Best saltwater fishing rigs

This really depends on what your situation is. You want to fish from the shore, so how bad is the surf? The bigger the waves, the larger the weight. Also, you could use lead like this. The "arms" help the lead to dig into the sand, and then turn over once you put some pressure on them and reel it in.

This way, since fish hook themself once they take the bait and swim away, the hooks are stationary. This helps especially when fish start swimming towards the shore, and you could easily miss whatever signal you use.

The number of hooks usually depends of how many hooks are legal, and are comfortable for you to fish with - you don't want to use more hooks than allowed, and you also don't want 20 hooks on a 10ft rig that entangles immediately. You don't what to use giant hooks on fish with a small mouth.

In other situations you might want your rig to travel, so you use smaller, round leads (for fish that take a bait, go for a swim, and only then start swallowing the bait). This kind of fishing also uses the sliding lead with hook at the bottom. The fish can take the bait and swim away (usually smaller flatfish, at least where i'm from).

But finally, it's not rocket science! :) Use as many hooks as you want and are allowed to, use a weight that seems appropriate (nothing that will be swept back to shore in a few minutes, and allows you to hold you line somewhat tight to detect bites), and use a rig that you like (just keep in mind the difference between free and stationary hooks, both will work, you just have to adjust the way you handle bites). There is no ideal setup, it's all situational.

If you want to know a preferred setup for a specific situation, just ask away :)

posted almost 8 years ago

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Peter1807‭

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