Ok...Fishing Rigs

[Celestialsailor]

I thought this would be a fun topic for folks out cruising or experienced there in. What rig did you use? What did you like or not? What reel? What line? Down riggers or poles.

I used a deep sea pole but always thought it was over-kill. To big and clumsy to stow. I think I would have been happier with a stout nub of a pole and an old Penn with 50# test.
An old friend, long passed away, told me while a Merchant Marine, used just a line with a large hook on the end hidden by a white rag. He claimed he always caught more fish than anyone else on the deck while crossing Oceans.
Also what rod holder. Those plastic ones look feeble.

[kingwoodie]

I had 5 kona lures of different colors on a 50 lb line and a penn 3 ott(?) reel. I had an old stiff rod used to catch king fish with and the whole rig did very well. It was old and ugly but did the job. I also had two hand made fly rods a 4-5 and an 8-9 with me since I like lite tackle fishing. Won't do that again on my next trip since fishing gear on board a sailboat don't get the best treatment as they would have on a sport fisherman. Also, when in the open waters and you are the prime target of flying fish, hook them and troll. I think I had more luck with the flying fish than the lures. But, since we didn't want more than one fish a week to eat most everything was catch and release.

Kingwoodie
s/v "The Lady Margaret Ann"

[onestepcsy37]

diehard fishing friend of mine gets his bait under his boat. he was in the keys for the last few months. told me that, when anchored for a day or two, small fish begin to congregate under his boat (maybe he needs a bottom cleaning?). he just lowers a small circle hook with a tiny weight and any kind of small bait and catches all the baitfish he needs.

[Randyonr3]

Was introduced to the Cuban YoYo a couple years back, with a neon broke-back I was hooking a bass daily on my dink on the way back and forth to the shop. Hope it works as well on our next passage.

[bobconnie]

Just a hand line from the aft taft rail. 100 lb mono, 6ft steel leader, a few different lures, mostly troll a old wooden plug thats sorta yellow!! a simple bungee cord makes the hook up all by it's self!! We fed ourselfs and a few others for years with this rig ! Gave up poles, to hard to store and hard to use from the deck of a sail boat !! Try a simple hand line ya will glad ya did !!

[ReMetau]

I have a trolling rod with a 2 speed Shimano that has 50 lb mono on it. I have two brass rod holders one the stern rail.

I also use a yo-yo with 400 lb mono (easier on hands) to fluorocarbon leader. I wrap this on a winch and use a bungee as a spring.

If I want to troll a little deeper, I also use a small planer.

[sww914]

I started out with a Med-heavy pole and an old Penn 60 reel with 50# test. Between Turtle Bay and Mag Bay I lost 2 lures when I caught something big then I caught something bigger and it broke the pole, broke the remaining eyelets off of the pole and stripped my reel of line. I set the drag a little higher as he was emptying my reel and the line broke with about 50 feet left on the spool. I need bigger stuff.
Now I'm using a stump of a pole with the same old Penn. I've caught a lot of fish on cedar plugs and white or yellow bucktail jigs when trolling. I've also caught a few on the fake squid trolling lures that I got at Walmart for a buck a piece.
I talked to a young couple who came down the same day as me. They broke or lost all their stuff that day and ended up filling their fridge and freezer with a piece of clothes line and a hook with a piece of a Dorito's bag tied off around the shank.
Our pole holder is the old metal one that came with the boat bolted to the stanchion.

[Ian R]

This is the rig I use when sailing. I use chain instead of a lead sinker for better grip and it doesn't get bitten off.

[Ian R]

This is the rig I use when motoring in calm weather. I hook more fish using this rig than my sailing rig ,but you need to slow down if you hook something big. With the sailing rig I drag the fish till it's buggered then pull it in.

[Kettlewell]

We have what we call the "meat line." It's a long (maybe 100 feet) length of 1/8" nylon rope, with a nice long leader of 100lb test mono, and then a length of stainless steel leader. We tie it off to a cleat and bring in the fish on a winch. Not very sporting, but we only use it when we want something to eat, hence the name.

[Ian R]

This is my bottom fishing rig for the reef or beach.

[Ian R]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

We have what we call the "meat line." It's a long (maybe 100 feet) length of 1/8" nylon rope, with a nice long leader of 100lb test mono, and then a length of stainless steel leader. We tie it off to a cleat and bring in the fish on a winch. Not very sporting, but we only use it when we want something to eat, hence the name.

The trouble I have here with this type of rig is other fish [usually spanish mackerel ] bite through the mono ,even stranded wire gets damaged.

[Kettlewell]

Hmmm--I've caught several Spanish Mackeral with my rig. I can't recall the exact lengths of each component, but I think the steel leader is at least 36 inches long.

[Ian R]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Hmmm--I've caught several Spanish Mackeral with my rig. I can't recall the exact lengths of each component, but I think the steel leader is at least 36 inches long.

It's not the fish on the hook thats the problem it's his mates ,still you catch more than you lose using mono [especially if it's a lone fish]. Fish here are attracted to the join at the steel leader,even a swivel . I used a large sinker to get the lure deeper and it allways had teeth marks even when painted black. Now I use chain and 2 meters of steel leader no more problem. I copied this idea off a professional mackerel fisherman.

[Ian R]

Having said all the above about chain etc , when at anchor I often tie the mono line [15 kg] directly to ganged hooks and float a bait out , I catch a lot of mackerel like this ,I also lose maybe 1 in 3 like this. If mackerel are shy they won,t touch a bait using a steel trace, if they are hungery they will take anything. Often with a floating bait mackerel will strike when you start to retrieve the bait. Some days they will only take a live bait.
When sailing I wont fish when doing less than 5 knots because I catch too many sharks, above 4 to 5 knots sharks aren't a problem.