Rigs For Swains

[stanley]

Just after some advice on rigs you guys use when fishinh swains reef e.g hooks sinkers ,even when fishing from mothership.

[Si]

geez, it can be highly varied. tonne of info on here about this so it would pay to do thorough search.

this is what i would do if bait fishing. dont know if this would be the best way to do it and others will have other great rigs and tips, but this seemed to work for me when i was there.
shallow water - running sinker (least possible if at all) to hooks (either gangs, saltwater or circle - whatever turns you on. pretty simple really.

deep water - paternoster rig with circle hooks more so in strong current.

if strong current, - every now and then let line out to keep bait in strike zone.

be ready for strike and arm wrestle the trout, red throats and spangles out and dont give an inch otherwise they will bury you in the coral. this is why i would use braid over mono. very sharp hooks cos trout have bony mouths, hard fluoro leader.

those little tiny brownish reef fish (cant remember what they are) you get alot are great for live bait. mate caught a very nice red emp on one. also i would also use soft plastics jerk shads in around the reefs and troll skirted lures for wahoo and mackerel.

catch any husser - prime bait!!

cheers.

[jaredluke]

Um as said above a lot of info! do a search cause revs57, I think thats his username? wrote a very good trip report a cpl of years ago now stating all the gear needed, rigs etc.

But when I went I mainly used 6/0, 7/0 and 8/0 circle hooks. Over reef no sinker just let pillie sink down to the bottom, shallow water, ie. sub 35 metres use a running ball rig with a 6 or 7/0 hook. And deep water use paternoister rig. I used 50lb braid with 80lb leader from the main boat and stopped most fish, a few unstoppables. Id suggest take a heavy duty rig with 80lb braid for night fishing for reds. If u plan on trolling halco laser pros, halco max and tremblers are the best. Bright colours work well as well as the old reliable red head. Just rememebr one thing, skull drag those fish out before they go back into the reef, or get eaten by a much larger fish higher on the food chain

[revs57]

Geeez you still remember that JL?

Seems a life time ago now - man I've gotta go fishin again soon or I'll go stir crazy!

Yeah Stanley, do a search in the offshore area on the Norval with my user name it should come up. Scotty has recently picked up a new boat the capricorn Star - would certainly recommend himas an operator. Excellent value for money.

cheers

rhys

[honda900]

I fished swains last week, so heres what I used.. (report yet to come)


Paternosta rigs for the main boat and the dories. Take 100lb leader as I found the 60pound was breaking when drifting on sharp reefs.

Red and white halco 2mtr killed all other lures, next best was the green mack Xrap 20.

Sinkers 12 ounce were used predominantly, lost about 8 until I changed to 100lb leader, no more after that.

I "personally" found that circle hooks werent working, kept pulling the bait from the fishes mouth, Changed to mustad big gun in a 6/0 and killed it..

too many people on one side of the boat to use floater rigs so ball sinkers wound up being redundant (at least during the day).

Spanish were on fire we got 28 or so.. Trout were also on fire, but only got 5 red emporer, Red throat sweetlip were common as well, only got 1 spangly for the trip.

Back to the locals on the way home 16 oz sinkers were the go. Lumo Beads also worked.

Night time saw a few fish on and just after dusk, mostly red throat keepers. had a couple of squid turn up as well.

Took a lot of gear and ended up bringing most of it home.

Portable sounder around the reef worked a treat.

Regards
HOnda.

[stanley]

thanks for do you your info guys so i have a size 10 ball sinker mould what other size do you recommend

[BR65]

Honda, Im heading up there in August, looking forward to ya report to fuel the fires!

[revs57]

G'day Stanley,

Yep, 10 ball is good for 60 plus mts,

you may want some 8, 6's and some 4's for the 40-30 mt stuff, I didn't worry about smaller sinkers for the shallow stuff from the dories - just casted unweighted flesh baits to structure

[Spot82]

Here are a few rigs we typically use on the reef:

http://www.petackle.com/rig-photos

Most of the time use the running ball rig in up to 80-90 metres, in a charter situation you are probably better going to paternoster or the 3 way swivel setup.

Defintely be using 80lb braid and 100lb mono leader, use a 10m wind on of mono to give a bit of stretch.

Hooks, you shouldn't need anything smaller than an 8/0 i would think, they will still catch small fish but be strong enough for those brutes.

[stanley]

Here are a few rigs we typically use on the reef:

http://www.petackle.com/rig-photos

Most of the time use the running ball rig in up to 80-90 metres, in a charter situation you are probably better going to paternoster or the 3 way swivel setup.

Defintely be using 80lb braid and 100lb mono leader, use a 10m wind on of mono to give a bit of stretch.

