# King Rigs



## Scrapple (Mar 10, 2007)

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Hi Folks,
About King Rig fishing from piers.
I will be in Kill Devil Hills NC April 20 thru 27 and plan to do
plenty of fishing. King fishing with the 2 pole system is what I plan
to develop but I've never rigged for it before. I've seen some web
sites but two big questions remain:
- is late April too early to fish with this system and expect any
results for any catch, not only kings?
- what actually is the "clothes pin" or whatever that attaches
the fighting line to the anchor line that breaks away. How is this
rigged?
There is no substitute for experience, anyone with advice, it will
be appreciated.
Thanx,
Scrapple:fishing: in DE


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

If you write "pinrig" in the search box,there are several threads that will be helpful...

Try this one...

http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4422&highlight=pinrig


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## French (Jun 18, 2005)

that is a great thread, but April is awful early. The cobia don't show up around Bogue untill around Mothers Day weekend at the earliest, and kings around memorial day weekend... and that is significantly south of Buxton


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*Scrapple....*

If you want a shot at kings, cobia or whatever "big" from the piers April is way too early. The water isnt' even near warm enough at that time.

To me June was, used to be a good month, but in the last several years I think the latter part of June, or the months of July thru August are the months..

Clothespin rig. quick summary....take a clothespin and drill a small hole in one of the "ears" of it. Thread a small diameter piece of rigging wire through it or heavier monofiliament will work also. About 1 or 2 inches above the clothespin put a 3oz egg weight and then above the weight a cheap brass large swivel to where you can atttach the swivel to your anchor line....All in all, you don't have to use wire, but the rigs you make up will probably last till either you decide to taper off the king fishing or from either all the throwing around in the tackle box.

Take the jaws of the clothespin and clamp then to a rubber band that has been looped through the eye of your swivel at the end of the fighting rods line to where it connect to the wire leader. When a fish comes along, it should just pull or "pop" the rubber band from the cloethespin and there you go to fight the fish.

Why use 3ozs of weight and no less, because with less weight and the wind blowing in your face off the ocean it will be harder to keep the bait down in the water. You may even have to go up to adding another oz or even two. After that it is probably too much wind and wave height to keep the bait down in the water and keep it alive. IF THE WIND is blowing out of the west or southwest, you can keep your bait in the water easier and the ocean will appear kinda flat, hardly any chop on the water, but that can have its disadvantages too. What I have told you is for the fishing conditions around the northern OBX. The winds and conditions are different at other locations on the coast, therefore, will not apply.

You had better have a lot of patience to go along with your luck and put the time in also.

Good luck, and onel last thing about king fishing. Bait sometimes can be scarce as chickens teeth if you know what I mean. Get a bait out of a bucket, get it in the water, down deep if it is really hot. Don't worry about what people say about keeping the bait on top of the water to attract a king with all the commotion. That one and only bait might be the only LIVE bait you have to use for all day. Use it with care and dont' pull it up to check on it to see if it is ok or not. If the water is clear you should be able to see it it is "good to go" without stressing it out and "lifting it up out of the water." And if your bait does die and you can't get no other bait to use......a dead bait is better than no bait at all!!:fishing: :fishing: 

RT


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*In full agreement,April IS TOO EARLY..*

Have caught fish in April though.. Quite a few of them were caught I may add.. Kings were here then,not like today.. Can remember 77 when we caught over four hundred off the planks that yr.. Winter quit being winter around March.. That yr we smoked em in April.. Didn't really follow water temps the way I should have back then,but air temps were record breaking that yr. Most of the kings were snakes,but it's pullage,especially when some of us were clothspinning 6500's back then.  This was on Frisco,around the "turn" and up towards Nags Head,the earliest I've heard is late May.. Have talked to folks down south of us that were wetting lines back then,and they said April was when it really started up for them as well..
That has kinda gone out the window,nowadays.. 
While I'm on this "Back in the Day" rant ,we also caught the bigguns in the fall.. No,I'm not talking Sept,we caught bigguns then too,but Oct was the month in those days to get the thirty plus fish.. Seen one caught as late as Thanksgiving weekend! 
Nowadays,I've gone on Frisco and seen what were perfect conditions back then,and not a pinrig on the end... 

