigs I use stren high impact clear mono in 50lb test. Very easy to tie. For the drum we catch here, the big black drum I use Cortland Miracle Mono in 80lb which is easier to tie than the stren. The best way to find what works is to get a couple of different brands and experiment. You'll find what works. Good luck and tight lines.

[Fishbreath]

Hey Dogg, thanks for the line brands. Like Rob, I tie my own rigs and have had a beeatch of a time snelling my drum hooks for use with fish finder rigs.

Rob, what AtlantaKing said works, especially for the the puppies I use a hi-lo with short 1-2" dropper loops for the hooks. Works well.

FB

[rob@wilson.org]

First, learn to tie a Uni Knot, followed by Dropper Loop.

I was trying to use both a Uni Knot and a palomar knot. Tieing that 50# stuff (Berkley Big Game) is a lot different than 12-17# line on most my bass reels. The knots just came out looking like a knot my 7 year old gets in his shoe laces.

Also, I guess I'm not following on the reason I would use the Drop Loop. Do I attach the hook straight to that?

So what is the advantage of the little metal clamps? Is that just the easy way out, or do they server a purpose?

[Fishbreath]

Rob, the drop loop is used to thread through the eye and loop over the hook. Yes, attach directly to the hook.

As far as the metal clamps, yes, its much easier but also may be more visible.

[narfpoit]

The crimps are much faster, but if not done properly then it will severly weaken the line. But if you are comparing crimped 50 to 12 pound line then they 12 will break first even if you didnt crimp it quite right. The reason for the high test in that situation is to help the hooks stand off from the main line. The fish finder rig is a different story that you will probably want to tie so that it can handle the stress of casting. Anyway if you go the crimp rought make sure you use a good crimper designed for the type of crimps you are using. This link gives some good tips on crimping.

http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/crimp_techniques.html

hope that is what you were looking for.

John

[RuddeDogg]

What narf and fishbreath said.

If you are using vinyl covered lead material you would use darl colored crimps. I use a crimped rig for bridge and pier fishin. I use the double crimps that look like double barrel shotguns. Don't use the singles. The doubles fold over real nice. The single leave a litte edge and no matter what ya do it doesn't fold or crimp right. Had many of line and leaders cut because of that.

[Fishman]

tie your own rigs you do not need that stuff unless you are going offshore fishing.

[BentHook]

I looked at BPS and found this...
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...rTarget=browse
Is that what I should pick up to make my own rigs?

That rigging kit has 1.3mm to 2mm crimps.
The Double barrel crimps are probaly rated for 125 lb mono to about 300 lb mono.
You can get Double barrel crimps in 1.0mm that crimp 60-100 lb mono. The bass Pro crimp kit is mainly for offshore trolling big game.

[NTKG]

First, learn to tie a Uni Knot (http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_uni.html), followed by Dropper Loop (http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_dropper_loop.html). These two knots will tie both of the rigs you're trying to tie. A word on tying rigs on heavy line: tie them neatly and slowly, wetting down with some spit before cinching them down. With the uni, I find it helps to lightly cinch down the "knot" portion before cinching down the loop then finish by tightly cinching down the tag end. Tying the dropper loop requires a lot of spit and cinching slowly so the wraps are neat.

For the fish finder rigs, tie a uni to the swivel and a uni to the hook.

For the dropper loop rigs, tie the two droppers first, followed by a uni to the swivel and a uni to a snap for the weight.

Different lines are easier or harder to tie. I like Berkley Big Game. Ande has been hard to tie for me.

cant tie with ande... youra girl! (lets fish friday)




as per the org post. dont bother with the crimps and kits, might as well by the outa town metal bottom rigs then!

like CT said, tie your dropper loops first in the distance you want from each other. then tie on a snap on the bottom for your sinker thena swivel for your mainline. clip the top or bottom part of the loop leaving a lil bit in case of line slippage then tie onto whatever hook you want. its basically like making a sabbikki of sorts. i use a 3 hook bottom rig for SPOTZ'Z for bait during the drum time here or for catchin bait type fish in general.

the beauty of this is that YOU control the distance apart as well as the distance of your hooks from the rig and hooksize. I prefer little circles for spotzzzzz and muelerets while def prefer long shank eagle claw cheapies for toadies. basically if you have a spool of line, and little terminal you can cost effectively make your own rigs.... buy a good set of crimpin tools and sleeves and whatnot, yah might as wella bought the bottom rigs at 49cent a pop.

