Rigging a Skip Bait

[bigmack]

Hi Troops - anybody out there in Ausfish land this afternoon who could quickly give me the guff on rigging garfish as skip baits.

Thanks in Advance
Phill

[catchy_fishy]

probably same as balyhoo - you'd have to stitch the beak / lip closed, then hook under the jaw

My guess

Mike

[Geoff_Atkinson]

Go here, it's where I learnt how to do it.

Be very careful but, they are deadly on macs

http://www.fishnet.com.au/library/knotsrigs/riggingarfish.html

[Anne-T-Dote]

Hey Thanks BigMack and Sea Raider - that's a big help ;)

[Billo]

For quick rigging of new baits , this is the best way to do it ( IMO )

[Billo]

This one is for macks , note the wire for a short leader.
I run around 15 - 20 cm of wire ( light 49 strand) down to the first hook where i will crimp with reasonable room to allow a second swinging hook to be attached .
On the crimp i put a short piece of singkle strand wire which acts as the lock for the gars head .

Note the nose cone that slides down the leader. The short wire strand coming off the front crimp gets pushed through the head of the gar and the nose cone slides over the head and then turns and locks the wire into it so it holds th ehead steady , then slide a skirt over the top to allow even water pressure and stops the head getting pushed sideways.

Then you can hook a second swinging hook on if you wish .

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

all i'll add to this post is that make sure all your baits you are choosing for trolling are very well looked after, have been made soft and supple via steady hand movements etc as to allow natural type movement in the water once being towed. Stiff, (in rigor) bait fish will never tow correctly. The rules of symmetry apply to bait rigging as to allow streamlined towing through the water. The bait fish being towed is always being pulled from dead centre. Hooks are inserted into a fish in a free moving state. (No pulling weight should ever be on the hooks.) All weight is direct from the nose in most cases, and the hooks just sit free inside the baitfish and they move freely on their wire or mono leader. Remember, tow the bait,,,,not the hooks!!
I hope this may help a little, but I'm sure the mentioned site may give you better insight.
Johnny M