# What rig to use?



## jeff_woodruff (Jun 21, 2007)

I'll be in OBX "Hatteras" early June. My first real surf fishing test. What is the best terminal tackle rig for nail'n the bigguns?


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## chump (Jul 18, 2005)

I think the fishfinder rig is a universal favorite.


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## DrumintheSuds (Nov 19, 2007)

This is just "my opinion" but fishfinder rigs don't catch more fish. A fishfinder allows the fish to pick the bait up in his mouth without feeling the weight. This also gives him time to spit the bait out.

You need to sting a drum ASAP. If you plan to stand and hold your rod until a big drum hits it is OK to use a fishfinder because you can feel him pick it up, reel the slack in and sting him. If you spike your rod you are better off using a 3 way setup or an Owen Lupten rig. This way when he picks that bait up and feels the resistance he will hook himself most of the time.

I assume you are using circle hooks. If you are always remember that circle hooks do the work for you. All you need to do is sting him. You don't have to bow into him when setting the hook.

Another tip:
Do not bury the hook. You want as much hook exposed as possible. The fish don't know it is a hook. Change your bait every 20 minutes at the most. Crabs will chew on it and over time your bait will lose its appeal to a fish.

Good luck!


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

I agree with the FF rig fish picks up the bait doesnt feel the weight and its on time to wrestle the finned one to the beach.


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## fishinmama (Oct 14, 2006)

you may get into cobia in june - never fished for em myself, so can't advise on what to use...but if they are there, you will want to be prepared for em --somebody will know.


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Check the bible for the drum rig 101 thing and read up on that. possibility of some resident big drum and hopefully cobes. can fish for them both simultaniously


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## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

*Anybody us the Owen Lupton rig*

for Stripers? Looks like the hook would be too close to the ocean bottom.

Looks really streamline.


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Orest said:


> for Stripers? Looks like the hook would be too close to the ocean bottom.
> 
> Looks really streamline.


The same could be said for the JAM rig in which the fish finder sinker/swivel rests up against a bead which is at the head of the snelled cirlce. So when casting you have the sinker pressed against the hook. I have not hooked a lot of Stripers in the surf (yet) but those I have hooked have been on the JAM rig so I am sure they do eat off the bottom at least some of the time.


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## obxflea (Dec 15, 2007)

*A JAM rig??*

thats the funniest thing i have heard in a while...


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

obxflea said:


> thats the funniest thing i have heard in a while...


I am not sure the who/what/where/ or when but I saw it posted I think by Jam or someone calling it the Jam rig. If it is yours then sorry I meant no offense. If you know the proper name (if there is one) please share it.


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## jeff_woodruff (Jun 21, 2007)

What is the purpose of double'n the mainline?


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## fishinmama (Oct 14, 2006)

if you ck netknots.com there is a knot called the san diego jam knot -- not sure if this is what you mean.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

jeff_woodruff said:


> What is the purpose of double'n the mainline?


Strength -doubling say 17 lb test then connecting to a 50 lb shock leader will give you a much stronger connection than a single strand of 17 lb tied to 50 lb shock leader.

I also use the cannonball (Jam) rig most of the time. Even tho you think the weight would pin the bait to the bottom, the wave action will have the bait hovering slightly off the bottom most of the time.

Not familar with the Lupten rig- will have to do a search.


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

*JAM rig I speak of*

A member of the NC forum JAM posted this up a year or so ago

here is the thread
http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34310&highlight=JAM+righttp://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34310&highlight=JAM+rig

Here is the pic:


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Owen Lupton rig


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

cygnus-x1 said:


> Owen Lupton rig


interesting, so basically an egg sinker that is crimped in place a few inches up from the snelled hook. I can see it working in places you don't need a lot of weight, not too fond of not being able to remove the lead when riding around, how's the castability, anyone ?


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Jam Rig*

I think it is also the cannonball rig. DD has his own version.

I used his version and caught big blues on it. It worked great and is easy to tie. Only difference is I used a bead between the hook and weight.

I could be wrong though.

Darin


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Finger_Mullet said:


> I think it is also the cannonball rig. DD has his own version.
> 
> I used his version and caught big blues on it. It worked great and is easy to tie. Only difference is I used a bead between the hook and weight.
> 
> ...


I use one and sometimes two beads between the hook and the snap/swivel. Was thinking of putting a red float before the hook, then 2 beads then the sinker swivel. After you cast it set your drag and clicker, freespool it a bit and the the water take the bait then engage the spool. I will try this next Spring.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

*Jam rig*

Cannon ball,Nigerian, Nick rig. All the same. Good for drum, cobes and although some say it wont work for stripers I caught mine in Dec on the cannonball rig.


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## DrumintheSuds (Nov 19, 2007)

Surf Cat said:


> interesting, so basically an egg sinker that is crimped in place a few inches up from the snelled hook. I can see it working in places you don't need a lot of weight, not too fond of not being able to remove the lead when riding around, how's the castability, anyone ?