Hooks, you shouldn't need anything smaller than an 8/0 i would think, they will still catch small fish but be strong enough for those brutes.

Thanks spot 82 I'll be puting in my order of 8/0 to petackle

[nickstock]

If a reef fish cannot eat a 9/0 Tru Turn, it is not worth going to the Swains for.

For Red Emperor and Large Mouth Nannygai I use a no 7 Bodgie sinker running straight to two ganged 9/0 Tru Turns on 80 or 110lb pink Schneider.

For Trout and Lippers in less then 30 meters I use 3 bean sinker on 55lb Pink Schneider to a single 9/0 Tru Turn.

For Reds, Jobbies, Spangleds and Nannygai at night, if the run is very strong and fishing over 45 meters I sometimes use a standard pat rig on 80 or 110 Pink Schneider with two ganged 9/0 Tru Turns or Mustard 7766's.

I used to exclusively use circles however have found my catch ratio to double since using the two (and even three) ganged 9/0's. We have released over 65 legal LMN, SMN and Spangled Emperor in the last few days so the rigs obviously work!

Cheers,
Nick Stock

[CCDrifter]

Here are a few rigs we typically use on the reef:

http://www.petackle.com/rig-photos

Most of the time use the running ball rig in up to 80-90 metres, in a charter situation you are probably better going to paternoster or the 3 way swivel setup.

Defintely be using 80lb braid and 100lb mono leader, use a 10m wind on of mono to give a bit of stretch.

Hooks, you shouldn't need anything smaller than an 8/0 i would think, they will still catch small fish but be strong enough for those brutes.

This might sound like a stupid question BUT. ON the pictured running sinker rig.The third hook with the fly do you pin this in the tail of bait or do you let it act as more of a floating stinger??
Nathan

[Spot82]

usually we fish with a full fillet of fish for bait, so all three hooks are pinned through the bait as can be seen below.



Bigger the bait the bigger the fish usually, there is always lots of peckers around and the bigger bait gives the decent fish a chance to have a go before your bait is gone.

I use variations of that rig for fishing for everything nearly, use 2 or 3 hook snell with 6/0's for snapper, etc, just allows the bait to move around more than using gangs.

Anthony

[Pazz01]

If a reef fish cannot eat a 9/0 Tru Turn, it is not worth going to the Swains for.

For Red Emperor and Large Mouth Nannygai I use a no 7 Bodgie sinker running straight to two ganged 9/0 Tru Turns on 80 or 110lb pink Schneider.

For Trout and Lippers in less then 30 meters I use 3 bean sinker on 55lb Pink Schneider to a single 9/0 Tru Turn.

For Reds, Jobbies, Spangleds and Nannygai at night, if the run is very strong and fishing over 45 meters I sometimes use a standard pat rig on 80 or 110 Pink Schneider with two ganged 9/0 Tru Turns or Mustard 7766's.

I used to exclusively use circles however have found my catch ratio to double since using the two (and even three) ganged 9/0's. We have released over 65 legal LMN, SMN and Spangled Emperor in the last few days so the rigs obviously work!

Cheers,
Nick Stock

Hey nick,

That's awesome going. I've been using a single hook, success has been good if the sharks aren't giving me a touch up. With the ganged hooks do you find your the reds and big mouth are not getting it so far down their throat? Because I find the big fellas really get it down their throat and it's a hassel to get out.

I take it you are using handlines as well?

What's a bodgie sinker? I use a tear-drop with 3 way swivel or rig.

And what bait are you using for ganged hooks? Just squid or slab flesh etc?

Thanks

Pazz

[nickstock]

Hey nick,

That's awesome going. I've been using a single hook, success has been good if the sharks aren't giving me a touch up. With the ganged hooks do you find your the reds and big mouth are not getting it so far down their throat? Because I find the big fellas really get it down their throat and it's a hassel to get out.

I take it you are using handlines as well?

What's a bodgie sinker? I use a tear-drop with 3 way swivel or rig.

And what bait are you using for ganged hooks? Just squid or slab flesh etc?

Thanks

Pazz

Hey mate,

A number 7 Bodgie is like a cross between a barrel sinker and a bean. About the same weight as a 12 Ball, we sell them at work for one of the commercial Trout guys that fish in deep water for dead fish

Last trip we released 65 legal fish and used large flesh baits of Hussar and Spangled Emperor, XOS Aussie Pilchards and whole Squid.

I never use handlines! These are the rods used last trip:

Torsa T16 narrow, Tcurve 400 and 80lb braid

Daiwa Saltist Lever drag 30, P.E 5 Monster Mesh rod 50lb braid

18000 Saragosa 50 lb braid and a PE 5 jig rod (Holly's combo)