[NTKG]

also buy yourself a nail knot tool. it helps in tying nails, unis and snells even with 100+ pound test. most of my fishing buddies have been talked into getting one, and none of them i see on the beach without one now. it helps for tying shock and any of those knots esp when its windy cold or raining... or basically all three like when we usually fish!

good luck!

[NTKG]

So I've got a spool of 50# test, now what? I've got swivels and snaps and was planing to just tie a knot, easier said than done. I soaked the line in near boiling hot water and it still was impossible to get a good looking knot out of it. The few rigs I have left over from last year's fishing used little metal clips that are crimped down instead of knots. Is that how you guys do it? I looked at BPS and found this...

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=8568&hvarDept=151&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=5&hvarSubCode=8&hvarTarget=browse

Is that what I should pick up to make my own rigs? Being up in KY, I mostly bass fish and only get to surf fish on vacations. I figure any rigs I tie, I can use them for the couple times a year I go catfishing too.

Any suggestions and advice? I plan on making about 20 pompano rigs???, sinker on bottom, hook about 8 inches up and out from the bottom and then another hook up and out from that. And about 5 fish finder rigs. I have 3 rods that I will be pretty much just let set in the surf/lagoon down St. Andrews catching whatever hits it. 2 of the rods will be 8 # test and the other one is 30# I figure the fish finder will be on the 30# one and that one will be mostly cut bait. I'll be there for a week fishing most mornings and evenings. Do you think 20 pompano and 5 fish finder's will be good enough?

Thanks in advance. I know a lot of this has been asked before, but please go easy on me for not finding all the answers.

Rob


oh and dont soak your line in nearly boiling water. heat and mono arent a good mix, you dont need to do that bud. just LUBE your knots the memory aspect of it incase your worried, dont.... bc how do you plan on storing them anyway? after a few casts with lead and holding on the bottom they'll straighten out just fine

[catman]

Hey Rob, forget about crimps and metal hardware. That stuff is for the rookies unless you're using 80# or higher leader material. Learn how to tie a double Improved Albright to attach the leader to the main (works equally as well with mono or braid main line), a dropper loop (make to loop as big as you want) for your hooks and a double surgeons loop for attaching the sinker. This is what is used on charter boats. Yea it take a little time to learn these knots but it's time well spent. I use 50# Ande mono for my leaders and saltwater HD Eagle Claw hooks. I like the Eagle Claws because they have a larger eye than most of the others which makes it easier to run the dropper loop through. Most of my rigs start out with a 5' length of leader material. Make up a bunch of them and put them in individual Zip Lock freezer bags. The freezer bags are a little heavier than the sandwich bags plus there's an area to write on them with a Sharpie marker. Go to it and have some fun.:D

[rob@wilson.org]

You guys make it sound so easy. Maybe my second attempt will go a lot better than my first.

Thanks for all the reponses.

[david123]

Rob

A trick I learned when learning to tie my own fly fishing leaders.

With mono over about 30 lb test or so you do not need to make the full 5 turns on the uni or improved clinch knots or blood knots . I use three turns for 50 lb leader and they come out fine and have never failed me. You absolutely MUST moisten the knot efore you cinch it up and they will come out fine. The three turn knots have not failed me and if tied properly and cinched up tight, they won't you either.

With 30 I use 4 turns,

Check out the commercial rigs that you hve and if it's real heavy stuff, you'll find that the knots at the swivel ends are only three turns, usually.

Conversely, when tying knots in braid, I fnd that i have to give a couple more turns than recommended. When I tie the Albright for my shock leaders, I use 20-25 turns....for improved clinch I use 7 turns same with Uni. The braid is slippery and will slip if you don't use enough turns.

[VICIII]

if you double the line on braid to shock leader albright it help as well..
Just fold it over and use the loop as if it were a single line and tie the same albright... It seem to work better...

[catman]

Vic thanks for the tip on doubling the braid on the Albright. I did that when using 30# but since going to 60# the dia. seems to be thick enough the leave it single. It probably would be good to double it anyway, no sence in taking a chance.;)