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Apologies in advance to those that are already familiar with the contents of this page, but it is always best to show how the components for rigging lures are assembled. We heard a tale from a very reliable source of an angler that went out on his first ever Marlin trip, and turned up at the boat with all the latest equipment. During the ride out to the fishing grounds he assembled the tackle, and followed all the instructions faultlessly, and ended his rigging operation with a ready rigged lure from a famous manufacturer that had been ‘slaying’ marlin the world over. The boat cut to trolling speed and the lure was positioned in prime position on the front of the 5th standing wave, popping and gurgling on the surface, then diving leaving a faultless wake of ‘smoke’. The rest of the lures were put out, and trolling commenced in earnest. A short while later, the new lure was smashed repeatedly by a huge marlin, and failed to hook up. With the marlin drifting back into the depths, they circled round, and found another marlin, smaller than the first. This fish repeatedly rose, struck the lure, and turned the water into foam in its attempts to eat the lure – and still no hook up. This scene repeated itself through the course of the morning. The skipper was getting frustrated with this, and after a considerable number of marlin strikes, and still no hook ups he asked that the lure be brought in for inspection.The lure was suffering a little from all the attention that it had been getting, damage to the skirts, abrasion marks from the bill on the resin head. But this was insignificant when compared to the verbal damage the skipper gave the client/angler - as he removed the hook protector!!!!!!!!! It only goes to show, that no matter how foolproof things are made, there will be the occasion to defy credibility. Trolling lures are designed to run true and straight without spinning, and the primary cause of this problem is the use of ‘kirbed’ hooks – offset point hooks will never let a lure run straight & true. Next cause is getting the rigging sections twisted during assembly, with either too big a loop on the hook, allowing it to get twisted; or getting the ‘stiff’ rigging un-balanced. The last obvious cause is in the use of baited lures, usually with strip baits, these need to be checked before running out into the spread, as a twisting or spinning lure very rarely catches fish. The first two of these problem areas arise during crimping operations, when mounting the hook on the leader, below we describe our sequence which applies mostly for mono, but equally for wire. |
Swinging
Hook on Monofilament |
Rigging
Red-Gills and Tubi Booms |
| • A
straight hook is selected and sharpened to razor point, before
any assemble work. This avoids/reduces the possibility of the
hook file coming into contact with the leader. The point is then
wrapped
in some paper masking tape to avoid spearing the rigger, to
be removed before consigning the lure to the sea. •The leader material is selected, along with appropriate size crimps, for very heavy weight fishing it is recommended that 2 crimps are used at each loop. The crimps are threaded on the leader, the hook is then threaded on the leader. The leader is then threaded through both crimps, and a good length pulled through. The end of the monofilament leader is then gently heated (not ignited) until it naturally forms a ball. This ball of monofilament is allowed to fully cool before progressing. •The leader is then gently pulled back through the crimps and the hook eye, until a small loop is attained, no more than the size of the eye of the hook. Any larger will allow the hook to rotate in the loop, and possibly end up lying in a mis-aligned position, that will cause the lure to spin. • The Crimps are now resting one to the other, and prevented from slipping off the leader by the ball of monofilament. The crimps are now compressed with the proper crimping tool, in the centre of each crimp. Resist the temptation of compressing the crimps right up to the end of the crimp, as the original flared profile attained by compressing in the centre is a very desirable feature. It allows the mono to stay away from the potential rubbing points of the corners of the crimp. • Spacer beads are now added to the leader, followed by the lure. Check now for the exact lie of the hook within the lure skirts. Lures rigged for toothsome species and bait rigging essentially work better with the bend of the hook at the rear edge of the skirt. Plain run lures for other species are better with the hook sited centrally to the skirt. Slip off the lure and add any spacer beads as required for exact positioning. • The leader is now ready to complete, at the tackle fixing end. Two crimps are threaded on the leader, and the desired loop is formed after the mono has been formed into the ball end with gentle heat. Before the leader is pulled tight, a stainless steel thimble is inserted into the loop, and then pulled snug, the crimps are then compressed. • All that remains is to carefully coil the leader in open loops, and secure the loops with a couple of rubber bands, formed in clove hitches. Place the lure away in kit bag. Lengths of leaders depend much upon each anglers desired style of fishing. If wind-on leaders are being used, which terminate in a snap swivel, then lure leaders can be as short as 1.0 metres. While those using double lines terminating in a snap swivel, would do better with 4 - 5 metre leaders.A quick word on sizing hooks to leaders – on most lures being run with single or double hooks, the hook gape needs to be at least the size of the widest part of the head of the lure. This allows at least half the hook gap to project from below the skirts when the lure isrunning. In the above rigging directions, we have deliberately not detailed how to anchor the hook in the head of the lure. We believe that the hook on the leader will find its natural position – down pointing, without being fixed in the lure head. This allows the lure to also find its own natural balance, as there is always the possibility of the lure head or skirt being slightly heavier on one side or another. Locking this imbalance into the keel effect of the hook, would certainly help to induce spinning.We personally prefer single hook rigs to those using double hooks, but as there are conflicting counter arguments to support both cases, we leave the choice to the individual angler.The above lure mounting procedure works equally well for wire as for monofilament nylon, however there is rarely a need for wire leaders to project beyond the lure. In this instance, the wire is kept short, and terminated in a swivel just inside the head of the lure, then monofilament is crimped to the other side of the swivel. Continual checking for the length of the wire section is needed before final assembly, to ensure the desired position of the hook in the skirt. Wire sections within lures are only really necessary with lures that are likely to be hit by toothsome species. Swivel selection for wire is best done by matching the size of the wire to the size of the ring wire on the swivel.
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Redgills for all fishing situations tend to work best on long leaders, at least 4.0 metres long, this allows the lure and especially the tail to vibrate and attract fish. For slow trolling situations, at this 4.0 metre mark, a lead weight should be added to get the lure below the surface, as the lure has very little weight of its own. The lead in this situation can either be added to the trace above the link swivel, in the form of an egg sinker type lead, or clipped to the connection swivel, with a clip swivel – either form is acceptable, but the clip swivel method allows for changes in weight and fishing depth to be made quickly. The other system of fishing Redgills is deep dropping to wrecks, reefs and other sub-surface fish holding areas. This is usually carried out from a drifting or anchored boat, and uses the Tubi-boom to avoid all the potential of twisting the long leader around the main line, as the lure and weight are dropped down deep.
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• Thread up the desired fishing rod in normal fashion.
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• Rigging Redgills is relatively easy, as the lure comes with its own hook. Take a 4.0 metre length of leader material, form a tied or crimped loop in one end.
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