Saltwater Fishing Rig Setup
A bottom fishing rig places your hook on, or inside the seabed where fish will be searching for it. These fish are known as bottom feeders, and from the waters around the US, some examples will include the flatfishes, skates and rays, cod, whiting, perch, drum, dogfish and eels.
Bait:
The bait that many fish will be searching for and is a good universal bait are worms, shellfish, crustaceans together with bait fish. Preferred baits for bottom feeders could be lugworms and ragworms, strips cut like a baitfish that is live. Preferred baits for aggressive bottom feeders like weakfish or stripers is bunkers and mullets bouncing and moving very very slowly.
Sinker:
The sinker has to be of sufficient weight to maintain bottom, but do not go too heavy or you will be fighting the sinker and the fish may drop the bait if they feel too much weight. There is a slider connected to most rigs so when the fish pick up the bait they shouldn't feel the weight, this is called a fish finder rig. Also see our sinker guide to determine the best style and weight of sinker to use depending on where and conditions you are fishing.
Rigs:
You have to determine the best rig for both the species and the location that you are fishing. Rigs can place the bait on the bottom, the top and a little off the bottom of the seabed. Some rigs have sliders so the fish can not feel the weight of the sinker, some have fire ball floats to raise the bait off the bottom some. Some rigs are designed to not twist or tangle in deeper waters or rougher oceans. The best universal rig is a high low rig. This has a hook on the bottom and a hook elevated so you can attract most species. When done correctly the rig should never tangle even with 2 hooks. See our rig guides to learn how to make these and other rigs.
Another important part of the rig is beads and spoons. These are added to the rig to attract the fish. It oftens gives the fish something to bite on besides your leader. Most rigs use red and green beads. These tend to be easily visable in most waters and helps the fish find the rig. Spoons do the same but are usually shiny and helps reflect light. You can also get glow in the dark beads for deep or very muddy waters.
The Leader: the type of leader you use should depend on the type of fish you are targeting. A 20 lbs test is fine for flukes but a laugh for bluefish. Also if you are aiming for larger fish you want a heavier test. My rule of thumb is your leaders should be 10lbs heavier test than your main line up to 50lbs. If you feel the need to go over 50 lbs test then you should switch to wire leaders. The wire leaders are very important for fish with teeth. The bigger the teeth the stronger the wire. A few examples of when you need wire leaders would be blue fish, sharks, Spanish Mackerel and Barracudas.
Bottom Fishing with Live Bait: when using live baits, you should use very light or no sinker at all. The point of live bait is to let them run with the line a little bit, often injured. The injured fish can really attract predatory fish. One trick often used is to cut a slit in the fish tail. This will slow the fish down to make them easier targets.
We hope this guide helps you with the basic understanding of rigs. Good Luck and happy fishing.
Bait:
The bait that many fish will be searching for and is a good universal bait are worms, shellfish, crustaceans together with bait fish. Preferred baits for bottom feeders could be lugworms and ragworms, strips cut like a baitfish that is live. Preferred baits for aggressive bottom feeders like weakfish or stripers is bunkers and mullets bouncing and moving very very slowly.
Sinker:
The sinker has to be of sufficient weight to maintain bottom, but do not go too heavy or you will be fighting the sinker and the fish may drop the bait if they feel too much weight. There is a slider connected to most rigs so when the fish pick up the bait they shouldn't feel the weight, this is called a fish finder rig. Also see our sinker guide to determine the best style and weight of sinker to use depending on where and conditions you are fishing.
Rigs:
You have to determine the best rig for both the species and the location that you are fishing. Rigs can place the bait on the bottom, the top and a little off the bottom of the seabed. Some rigs have sliders so the fish can not feel the weight of the sinker, some have fire ball floats to raise the bait off the bottom some. Some rigs are designed to not twist or tangle in deeper waters or rougher oceans. The best universal rig is a high low rig. This has a hook on the bottom and a hook elevated so you can attract most species. When done correctly the rig should never tangle even with 2 hooks. See our rig guides to learn how to make these and other rigs.
Another important part of the rig is beads and spoons. These are added to the rig to attract the fish. It oftens gives the fish something to bite on besides your leader. Most rigs use red and green beads. These tend to be easily visable in most waters and helps the fish find the rig. Spoons do the same but are usually shiny and helps reflect light. You can also get glow in the dark beads for deep or very muddy waters.
The Leader: the type of leader you use should depend on the type of fish you are targeting. A 20 lbs test is fine for flukes but a laugh for bluefish. Also if you are aiming for larger fish you want a heavier test. My rule of thumb is your leaders should be 10lbs heavier test than your main line up to 50lbs. If you feel the need to go over 50 lbs test then you should switch to wire leaders. The wire leaders are very important for fish with teeth. The bigger the teeth the stronger the wire. A few examples of when you need wire leaders would be blue fish, sharks, Spanish Mackerel and Barracudas.
Bottom Fishing with Live Bait: when using live baits, you should use very light or no sinker at all. The point of live bait is to let them run with the line a little bit, often injured. The injured fish can really attract predatory fish. One trick often used is to cut a slit in the fish tail. This will slow the fish down to make them easier targets.
We hope this guide helps you with the basic understanding of rigs. Good Luck and happy fishing.
