Pre-outting Preparations - Rigs

[rixter]

BTW, do you guys throw away hooks and swivels after each use?
Cheers

In my case , good quality hooks will get a few sessions, cheapies just get the chuck after 2 to 3 uses. Depends on the quality of the hook and how long it stays sharp , or weather you could be bothered re-shapening your used hooks.
Swivels I tend to use over and over until they break ! , I've still got some swivels & snap-on swivels in my tacklebox form 20 years ago , still use them now and still haven't lost a fish to one of them 'yet' !.
If a swivel is a tadd stiff or getting surface rust , then chuck it , otherwise imo you can get alot of use out of swivels, but also depending on the quality of them.
To sum it up , if your hook is still very sharp , then why chuck it !. Swivels, I've re-used them over and over , so even if i did loose a fish to a broken swivel eventualy (still has never happened to this day), the amount of fish caught before hand using that swivel; to me; has justified re-using it until it breaks imo.
In the reality of a pro-fisherman who doesn't wan't the risk of loosing any fish , then it's usualy new hooks/swivels and sometimes line too every outing.
Cheers, Rick

[Cuda]

BTW, do you guys throw away hooks and swivels after each use?
Cheers

In my case , good quality hooks will get a few sessions, cheapies just get the chuck after 2 to 3 uses. Depends on the quality of the hook and how long it stays sharp , or weather you could be bothered re-shapening your used hooks.
Swivels I tend to use over and over until they break ! , I've still got some swivels & snap-on swivels in my tacklebox form 20 years ago , still use them now and still haven't lost a fish to one of them 'yet' !.
If a swivel is a tadd stiff or getting surface rust , then chuck it , otherwise imo you can get alot of use out of swivels, but also depending on the quality of them.
To sum it up , if your hook is still very sharp , then why chuck it !. Swivels, I've re-used them over and over , so even if i did loose a fish to a broken swivel eventualy (still has never happened to this day), the amount of fish caught before hand using that swivel; to me; has justified re-using it until it breaks imo.
In the reality of a pro-fisherman who doesn't wan't the risk of loosing any fish , then it's usualy new hooks/swivels and sometimes line too every outing.
Cheers, Rick

Sounds pretty logical Rixter, apart from 20 yo swivels :icon_lolz: ..Just kidding mate..
I also keep some hooks for a few times, but will never put them in the same compartment as new ones, or any wet tackle with dry at all.
Also, I will fresh-water-shower my sinkers, swivels and keeper hooks when I'm washing down my rods/reels.

[Bartnmax]

Yeah I definitely tend to tie my rigs well before heading out.
Most of my rods have snap swivels tied to the main line, some with eze-rig sinker clips sling on the main line abover the snap.
The rigs themselves usually have top quality swivels at the top end for attaching to the snap.
The reason for using snaps is twofold;
1. It allows me to quickly & easilly replace rigs. This can be a major bonus when the reds are biting hot & I loose a hook. Instead of wasting time retying hooks I just snap on a newly pre-tied rig & I'm back in action in the shortest possible time. It's also damned handy if I happen to come across a school of salmon when travelling. Takes no-time to snap on a lure. Great getting fresh bait like that when heading out after the reds.
2. It also allows me to snap rigs off the rod for washing when I get home. I roll the rigs up & give em a douse in a bucket of warm fresh water. They're then unrolled, checked for any nicks, properly dried in the shade, & then re-rolled, sprayed, & storred.
I find that most people that tie their rigs on tend to wash the rod/reel but forget/neglect to wash their hooks. Then the next time out they've got rusty hooks on the end of their line to deal with.
Pre-tying rigs also allows me to take my time tying them at home & ensure knots, etc are perfect.

Bill.

