King Rig

[YAK'N AGGIE]

Will this work for a leader? I don't want to try and learn the "haywire" method described in the sticky before my first trip and have it fail, so for now I just want to stick to something simple. My concern is the clasp. If not, can anyone recommend a good leader that I can use for both bait and lures?

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Terminat ... l+Products" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Will these work for trolling? I don't really even care what I catch. I'll be "targetting" kings but it'll be my first time out more than a few hundred yards so I just want to catch fish. Heck, one of everything out there would be ideal. I'll be devoting a day or two to shark fishing, but also want to hit a rig or the Surfside buoys. These are what I'm looking at ordering for trolling:

Rat'L'Trap in Chrome - 1 OZ: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Original ... l+Products" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Russel Lures - These look nice, what size would y'all recommend? http://www.russelure.com/products.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Any other recommendations? Total noob here. I've got the shark leaders down which I'll be using for sharks and bull reds, but have never gotten out far enough to target the others. Again - I want to keep things SIMPLE since I don't know what I'm doing. Ideally I'd love to be able to make up a bunch of leaders that will work for everything - kings, cobia, smacks, red snapper - so I can just throw whatever bait I find or whatever lures I have on the same leaders that I have made up.

P.S. If anyone hasn't been annoyed by a total rookie in a while and misses it - I'll be posting an open invite later this week. I'll be at Surfside from 7/4 thru 7/8.

[nick220722]

Russelure are good in the 3" and the 5" size. From the yak I'd recommend the 3" as you will catch everything on them including smacks. No matter what you're trolling, you'll need to have a steel leader in front of it if you're going for kings and you may encounter smacks and sharks on those same lures. In my opinion, you shouldn't really be afraid of the haywire twist - its very simple and effective. I like the flexibility of a multi-strand leader (like you put a link to) but my concern would be that you can only get them 6" or 12". Most articles I've read (and I'm no expert) say that from boats when trolling for kings etc its not uncommon to have a 6 ft. steel leader. I've been using 3 foot home made leaders with Malin 7 strand wire.

[Prof. Salt]

The haywire will take you an hour or less to get decent, good looking rigs. The linked ones will work most of the time, but will get bitten off sometimes by a second fish trying to snatch the bait from the hooked fish. Three foot leaders are the norm and keep you relatively safe, but they're short enough to be easy to handle.

[YAK'N AGGIE]

The haywire will take you an hour or less to get decent, good looking rigs. The linked ones will work most of the time, but will get bitten off sometimes by a second fish trying to snatch the bait from the hooked fish. Three foot leaders are the norm and keep you relatively safe, but they're short enough to be easy to handle.

Gosh, I'm such a noob at all of this stuff. Never done this kind of fishing. I picked up the shark/bull red method real fast, but I'm one of those people that is CLUELESS when I read about it, then as soon as I DO it one time, I usually pick it up. I just don't want to get out there so clueless this trip because as of now I'm not going with anyone that knows what they're doing.

So, the linked one will work if I can find something similar in 3 foot? The Malin wire is like $3 so I'll pick some up and see if I can figure it out, but I might get some of these premade ones as a backup.

I saw you write somewhere "the typical three hook rig". Do you mean like the one in the sticky, but with an extra treble? So you have the bait hook, then two trailing trebles? Are they at different lengths from the bait hook?

[AcousticTennis]

Learn the twist it is absolutely worth it....you can spend money on one pre-made rig that will not be as strong...or you can spend the same money on materials and make multiple rigs that you know for a fact were made with care because you made them yourself....

typically i have a spro swivel...1.5feet of wire leader.... live bait hook...few inches of leader....4/0 VMC short shank 4x strong treble....few inches of leader...Same treble....

if you use a heavy setup then you can use the same heavy materials that i use...if you use lights line and set up i recommend watching the video prof put together...

If your heading offshore close to port aransas let me know ill likely be heading out as well, i can take you some leaders to lasst the trip and you can study em after and make your own accordingly

[Andreujc]

Learn the twist it is absolutely worth it....you can spend money on one pre-made rig that will not be as strong...or you can spend the same money on materials and make multiple rigs that you know for a fact were made with care because you made them yourself....

typically i have a spro swivel...1.5feet of wire leader.... live bait hook...few inches of leader....4/0 VMC short shank 4x strong treble....few inches of leader...Same treble....

X2

Your finger tips will hurt not you pocket..

