The Wire Loop Rig
I first came across this rig at one of
our Marlin U sessions down in Costa Rica.
It's by far the easiest of the three to tie,
since there's no floss involved and the
whole rig is built from a single 18-inch
piece of copper wire. This rig also enjoys
the advantage of being very bait-box
friendly, since you don't attach the hook
and leader until you're ready to use it.
This allows you to make several dozen of the
baits ahead of time without having to worry
about keeping all the leaders from tangling
in the cooler.
In pictures 4, 5 and 6 below, we show an
optional way to make the rig that closes the
throat area a little better by running the
wire through the bait's eyes. (The original
version that I first saw didn't do this, but
it worked just fine.)
The only downside I could see to using
this rig is that it might be a little
fragile on the bite - especially if you're
not using the best bait.
Instructions:
1. Start with an 18-inch
section of copper rigging wire
and a circle hook that matches
the size of your bait. (We used
an Eagle Claw L2004ELF 9/0 for
all the medium ballyhoo you see
in these photos.)
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2. Make a small loop in
the wire around the shank of the
hook, sizing the loop so you
have just enough space in the
loop to clear the barb. Twist
the wire with a mini haywire to
finish the loop. |
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3. Clip off the
ballyhoo's bill, leaving about a
quarter of an inch. Position the
loop underneath the remaining
stub so that the loop just peaks
out from under the bill. Pass
the other end of the wire up
through the ballyhoo's throat
and out through the crease in
its upper lip. |
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4.
If you want to close the
ballyhoo's throat a bit better,
run the wire back around the
bill, and after coming up from
the underside, pass the wire
through the eye socket.
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5. Again, pass the wire
back underneath the bait's body
and lift the gill plate with
your thumb. Pass the wire behind
the gill and pull it up tight
under the throat area with a
little tug. |
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6. Run the wire over the
top of the ballyhoo's head and
pass it behind the gill plate on
that side. Snug up the wire by
pulling it toward the front. |
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7. Once you've got the
wire tight, bend it over and
pass the tag end back down
through the ballyhoo's lip,
using the same hole you came up
through in step 3. Pull the wire
down tight to secure the mouth. |
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8.
Coming from underneath, start
wrapping the wire down the bill
just like closing up a
traditional pin rig.
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9. Finish with a couple
of tight wraps at the end of the
beak to keep everything tight. |
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10.
When you're ready to fish the
bait, simply slide the hook —
already attached to your leader
with a crimped loop or snell —
through the tiny wire loop |
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Download these tips in Adobe PDF Format for
printing
Background Photo
Courtesy of Bob Blair
www.fishingsancarlos.com
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by
www.sancarlosmexico.com
