Freshwater Yabby Rigs

The freshwater yabby will catch trout, Atlantic salmon, cod, perch, eels, mangrove jack, catfish, carp, black bream, and the list goes on. They can be used live or dead and rigged a number of ways.

You could pin the hook through the tail of a single yabby or pin two through the tail. Making sure that the two yabbies are facing each other. This gets them very cranky and provide plenty of movement to attract the fish.

Many anglers will crush the head of a dead yabby to let out the juices and then peel the shell off the tail. You could also try cutting off the head and using it as burley, then peeling the tail and rig it the same as you would a peeled prawn in the saltwater.

Try using a number of different rigs, including the paternoster, running ball sinker down onto the hook, running sinker down onto a swivel and a leader of about a metre, suspended under a bubble or stemmed float, a small spit shot or just unweighted.

Technique 1

How many times have you been using a yabby and you get a bite, strike, and just come back with the body. This is where you need to select a hook with enough size and length so that when you have passed it through the body of the yabby, the bend of the hook will pass out through the body so that the hook point and barb are just near the back of the head. Ensuring that you don’t kill the yabby in the process. To help hold the yabby on the hook you will need to tie two to three half hitches around the tail.

Technique 2

Place the hook through the tail of the yabby and then just cast it into a snag. Any bass, perch, trout, or other freshwater fish that eats yabbies won’t be able to resist it. If there is a bit of current, you may want to put a small running sinker, or a piece of spit shot on the rig to help get it down.

Technique 3

Pull up to a set of drowned trees and lower the yabby to the bottom. Once there, raise it off the bottom about a metre and start bobbing the yabby up and down. Much like dunking a tea bag.

Suggested Rods

Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-702NT, X-Light, 7'0", 2-4kg, Nibble Tip for the boat or from the shore.

LRF Gen2 Spin Rods - LRF2-S-742L, Light, 7'4", 2-5kg is great for when you are getting those very sensitive bites.

Reels

Dydadrag Baitfeeder Reels – DAXP-4000 for the estuaries for bream, whiting, trevally, flathead, and freshwater applications.

Ceymar HD Threadline (Spin) Reels – CHD-1000HA, 2500HA and 3000HA.

Alaris Threadline (Spin) Reels – ALS-20 and ALS-30.

Line & Leader Selection

Platypus Pulse X4 Braid for those real snaggy areas.

Platypus Pulse X8 Braid for fishing over the flats or when you need to use extra thin braided line.

Platypus Hard Armour FC Fluorocarbon for your leader material.

Platypus Pulse Mono straight through for bait fishing.