Making Your Own Sabiki Rig?

[triumphrick]

In the late fifty's early sixty's I used to fish off the Haulover pier in Miami. We used goggle eyes and blue runners for bait for a variety of big fish, mainly tarpon. I made my own bait rigs by tying loops in my 6# line, small #10 gold hooks and we used thin pieces of flank steak on the hooks.......hmmmmm guess I was an innovator and didn't know it!

[spraynet 1]

I know I will pay for this, but I really don't know, so here it goes. Is one supposed to put bait on the hooks? or is the little feather enough to make them strike? Go ahead, I can take it!

[triumphrick]

OK, here's what my years and years of experience has shown.....


Ummmm...



Lets see.......




Well..........



It depends on the bait you are targeting. Big schools of greenbacks, threadfin herring, pilchers, etc will go for the gold hook. Bottom dwellers; grunts, pinfish, squirrelfish, etc. will do better if I use a bit of squid....

Not a bad question to ask!!

[mattmuttsmithx]

You can put bait on the hooks but I do not believe the bait on the hook does the trick.

What I do is put a chum cage on the bottom of the rig which causes a school that is hesitant to start "eating."

Start off by not putting anything on the hooks. You should see plenty of success. Make sure there is bait there though. If there isn't anything there you are not going to catch anything. Take that very literal.

The chum pot on the bottom really works well when there are fish there but they are not "biting" real well.

Oh and another good tip that I find that works well is always use about 2-3 oz more weigh than what you think will work well. I use the heaviest weight my rod can stand because I want to get it to the bottom quick and throw it far as possible. The heavier weight will keep the rig towards the bottom more with the current and what not.

Good Luck

[Provie63]

I made them for many years for a couple tackle stores I worked at.. In both cases the local law limited the # of hook points so pre-fabs would need to be cut to be legal. They are extremely easy. I would just tie some tinsel or flashabou to a gold hook (easy to do 100+ per hour) .. a barrel swivel, a few droppers, a surgeon's loop and viola! Cost about .15 cents for parts, and they flew off the rack for a buck each. As for baiting, etc.. In my areas they are used mostly to catch herring, and most old timers will insist all you need is the plain gold hook.. As a matter of fact, in the shop I worked near the Delaware river, the rigs I'd make with plain undressed gold hooks outsold the fancier ones..

[BigPumper]

Originally Posted by eddy2419

You can also make one out of 1/2" PVC and tape a reel on it.

You have a picture?

[mattmuttsmithx]

Originally Posted by Provie63

I made them for many years for a couple tackle stores I worked at.. In both cases the local law limited the # of hook points so pre-fabs would need to be cut to be legal. They are extremely easy. I would just tie some tinsel or flashabou to a gold hook (easy to do 100+ per hour) .. a barrel swivel, a few droppers, a surgeon's loop and viola! Cost about .15 cents for parts, and they flew off the rack for a buck each. As for baiting, etc.. In my areas they are used mostly to catch herring, and most old timers will insist all you need is the plain gold hook.. As a matter of fact, in the shop I worked near the Delaware river, the rigs I'd make with plain undressed gold hooks outsold the fancier ones..

Gold hooks do work well. Around here they catch greenies a lot better than the regular sabiki. Also they can double as a quick snag rig if you need it.

[captkenr]

When Spanish Mackerel are bad, and when big Blue Runners horn in, it is mighty easy for me to go through 5-6 Sabiki rigs on one bait stop. I make my own using #8 Mustad SS 34007 hooks dressed with tiny flourescent tubing. just slip it on. I use 20# Fluoro main line and 12# Fluoro for droppers. Yeah, I get bit off by Spanish mackerel but Blue Runners don't break the rigs very often. Cudas and Kingfish eat the runners, though.

[spraynet 1]

mattmuttsmithx Thanks, I will try that next time I am out, sounds like a winner!