All that said,I agree April is too early and Oct is too late...


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## striperswiper (Nov 30, 2004)

Drumdum said:


> Have caught fish in April though.. Quite a few of them were caught I may add.. Kings were here then,not like today.. Can remember 77 when we caught over four hundred off the planks that yr.. Winter quit being winter around March.. That yr we smoked em in April.. Didn't really follow water temps the way I should have back then,but air temps were record breaking that yr. Most of the kings were snakes,but it's pullage,especially when some of us were clothspinning 6500's back then.  This was on Frisco,around the "turn" and up towards Nags Head,the earliest I've heard is late May.. Have talked to folks down south of us that were wetting lines back then,and they said April was when it really started up for them as well..
> That has kinda gone out the window,nowadays..
> While I'm on this "Back in the Day" rant ,we also caught the bigguns in the fall.. No,I'm not talking Sept,we caught bigguns then too,but Oct was the month in those days to get the thirty plus fish.. Seen one caught as late as Thanksgiving weekend!
> Nowadays,I've gone on Frisco and seen what were perfect conditions back then,and not a pinrig on the end...
> ...


let me know when you see the perfect conditions and no one king riggn i come down and fish 

man i wish i was old to i really wish i coulda been around fer them kings BACK IN THE DAY


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

striperswiper said:


> let me know when you see the perfect conditions and no one king riggn i come down and fish
> 
> man i wish i was old to i really wish i coulda been around fer them kings BACK IN THE DAY


 The "bein ole part" kinda s&cks,but it was fun,just wish digital cameras were around back then...


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## sinker man (Jun 16, 2006)

Yeah Drumdum, I remember those days. Several 1/2 acre pods of pogies in sight most of the time. Schools of all sorts of fish thick enough to easily see from 1/2 a mile away. You could be out there early in the season kingfishing and a school of gray trout or blow toads would come by and you could clean up on them before they got out of range. That would take care of boring aspect and put some good eating on the table too. I may be wrong somewhere but it seems like there were a lot more of all species back then. There are probably more stripers and maybe big drum now but that is all I can think of. Mullet blows were something you just had to see to believe.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*sinkerman*

Not sure,but I actually don't remember catching the numbers of spainish we have caught in last 10 or so yrs.. Back then I actually believe there were few numbers of them,but bigger,a world record was caught by a bud of mine in late seventys.. 
Also,cobes were much more scarse back then,and nowhere near as big.. Back then you caught a seventy lber it raised some eyebrows,probably made the paper,nowadays it takes a ninty plus to do that..
Drum were caught in both time periods,can't really be sure if there are more or less.. We're catching and releasing nowadays,and have become more efficient at it I think..
Foodfish like trout,croaker,flounder,seamullet and such imo have gone downhill in numbers..
Baitfish,we don't even want to discuss,numbers down drasticly.. All jmo..


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## reblenight (Jan 10, 2007)

you can take some riggin wire and put a snap swivle on it and bend the wire in half and run it through a 3oz sinker and then bend the 2 ends so the sinker wont come off. when u put it on ur rig just stick the 2 ends through the swivle of ur rig and when the fish bites it the egg sinker will just fall to the bottom of the ancker line and u can get it later


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## reblenight (Jan 10, 2007)

its the same thing as the cloths pin rig i just thanks its easier u can make them out of golf balls or anything with a lil weighti made some out of some old action figures to


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*two pieces of wire*

That works quite good also. I have also tried that as well as the clothespin rigging. Use whatever you like. With the two pieces of wire, make sure that you use about the "right" thickness of wire in order that is is not too stiff and not too limp to release correctly.

