Hook & Running Sinker

I have found over the years that this would have to be one of the most under used rigs and it is so simple to use!

Just thread the line through the ball sinker and tie on a hook, put on a piece of bait and cast it out. Well, it may sound simple, the hard part of putting it all together and making it work can be the when and where to put it into practice.

In saying that, among its other applications, you can also find this rig very effective when drifting.

This rig can be used while fishing offshore for snapper and kingfish, off the rocks chasing tailor, salmon, bream, tarwhine, trevally drummer, groper, and snapper. It can be used out of the boat and off the shore while fishing in the estuaries chasing just about anything and it can be a very successful rig when used off the beach chasing tailor, salmon, and mulloway. All that varies is the technique that you use.

Even though the diagram shows the rig baited with a peeled prawn, you can use so many other baits. Everything from whole or half pilchards, whole prawns, pink nipper, strip baits, to bread and pudding mixtures. Just to name a few.

If using a prawn -

Completely peel the prawn leaving no shell. Pass the hook through the tail of the prawn about a centimetre from the end and thread it through the body of the prawn, making sure that the prawn is straight and the barb and point of the hook are outside the bait. Tie 2 to 3 half hitches around the tail of the prawn to help keep it from coming off when you cast it.

What saltwater fish species doesn't like a feed of prawns? I have even caught carp, trout and golden perch on prawns. When fishing in the estuaries or bays I will target bream, trevally and whiting with whole peeled Hawkesbury river or local prawns. When chasing bream, drummer, luderick and snapper off the rocks I prefer to use larger prawns, like royal reds and blue tails.

Technique 1

When at anchor and bait fishing, I will always have a small, but steady burley trail going before I cast out my first rig and I will also use a minimum of two rods.

The first one would be cast out about ten to fifteen metres from the back of the boat and allowed to slowly sink through the burley trail. Once it has reached the bottom, I will then engage the bail arm on the baitfeeder style threadline reel and then put the rod into the rod holder.

This is where you will need to have a range of sinker sizes in your kit so that you can keep changing the weight as the current picks up or slows down. Not enough sinker weight and the seagulls will get the bait and too much sinker weight and the catfish and small snapper will take off with the bait.

While keeping a close eye on the first outfit, drop the second rig out the back of the boat and with the aid of either a baitfeeder style reel or by flipping over the bail arm on a standard threadline reel, slowly feed out the bait into the current.

The trick to using this technique is that you need the bait to slowly sink, along with the pieces of burley, not rocket down to the bottom. This is where you will once again need a good selection of sinkers and I find that having 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3 and size 4 ball sinkers in my kit is generally good enough. If you find that you need to feed out line too quickly then you haven’t put enough weight on and you will have to upsize the sinker.

While doing this and at the same time keeping an eye on the other outfit that is still in the rod holder, you may find that the line starts to take off. In this case a fish has more than likely grabbed the bait. This is when you wind the handle to disengage the baitfeeder mode and switch to strike mode. This may be as simple as turning the handle of the reel or flipping the lever at the rear of the reel on a baitfeeder style reel or closing the bail arm on a standard spinning reel.

Technique 2

When chasing bream, trevally, drummer, snapper, and groper off the rocks, in amongst the wash and using a heavily weighted rig, you will find that most of the time it will tend to get snagged. This is where a lightly weighted bait will help the bait float around in the wash and look as natural as possible, with less chance of snagging.

One trick that I have found that works for me is, once I have cast out the bait, I will lower the rod tip so that it is at about 20 to 30 degrees off the water’s surface and slightly to my righthand side. This allows me to stay in constant contact with the bait as it washes around. If I feel that the bait has reached the bottom and may be going to get snagged, I will slowly raise the rod to lift it back up into the wash, while ensuring that there is very little slack in the line.

When the fish takes off with the bait, I will strike upwards so that I can try and turn the fish’s head toward me, giving the fish less sideways power that it can use to find the closest rock or snag and bust me off.

Technique 3

When fishing off the beach I will try and use the outward flow of a rip to assist me in getting the bait out further than I can cast it. Once I have cast the rig out and it has come to rest, I will then slowly allow the current/rip to take the rig further out through the breakers.

This can be done by either putting your baitfeeder reel into baitfeeder mode or folding over the bail arm on your standard spinning reel. Just remember to either engage the reel or fold the bail arm back over before you strike, otherwise you may have one hell of a mess.

The next time that you are using either a whole pilchard or garfish on a set of ganged hooks, you have let it flow out with the rip and nothing has taken, don’t just rip it back in! Just slowly wind it back to the shore as you would if you had just cast it out and you never know what might strike.

Suggested Combos

Rods:

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

Okuma Barbarian Spin Rods - BN-S-1162NT, Med/Light, 11'6", 2-6kg, Nibble Tip for either off the rock breakwall or beach.

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

Wave Power Spin Rods - WP-S-662H, 6'6", 5-12kg for offshore fishing or targeting mulloway and kingfish in bays and estuaries.

Reels:

Okuma Baitfeeder - Dynadrag XP 4000.

Okuma Coronado CDX-55 Baitfeeder with 12.7kg drag, that can hold approximately 180m of 15lb (0.40 dia.) line for use while fishing offshore.

Okuma Coronado CDX-65 with its slightly faster retrieve of 4.9:1 could be used for the beach or off the rocks. It has a 15.3kg drag and can hold approximately 235m of 20lb (0.45 dia.) line.

Line:

Platypus Pulse Mono / Platypus Platinum Mono

Leader:

Platypus Hard Armour FC Fluorocarbon / Platypus Hard Armour