| | |  | ** | One of the mysteries to the novice angler is how to rig live bait for fishing our productive inshore waters. Indeed, even some experienced fishers, could learn a thing or two about this highly productive method of fishing. Therefore we present a few ideas that should enable you to become much more proficient at shallow water live bait fishing. Let's begin with a typical email that we receive from a reader who is seeking some answers about live bait rigging. |
Capt. Mel,
I looked all over your web site for a definitive method to rig live bait for inshore shore/wade fishing. I have always used 12-15# test on a medium/light rod reel combo( 6 ft. rod, Penn 722 Z reel) putting a 1/2 oz. weight above a swivel with about a foot of 20# test leading to a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. With a float another foot above the swivel/weight and using large shrimp for bait. This has served me fairly well over the years but, I think there is probably a better set up. I don't get the strikes like I used to. My hot spot used to be off the point where the Manatee river and Sarasota bay meet Tampa bay. Now (10 years ago) they built mansions there and it's no longer accessible by land. Are fish smarter now or is there a better way to rig this?
Wade Pitzer "Strikeless in Tampa"
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And here, with the help of my colleague Gary Poyssick are some excellent suggestions for Wade:
Hey Wade.
First of all, there's nothing really wrong with what you're doing. On the other hand, as fishing pressure increases, fish get smarter -- despite their tiny brains. They are, after all, survivors.
Some species are far less discriminating than others, and don't take notice of extra hardware such as swivels, sinkers, or oversize hooks. Others, like snook -- and to a lesser degree redfish -- can be quite finicky, and turn their noses at anything but the most subtle presentation.
We've long felt that the less hardware, whistles, bells, flashers, beads, and lead there is between us and the fish, the better our chances.
 |
Normally, we use only line-to-leader combinations. We're big fans of Power Pro braided mono. It's far superior to anything we've ever used. It's very light (10 lb test has a diameter equivalent to 2 lb mono) and extremely sensitive. We use a surgeon's knot (you can see how to tie them on my site) to tie a fluorocarbon leader directly to the line. If we do need weight, we use split shot. For hooks, we tend to stay small -- usually a #1 for live bait (shrimp or whitebait). This holds true for most species, including trout, snook, reds, and cobia. For tarpon and other big species, we use the same exact rig, but increase the pound test of the line and the size of the hooks. |
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