[Prof. Salt]

Something is funny about my computer today and I can't get the video to show here, but the link below is how I turn the basic materials into useful leaders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t82a8-i ... FEK6aBcOfQ

[Salsa]

All I'm gonna say is my first BTB Acoustic Tennis and Prof. Salt waited and met up with me. AT gave me a rig and Prof gave me the class and the blessing. By lunch I had my first two kings. Do as they say, you're in good company.
Get bent,

[tiggere]

x3...a haywire twist is a very simple wire knot...I use #4 coffee colored wire about 4 feet long (for comps its 6 to 7 feet long) ...a #10 double xx barrel swivel...and two 4x bleeding treble hooks...distance between two hooks is determined by bait size...I sit around and watch tv while tying everything up...notice on the front hook how I run the wire through the eye of the hook and through the loop of the other wire...but the absolute most important thing is DO NOT CUT the tag end of the wire off...you bend it back on itself to break it off flush with the barrel roll...if you cut it it will lay your hand open like a razor blade should you grab it wrong...

[YAK'N AGGIE]

Thanks for all the info everyone!!! This is a HUGE help. I'm going to try to make some of these up this weekend. If I get stuck, I'll post on here.

That video is a huge help Prof.

I'll be going to Surfside from Thursday 7/4 through Monday 7/8 if any of you guys want to join for any of those days. I'm going to post an open invite this weekend. On rougher days I'll just stick a few hundred yards off-shore and target sharks and reds. Any windows that present themselves and I will be heading to the rig and/or the buoys.

It will be my maiden voyage in the Outback. Very excited!

[YAK'N AGGIE]

Would this wire work? http://www.cabelas.com/product/AFW-Surf ... l+Products" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I can only find Malin in spools of 300+ feet. Not trying to drop $50 on it quite yet.

If that will work, what # test? 30? 40?

I'm trying to purchase this stuff at Cabela's if possible. I get points there.

[AcousticTennis]

No that won't work it won't hold a twist...academy usually has some however I don't know if they took it out when they killed the fishing section at most of them

[Andreujc]

No that won't work it won't hold a twist...academy usually has some however I don't know if they took it out when they killed the fishing section at most of them

Surflon has to be tied or crimped... and once you get to #30+ surflon its really hard to tie. Stop by FTU, Academy or even BassPro which is on the way to Surfside on 288 South, you will find it there for sure.

[cliftonio]

Here you go!

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/store ... in&Ntk=All

[YAK'N AGGIE]

Here you go!

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/store ... in&Ntk=All

Thanks!

[YAK'N AGGIE]

How would I use this method for tying on lures? Would I tie a steel leader directly onto the lure using the haywire method, then the other end to a swivel and I'm done? Then I can just tie the swivel to the main line when I want to use that lure?

[tiggere]

yep...thats the way to do it...FYI...#7 is overkill...#4 or #5 will suit you just fine and wont make your fingers hurt trying to twist it...

http://www.basspro.com/Offshore-Angler- ... duct/8580/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[YAK'N AGGIE]

yep...thats the way to do it...FYI...#7 is overkill...#4 or #5 will suit you just fine and wont make your fingers hurt trying to twist it...

http://www.basspro.com/Offshore-Angler- ... duct/8580/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just ordered it and then read this. Oh well. Once the calluses form I'll be fine...

No pain no gain!! I'M STOKED TO GET OUT THERE!!

I sure hope some people end up meeting me... I won't head out to the rig alone unless it's like ice cream, and even then I still probably won't. Unless I'm feeling ballsy.

[cliftonio]

yep...thats the way to do it...FYI...#7 is overkill...#4 or #5 will suit you just fine and wont make your fingers hurt trying to twist it...

http://www.basspro.com/Offshore-Angler- ... duct/8580/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What? Come on now. Even my soft "money counting hands" can do a twist with #7 and not get a boo boo . Let your pliers do the work (after the twist, I use neddlenose pliers as a vice to get real pretty barrel rolls)

[AcousticTennis]

#4..#7?? I only know in pounds lol how heavy is #7?

I use #105 steel leader and i catch a lot of grief of overkill ...but ive never had a fish bite through the leader so far

[cliftonio]

#7 is 80lbs

[AcousticTennis]

My only issue with using less than #80..is several times while tying a #40-#60 steel wire it just breaks off in my hands....i dont tie bad or put any unnecessary strain...but if it breaks while im trying it than it has none of my confidence when a king is zipping line off

[cliftonio]

Do you turn green when you break the leader?

[AcousticTennis]

Thats exactly what i look like when i break the leader and the point finds it way under my thumb nail haha

[YAK'N AGGIE]

Hahaha. I'm still not entirely sure how to break it off correctly. Having trouble envisioning it, and Prof Salt's video says to just cut it. But I definitely understand the reason for not wanting to do it that way...

The wire should arrive this weekend... hopefully it makes more sense once I start doing it.

Might post here if I run into some issues.