Well, I have been out a fair few times now and used mainly shop-bought rigs.
Having tried the obvious and common ones for shore work, I thought it time to make some of my own and perhaps find which ones work best for me in given circumstances and conditions.
From what I have learned so far, a two hook set up is easy enough for me to handle/cast, and obviously doubles the chances of catching that a single hook does. I was using a three hook flapper sometimes but how I had it was not casting too great. Clipped down rigs (when you get them right) cast much better.
It is apparent to me that as with most types of fishing, bait presentation is of the top most importance, and casting as I have to, quite hard and longish, into the sea my bait was suffering with the forces involved in flying through the air and hitting the water hard. Nothing very scientific, and very common practice, but I will only use `clipped-down` rigs as far as possible now.
I did use another type of clip at first, but the hook lengths seemed to stretch and didn,t work for long. So I am now sold on the Gemini Imps.
So far, and as others have reported, these have not let me down and work really well. Like this.......
Obviously, in the above picture the rod tip is off to the right and the lead to the left. At the moment I am only using the Imp on the upper of two hooks and an Impact shield for the hook nearest the lead. I suppose there is no reason why another, say third and upper hook, could not be set up the same. I will try that out later on.
The Impact shield then. Same sort of principal, uses water hitting or pushing it to release the otherwise `clipped down` hook. So aiding casting distance and keeping the bait in better condition, not bashed around and hanging off the hook or up the line.
The black plastic `shield` moves up the line on impact (to the right) hits the stop bead and pops the hook off. This is situated at the bottom of the rig, near the lead. Works pretty well. I did try using one further up the line, but it did not always work for some reason.
Another change. From just a little experience the type of hook makes a difference also. You can just see it in the picture above, a small barb on the hook shank. One of a variety of pattern called baitholders or wormholders. Not that I have used many types, but these are my current ones.
Size 2/0 fine(ish) wire bait holders seem to work for me. They hold one big/two small lug just right.
So, from limited experience and taking catch rates into account my favourite set up goes like this...
18lb main line, fixed spool reel. 60lb shockleader, about twenty feet of it (more on that later) Breakaway lead of 150 grammes or just over 5oz, Impact shield holding down the bottom hook, Imp holding down the top hook. The rig body is made of the same shockleader line 60lb Greased Weasel. The G-Point hooks of the above selection seem great.
Another alteration I have made is to hook lengths. I was getting a few fish that were a little deep hooked, which bothered me. So now I have shortened my hook lengths to around a foot and the problem has just about gone away. Also, now using rig winders for all of my home made kit.
All things considered I feel I am making progress. Last time out, six fish (the first of which after just five minutes!) eight the time before, four the trip prior to that. I am now looking for other spots to try and will experiment with bait more. I just need a few fish a bit bigger than I am getting!
