# Tandem Rigs 101



## ORF Pete (Sep 26, 2009)

I've seen a few people ask about tandem rigs this fall, and I figured it'd be handy to have a little "how to" in terms of tying them together and what lures to use. I'm no expert by any means, so hopefully people can add to my post and turn this thread into a nice wealth of information. Below I'll detail my cheap and easy method for tying tandem rigs. I know some people use a 3-way swivel for tandem rigs, so maybe someone can post pics of theirs.


Line
Personally I use clear mono, but I know others that use fluorocarbon leader. I tend to use a line weight that is 10-15 pounds heavier than what my main line is. If I am using 17-20 pound main line I typically tie the rig with 30 pound test. I cut myself a 3.5 to 4 foot section of line, give or take a few inches. This is just personal preference with how long you want your leaders to be.

Lures
Much like the line used, the lures really comes down to personal experience and personal preference. I've seen fish caught on some of the most mis-matched tandem rigs, like a small bucktail on top and a large gotcha plug on the bottom. I like to use swim baits personally. This includes the storm brand lures (like their wildeye swim shad), along with "sassy shad" bodies with a 1/2 to 3/4 oz. jig head. Others that I use are some of the zoom brand lure bodies (bubblegum seems to be a favorite of many), and also bucktails. I generally use a larger lure on the bottom and a smaller lure on the top. I've heard a lot of people say that this makes it look like a larger fish chasing a smaller fish in the water and can trigger a predatory instinct and encourage the fish to bite. I've also had luck when using two lures of the exact same size. One thing I probably wouldn't do, nor have I seen anyone do this and have any luck, is using a smaller lure on the bottom and a larger lure on the top.



Below I'll detail how I tie everything together and what knots I use, but to give you a general idea of what the final product will be, here is a crude mspaint drawing:











Here are some of the lures I had to choose from for this example. The larger lures on the left will be used on the longer leader that will be swimming deeper in the water, and the smaller lures on the right will be used on the shorter leader (which will be swimming closer to the surface).











Now, you want to take that 4ft (give or take) section of line and separate it into one longer and one shorter length. Here is another crude mspaint drawing that I did for someone before when they asked about tandem rigs.










Once you separate out the line you want to tie a surgeons loop at the pinch. This is where you will be connecting the rig to your main line (I use a snap swivel for the connection). When you're done it should look something like this:











Once you tie that surgeons loop you can tie the lures onto ends of the line. Smaller lure goes on the shorter length, and the larger lure goes on the longer length. I use a rapala knot for tying the lures on. When you're done you should have something like the below pic. Please note that the 8oz pyramid weight has nothing to do with this rig and is just there to hold the line down as it wants to coil up. The snap swivel on the surgeons loop is there to illustrate how you can hook up this tandem rig to your main line.












So there you have it; a quick and easy way to tie up a tandem rig. Maybe it's not the best way, but it's what I know and what has worked for me. Apologies if the pics aren't that great, I took them about 30 mins ago after quickly tying together that rig. 

A few final notes: I know quite a few people that use a 3-way swivel instead of a surgeons loop + a snap swivel on their main line like I showed you above. I've also seen many many different kinds of lures used. Test a few out next time the striper bite is on this spring and find out what works for you.


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## O Shin Rin (Aug 31, 2009)

LOL I see cabin fever has gotten to you to Pete , looks good thanks for sharin

jerry


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

why dont you just use 1 large lure and tie a teaser in front of it.
no need to dangle to and watch them tangle into a messy ball.


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## ORF Pete (Sep 26, 2009)

eric said:


> why dont you just use 1 large lure and tie a teaser in front of it.
> no need to dangle to and watch them tangle into a messy ball.


The greater separation of the rig I detailed above has worked better for me, and has never tangled up on me upon casting or on the retrieve (note: I tied the above example quickly and the distances of it are a bit more than I normally use). If the rod is just sitting idle on the pier the wind might move the lures around and wrap them up a bit, but it's easy enough to prevent that by hooking the lures to the eyes of my rod while it's sitting idle.

If you've got some other examples of how to tie a tandem rig differently by all means post some pics up. It'd be good to have different examples of how to tie one.


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## O Shin Rin (Aug 31, 2009)

Hey Pete I'll pull out my rig and post it later think it's still on the rod !

jerry


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## MDubious (May 10, 2008)

nice post! I do something very similar but, different...hhmmmm


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

oh ok. on a pier yes thats ok.
i thought it was something you use on the beach.
which is why i said use a teaser. 
beach is too flat while piers you get a greater line angle.


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## Tracker16 (Feb 16, 2009)

nice job thanks. Reminds me I need to clean out my tackle bag and make up some new rigs for spring :fishing:


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Nice


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

eric said:


> oh ok. on a pier yes thats ok.
> i thought it was something you use on the beach.
> which is why i said use a teaser.
> beach is too flat while piers you get a greater line angle.


looks more like fishing the beach to me. work the bars and the suck outs. It still looks like a lot to throw, but I like the set. what are you throwing that set up on?


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## ORF Pete (Sep 26, 2009)

rattler said:


> looks more like fishing the beach to me. work the bars and the suck outs. It still looks like a lot to throw, but I like the set. what are you throwing that set up on?


Not sure if you're asking me about the rig I detailed above or eric and his teaser type rig he described, but I mostly pier fish with that rig on a generic 6'4 and 7ft. med. tackle bait rod. Also used it on a boat just fine, and have used a version with relatively short leaders (and a 1/2 oz. egg weight on the longer leader) from the beach on a 10ft med-heavy surf rod.


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## TideJones (Aug 29, 2008)

My favorite tandem rig I use when trolling is a deep diving crank bait with an inline spinner on a shorter leader above it. I can't imagine being able to successfully cast this rig though.


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## drum (Nov 15, 2010)

Hey pete, thanks for this post. I posted a thread today and this is the information I needed. What I don't understand was when Eric said something about using a teasar in front of the larger lure. In your example doesn't the smaller lure play the role of the teasar? 

I've heard of people tying the rig with a drooper loop about six inches from Surgeons loop. You would place your smaller lure on the drooper loop and your larger lure on the end of the line. And use the surgeon loop to attach to your main line. 


Also do you think 20lb test is enough for tying this rig? And do you have to use rapala knots for swim bait. I normally tie a uni-knot or a parlomar knot. I can see why you use the rapala knot though, it seems like you would get bettar swim action.


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