RT


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## French (Jun 18, 2005)

all you need is an egg sinker, stiff wire (150lbs), a snap swivel and a plastic shower curtain ring.


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## reblenight (Jan 10, 2007)

whats the shower ring do i have heard about them but never seen them work. i might try that way to


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*shower ring*

You don't have to have the shower ring if you do not want to. It is totally up to you. But the reasons for using one are...

1) If you use a shower ring that is colored white against an ocean background it may be easier to see or spot in amongst the other angler's rigs that are clustered around the end of the pier. COURSE then some people say, and maybe they have a better eyesight than others that that is more for the king to be spooked by.

2) If you have shower ring, you can (with your anchor rod propped against the pier railing) you have your rod "threaded) through the ring, therefore preventing your connector from sliding down to the end of your anchor line JUST IN CASE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE THE CONNECTOR CONNECTED TO YOUR FIGHTING ROD. This is harder to explain on the internet than in person. And people say...."We'll at the end of the day you will get all your rigs back when you wind the anchor up." This is true, but you don't want to have any more rigs down there than need be....it is just more weight to wind back in and if your line does break it is more of a snag out off the end of the pier. 

I'll be the first to admit, if my head wasn't attached to me, hell I'd die a long time ago and the last thing I mentioned above has happened more than one time to me.  

RT


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*follow up from above*

#2.....say you just caught a fish or you just had a fish "pop" your connector loose and it slides down your anchor line, or you have just got there that morning and heck you still have webs in your eyes from the lack of sleep. Anyway your "connector is not connected to the fighting line and there is NO BAIT TO BE HAD, say that in the night someone came out there and emptied ALL THE BAITBUCKETS. NO BAIT, and then there is a school of blues or menhaden and all of a sudden there is bait, YOU FORGET IN THE HASTE OF THINGS AND LET GO OF YOUR CONNECTOR, DOWN THE ANCHOR line it goes someone hands you a baitfish (that person now is a saint) you get the baitfish handed to you, turn around and guess what, your screwed because then there is your ONLY baitfish you might SEE ALL DAY and nowhere to put him until you get another rig out of the box and by this time that fish is DEAD.

I'll be the first of us guys...yes I learned the hard way about this too.

Rt


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## MCS (Aug 15, 2006)

I hope this helps. There are many ways to make a King rig, but this works for me. Excuse my poor artwork.


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## reblenight (Jan 10, 2007)

ok same purpose as the snap swivle on the way i talked about just something to slide it down to the water


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*MarineCorpsSgt*

Suggestion...where you have the #10-20 mono tied to rubber band and swivel....instead just loop your rubber band through the swivel on your fighting line...the hole nearest to your main line. By doing this, I think it would be quicker for you. Just fight the fish with the rubber band still atttached.


RT :fishing:


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*reblenight*



reblenight said:


> ok same purpose as the snap swivle on the way i talked about just something to slide it down to the water


Yeah, you got it.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*Reelturner*

Have had that happen to me as well.. I learned that if I could get the bait hooked up to my fighting rod and drop that bait overboard right quick,adjust reel on fighting rod accordingly,run over to tacklebox grab spare clothspin,I was good to go...
Back when we did it,always had 3 or four extra clothspins ready and rigged with big snapswivels attached to wire that was bent to fit clothspin,in the tacklebox...
Nowadays,seems as though everyone likes to hook clothspin directly to snapswivel on the rig.. we never used to do this,always used to clip pin directly to running line or shockline,adjust tension on clothspin with rubberband if necessary.. This allowed us to change depths of the rigs,and seemed to pop free of pin quicker.. We only used one treble and a single back then as well,and sometimes just two singles,all brown colored or rusty so as not to spook fish in clear water conditions.. 

Many things have really changed since then..


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

DD, yes how I bet things have changed from when you did it. I have never just used two singles, like you talked about. Now, I either use a single and one treble OR a single and two trebles.

I knew about the rusty hook approach. I have even sprayed my rigs with flat black paint you know the cheap kind.