[Bartnmax]

BTW, do you guys throw away hooks and swivels after each use?
Cheers

Not at all. As long as the hooks, swivels, etc are washed in fresh water & properly dried afterwards to prevent rusting (I also give em a quick spray) they're usually fine for quite a few uses. The hooks may require a bit of touch up on a stone to keep em sharp but as long as they're not rusted there's no need to throw em after each use IMO. Having said that, if there's any doubt about their integrity- throw em. They're cheap.

Bill.

[bradp]

Rigs, as important as the rod and reels we use, yet there is no where near as much discussions on them.

For me, i put a lot of hours before each outing to make sure all my rigs are properly tied and recheck the ones that i have used.

I always have 5 foam blocks which i have in my fishing bag. Each foam block tends to target a style of fishing. Each foam block will hold anything between 4 to 10 rigs.

1 for Gar\Mullet (catch live bait - Float setup - 4lb leaders)
1 for SPs (6lb leaders)
1 for 'Bread n Butter, bottom bashing' = Flathead, Pinkies, Salmon (Size 1 and above 6-12lb leaders)
1 for 'Bread n Butter, bottom bashing' = Whiting and Trevallys (Size 6 and Size 4 - 6lb leaders)
1 for Misc, Squid leaders, Lure leaders, live bait leaders etc.

I then have another x2 foam blocks for much larger fish, double hooks for Snapper, Jew etc (12lb-50lb leader, for boat and land based session)
These only come with me when i specifically targeting larger fish.

Before each outing, I sit in the lounge room with my wife and as we watch a movie or show, i will be there making rigs. Each time i make a couple of rigs, i would make an "experimental" rig. I would either add something new to it, or change the length of a section of the rig etc. Something that is different from the usual framework of making that particular rig. I would then try to use this rig in my next outing and see how it performs; does it tangle during flight? does it make the bait spin? is it prone to snagging? Does the tubing get in the way of hook ups etc.

I have rigs with crystal flashers, beads, tubing, split-shots, different types of hook positions and so on.

I would also sit in front of the PC and watch hours of YouTube videos on rigs, bait presentation and luring\casting. You would be amazed of the amount of different techniques there are. There are techniques used in the US, Europe and Japan; enjoy watching the Japanese as like always, take it the next level. They have an entire industry in terminal tackle, let alone lures\sps. All different types of species of fish with different types of rigs\lures\casting\retrieval methods.

I would love to hear what you guys do when it comes to making rigs, tying leaders before you go out.

I always pre-tie my rigs. I have heaps tied ready to suit most situations.

Due to having so many rigs pre-tied, foam blocks would take up my whole bag. I put each rig into a ziplock bag, then into a rig wallet or pocket of my backpack

[FishSamFish]

I also have my rigs setup but I Have a table box just for them, I have usually 50+ snapper rigs, 40 whiting, 10 skirted lures, 3-4 cuda lures (wire trace), infinite numbeer of paternosters, and 4 twin 8/0 200lb 12ft shark traces. each in an individual bag. slightly OCD

[Jakobi]

I always have my rigs set up before I go out fishing, I'm pretty much only fishing out at Werribee South, land based. So not much need to mix and match. I keep around five rigs on hand, in which depending on the conditions Ill change the hook and sinkers around. I always try to use small swivels no matter the breaking strain of my line, as the smaller the swivel the more it rotates with the line and I mostly use the uni knot (Hangman knot). I also use Seaguar 8lb flurorcarbon lead line as it is pretty much invisible under the water.

Cool, assuming your doing a dropper style setup where you can 'loop' in the different size of hooks?

Yea well I usually use a running sinker rig, but I find 'looping' isn't a benefit with knot strength so I cut and retie using the uni knot. Great thing about the uni knot is that it doesn't take much line up to tie it. I find the hardest thing is telling what is the best size hook to go with. Generally I'll be changing the size often depending on how the fish is taking my bait, nibbles and I'll assume its a small fish, so cast I'll elsewhere. I notice a lot of people use really small hooks, but I'd expect that they would normally catch under size fish.