|  
Recently, I have been hearing
quite a few instances where after reeling
the bait after a missed hit, the
disappointed angler is left with only a
half of what was once a live bait, and
the bite falling short of the hook. After
some trial and error, we are going to
show you a way to improve your hookup
ratio and reduce the number of missed
hits while fishing with a live bait. The
theory behind this rig, is that there are
two primary reasons for a short hit on
your bait. One is that the fish hits the
bait tail first, and bites down to
imobilize the bait before swallowing it.
The second is that the bait is too big
for the fish to eat at once, therefore
biting the bait in half short of the
hook. What this rig is designed to do, is
cause minimal injury to your bait in
order to maintain it in a lively
condition, therefore attracting your
predator and enticing it to bite and hook
itself by biting on the hook in the tail
section. The first step is the leader. We
are using the basic fishfinder
configuration here. You can use your
choice of mono or steel braid or wire if
your prefer. The most important aspect of
this leader for this rig, that is not
shown in the illustrations, is to have a
barrel swivel at least 18 inches or more
above your bait. This is very important
because without the swivel, as the bait
swims and moves it will spin and twist
causing a twist and kink in the leader,
the swivel allows free more natural
movement of the bait without twisting and
line kink. After we have our leader
configuration taken care of, the next
rigging step is to thread your hook and
line from the inside lower lip of your
bait to the outside and feed the hook and
line through as shown in the first
illustration below.
illustration
#1
After
threading the hook and line through the
baits lower lip, you will then pierce the
side of the bait near the tail and run
the hook through as shown in illustration
#2. 
illustration
#2
After the
hook is placed near the tail, you will
take your first of 2 zip ties (cable
ties) and wrap the 1st zip tie
around the shank of the hook and
tail of the fish to hold the hook barb in
the proper position to the fish for
hookup as demonstrated in illustration
#3.
 illustration
#3
Once the
hook is secured with the zip tie, you
will then remove any slack between the
fish's mouth and its tail and then place
your second zip tie over the dorsal fin
behind the gills of the fish to secure
the line close to the fish as in
illustration
#4. 
illustrtation
#4
Once you
have secured both zip ties and tightened
them down, you can clip the tag ends of
the ties flush and your bait is ready to
fish and do its job. Be careful not to
place the forward zip tie directly under
the gills as this will disturb the normal
breathing of the bait.
By Victor Delgado
Aka “Whopperstopper”
If you have any
comments or questions, be sure to post
them on the Surf-Masters Message
Board
Return to
Feature Articles
|
