REEF, SURF AND BLUE WATER
Bottom, surf, live-bait, trolling and bait-catching rigs for Caribbean salt water. Open a rig for the diagram, the parts and the step-by-step build.
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Also called a running ledger. A sinker slide lets the line run freely through the weight, so a fish can pick up the bait and swim off without feeling the sinker.
Best for: Snapper, jacks, permit
The egg sinker stays on the main line above a swivel, and the bait floats on a longer leader behind it. The weight and the bait stay apart.
Best for: Snapper, grunts, jacks
The egg sinker slides down the leader and rests right against the hook eye. The bait stays pinned to the bottom, and if you snag, slack line lets the sinker “knock” the hook free.
Best for: Snapper, grouper, amberjack
One three-way swivel, two branches: a short, lighter line to the sinker and a longer leader to the hook. The bait drifts above the bottom in the current.
Best for: Grouper, snapper, amberjack
A heavy offshore bottom rig: two hooks on dropper loops tiered above a fixed bank sinker, so you fish two baits at two depths over the reef.
Best for: Snapper, grouper, amberjack
A heavy multiple-hook vertical rig for deep reef drop-offs. Three or more snoods come off a long rig body, with a light above the hooks and a heavy sinker on a weak link at the bottom.
Best for: Queen snapper, silk snapper, snowy grouper
Two hooks on dropper loops hold the baits up off the seabed above a pyramid (grip) sinker. The classic surf and pier rig, also called a flapper.
Best for: Pompano, permit, porgies, snapper
A surf high-low rig dressed with bright beads and small foam floats beside each hook. The floats lift the bait and the colors draw pompano and permit along the beach.
Best for: Pompano, permit, palometa
A surf-casting rig where the main line runs on a sliding “pulley” swivel. When a fish pulls, it hauls the sinker up off the bottom and over snags, and the fish comes in without wrapping rocks.
Best for: Jacks, snapper, larger surf fish
The simplest live-bait rig: no weight, just a leader and a circle hook, so the bait swims naturally and looks real.
Best for: Snook, jacks, mackerel, snapper
A wire-through cork with a cupped face. A sharp twitch makes it “pop” and click like feeding fish, pulling fish to the bait hanging below.
Best for: Snook, jacks, ladyfish, tarpon
A live bait drifted far from the boat under a balloon. The balloon is the float: it sets the depth, carries the bait out on the wind, and pops off on the strike.
Best for: Kingfish, mahi, sailfish, tuna
A ballyhoo rigged on a crimped hook with a wire pin and copper wire wrapped around the beak, so it swims straight behind the boat. Add a skirt for color.
Best for: Mahi, wahoo, tuna, sailfish
A short single-strand wire leader for fish with teeth that slice through mono. Haywire twists hold it together; use only as much wire as you need.
Best for: Wahoo, king mackerel, barracuda
A rigid bar trolled offshore with rows of rubber squid hanging from it, so it looks like a school of squid at the surface. A hooked squid or bait trails down the middle.
Best for: Yellowfin & blackfin tuna, mahi
A wire harness with several arms, each pulling a soft-plastic shad or tube on a short leader. Trolled together, they look like a small school of baitfish.
Best for: Kingfish, cero, little tunny, jacks
A string of tiny dressed hooks for catching live bait. Jig it gently through a school of baitfish and fill the livewell.
Best for: Goggle-eye, runners, sardines, ballyhoo
