Terminal Tackle

Rigs and Terminal Tackle

These are as important as Rod and Reels, you can have the most expensive rod and reel and cast 300 meters but if the bait is not being presented where the fish are and in a natural and inviting way you stand no chance of catching one. Let’s look at what makes up a good, safe setup;

• Main Line is usually a compromise, it has to be strong enough to land the fish depending on the terrain, abrasive resistant when fishing over rocks and sand and thin enough to cast the distance we require. The braking strain of the line should reflect the fish we are targeting, its no good using a 30lb line for flounders and dabs although you will still catch just not so many or for that case 8lb line for conger.
• Shock leader are very important safety measure, it should be at least 5lbs for every once of lead used, I would recommend a 50lb to 70lb shock leader to be safe. Nothing can be worse then having a crack off and seeing your lead flying toward a bunch of old ladies having tea on the beach.
• Trace this is the main body of the rig this should be between 50lb and 70lb depending on the rig. I like to use yellow line to help me see the terminal tackle at night. For light summer rigs I use 30lb -35lb line for the trace
• Snoods these are the lines that attach the hooks to the trace these should be 20lb to 35lb depending on the rig setup and target fish. For summer rig I use between 8lb and 15lb snoods
• Hooks there are many types of hooks the selection is dependant on target fish from a size 10 for Mullet to size 4/0 for big Cod, I tend to use fine wire Aberdeen’s for worms.
• Swivels tend to be size 1 on the main lines trace to shock lead and size 3 and smaller on the snood to trace. For summer rigs I use size 3 on the trace and size 8 on the snoods.
• Crimps these are made of soft cooper and are used as stops to keep components in place, crimps can also be used with heavy line and wire instead of tying knots.
• Wire traces are used for those toothy mainly from the shark family Dogs Hounds and Rays or where there is a strong chance of get broken off.  
• Beads have several uses, I use  tiny seed beads  as buffers to stop components chaffing a sticking on the crimps 3mm black beads ether side of snood swivels to trap them in place; brightly coloured beads can be used as attractor’s they work very well when fishing for codling and whiting as well the usual flat fish rigs.
• Sequins also have several uses they can be used as markers a different colour for top and bottom snoods as well as attractors I use them to act as a stop so the worm doesn’t disappear up the snood.
• Weight  depends on the rig and conditions, a strong tide will require  a larger gripper lead where as a light flounder rig requires only enough weight to get it to the target we want  to move on the bottom. In the winter casting into the wind with a large bait you need well over 6oz weight, I have had a rig come right back over my head even with a 8oz lead its the seas way of telling you its time to go home.