Clipping clothespin directly to running line or shock. Well, I have never done that but see where it would work just as well and that you could adjust the depths of your bait.

RT


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*Dd*

Three or four rigs ready......I usually have that many rigs ready and made up also.

RT


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## MCS (Aug 15, 2006)

I made a slight mistake on my picture. The first hook on my setup is a single, followed by the two trebles.


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Haha the first time I tried trolly rigging at Bogue Inlet Pier I had a 2-single hook king rig and a couple guys just frowned, one gave me a 2 treble rig to use. Times sure have changed.


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

We don't use the rings,we use the clips.We eliminated the rubber band years and years ago.When tying your running line to the swivel,leave about a 3' tag end.Take the tag end and tie 2-3 double overhand knots on top of each other about an inch from the swivel,then attach the clothespin over the knot.We start out by using two #2 trebles in the spring and fall,two #4 or even #6 trebles in the summer when spanish are plentiful,all rigged on 47# or 61#(never bigger) Malin coffee colored single strand.Sometimes in July,we always kept a set of #2s ready in case we saw tarpon rolling.I've seen kings and cobia to 50 lbs and tarpon to 165 lbs caught on king rigs with these two hook setups and never seen even the #6s bent if the angler used thier drag correctly.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*With YOU posting,I just gotta start it up....*



flathead said:


> We don't use the rings,we use the clips.We eliminated the rubber band years and years ago.When tying your running line to the swivel,leave about a 3' tag end.Take the tag end and tie 2-3 double overhand knots on top of each other about an inch from the swivel,then attach the clothespin over the knot.We start out by using two #2 trebles in the spring and fall,two #4 or even #6 trebles in the summer when spanish are plentiful,all rigged on 47# or 61#(never bigger) Malin coffee colored single strand.Sometimes in July,we always kept a set of #2s ready in case we saw tarpon rolling.I've seen kings and cobia to 50 lbs and tarpon to 165 lbs caught on king rigs with these two hook setups and never seen even the #6s bent if the angler used thier drag correctly.


 

And how many of those kings or tarpon had the hooks pull free because they were snagged and not hooked?????? Yeap ya use a loooooooose drag,and looooooots of line,those trebles ain't gonna bend.. We used a looooose drag back then,but if'n it was a poon or cobe at the end,the "heat" was applied,then (if'n you was using trebles) they'd a got bent..  Only drawback I really saw with trebles with a king was>>>> *praying those hooks in his back,tail,side,or belly were going to hold...*

Only thing I can think of is kings bite differently nowadays,cause at least 70% of the kings caught on single hook rigs back then were in the "beak".. Can say that for a fact,and we really didn't have a ton of misses... 
I've spoke with folks that fished with me in those days,and they all agree.. None understand the need for so many trebles,although,as has been said,"Times have changed"...


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Carolina Rebel said:


> Haha the first time I tried trolly rigging at Bogue Inlet Pier I had a 2-single hook king rig and a couple guys just frowned, one gave me a 2 treble rig to use. Times sure have changed.


theres nothing wrong with two singles whatsoever. 


personally, id have have a single hook in a fish, rather then a trebble.

ive basically eliminated trebbles in my king rigs, except for a few times...

1) im using small grass shad with a 3/0 owner j and a #6 gold trebble for big spanish..

2) im usuing a rather large bluefish with two owner big j's and a #4 stinger.


i do like that stinger sometimes,,although like dd said, that ones usualy not the one in the mouth, its usually on the eye, top of the head, or gill .


Im going to try all singles this year for cobes/tarpon from the pier and see how it work. the two bigger tarpon ive caugth on the pier, the trebbles were pretty messed up and bent a little, but the big j owner was the one stuck into that hard plate and getting the job done.



is it may yet? 




Jesse


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## bluerunner (Jun 30, 2003)

I know in florida a lot of times they use a single circle........and most boat tourny anglers use a single hook with a treble stinger.


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