You can make your own by adding a coastlock snap where the sinker is and wedging it between the beads. I make my own because I like my leader a little longer than he does. The snap will alow you to change weight


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## seajay (Dec 18, 2005)

cygnus-x1 said:


> A member of the NC forum JAM posted this up a year or so ago
> 
> here is the thread
> http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34310&highlight=JAM+righttp://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34310&highlight=JAM+rig
> ...


Also known as a Texas Rig. Works well in higher currents for Reds.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

cygnus-x1 said:


> Owen Lupton rig


The purpose of this one is also to prevent gut hooking the fish. This guy has a flier that I've seen around advertising this rig to prevent that.


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## wolfgang (Nov 7, 2007)

seajay said:


> Also known as a Texas Rig. Works well in higher currents for Reds.



Isn't this the same thing as the Nigerian rig shown in the bible under 'drum fishing 101'?


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## wolfgang (Nov 7, 2007)

basstardo said:


> The purpose of this one is also to prevent gut hooking the fish. This guy has a flier that I've seen around advertising this rig to prevent that.



Isn't the Owen Lupton rig used for fishing from a boat?? Wouldn't egg sinkers move around when bottom fishing in the surf??


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

Yes to both wolfgang. The Owen Lupton rig is for fishing a boat, but could be easily modified to use a pyramid for the surf. Cdog pointed out that it is the same rig as all the others as well.


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## wolfgang (Nov 7, 2007)

basstardo said:


> Yes to both wolfgang. The Owen Lupton rig is for fishing a boat, but could be easily modified to use a pyramid for the surf. Cdog pointed out that it is the same rig as all the others as well.


Why not just use the Nigerian rig but shorten the leader to the same length as the Owen Lupton? Wouldn't this still work just as well as the conventional Nigerian rig while still retaining the catch-and-release advantage of the OL rig, i.e. the shorter leader prevents the fish from swallowing the hook.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

wolfgang said:


> Why not just use the Nigerian rig but shorten the leader to the same length as the Owen Lupton? Wouldn't this still work just as well as the conventional Nigerian rig while still retaining the catch-and-release advantage of the OL rig, i.e. the shorter leader prevents the fish from swallowing the hook.


Using circles I have yet to gut hook a fish with either the FF or canon ball rig.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

The problem when boat fishing is if the fish is able to take a bunch of line and swallow the bait, he'll get gut hooked. I've had it happen only a couple of times with circles, but it does happen. Granted, this was from a boat, and I was letting them run line out before hooking them.


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## wolfgang (Nov 7, 2007)

What's the point of the long leader on the Nigerian anyway? Wouldn't a much shorter leader work just as well for bottom feeders like drum? And...on a tight line, won't the hook be pulled tight against the sinker anyway? Are you supposed to feed it some slack to get the hook to float up away from the sinker?


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

wolfgang said:


> What's the point of the long leader on the Nigerian anyway? Wouldn't a much shorter leader work just as well for bottom feeders like drum? And...on a tight line, won't the hook be pulled tight against the sinker anyway? Are you supposed to feed it some slack to get the hook to float up away from the sinker?


The long leader serves serveral purposes, your weight is riding along 80-125# test rather than 50 or so on a FF which means you dont have to retie as much. The weight also when casting rides right up against the hook improving casting distance.When landing a large fish you have again 80-125# test line to grab hold of as opposed to 50#. As far as the bait being buried drum root in the sand anyway and there really is not much difference between a FF rig tied to 1-2" and the cannonball rig being flush when it comes to burying a bait.


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## wolfgang (Nov 7, 2007)

Cdog said:


> The long leader serves serveral purposes, your weight is riding along 80-125# test rather than 50 or so on a FF which means you dont have to retie as much. The weight also when casting rides right up against the hook improving casting distance.When landing a large fish you have again 80-125# test line to grab hold of as opposed to 50#. As far as the bait being buried drum root in the sand anyway and there really is not much difference between a FF rig tied to 1-2" and the cannonball rig being flush when it comes to burying a bait.


Makes sense now...thanks for the explanation!


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

i actually use another variant of the FF/cannon this past fall/winter, similar to the texas rig shown earlier

i use 100# line, snell a hook, then a bead, then sinker clip, then bead.
a good 3-4' length of the 100#
then a quality swivel to prevent alot of line twist

theory behind it. when a fish bite and runs. itll run a good few feet. your rod will probably register 2-3 nosedives, and the clicker would be blaring like a newborn baby.

as line continues on out. swivel hits the second bead on sinker clip. if sinker has good holding power. itll set most of the hook for you.

as you reel slack. itll set the rest.


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

ooeric said:


> i use 100# line, snell a hook, then a bead, then sinker clip, then bead.
> a good 3-4' length of the 100#
> then a quality swivel to prevent alot of line twist


Um, yeah, that's the cannonball/nigerian mentioned about twelve posts up. 

jeff_woodruff, instead of making this more complicated than it needs to be, just stop at Frank and Frans or Red Drum Tackle or Hatteras Jacks and ask them. They'll hook you up right.


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## jeff_woodruff (Jun 21, 2007)

I'll take you up on that. I also need to really work on my knot tying.


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