Homemade quick strike trolling rigs.........

[bmc]

My wife and I like to fish northerns this time of year and we use 7-10" long creek chubs or sucker minnows.

We usually run a heavy duty lindy rig, with 25lb mono leader, and a 2/0 hook. Our hooking percentage is about 50% and I would like to up that to closer to 100%.

I'm thinking of buying some Tyger Leader material and tying up my own. I'd probably get something in the 30-50 lb test wire as we sometimes run into a musky.

I'm thinking of a small spinner, bead, snelled single hook, and a treble hook at the end of the rig.

Just wondering if anyone makes their own or has found something similar in a store.

As for a report, we've hit a couple local lakes here in Itasca County and the big northern is my 32" and my wife is in the lead in the musky dept. w/ a 40".

Oh, and I lost a $130 rod/reel combo the other night when I was trying to remove the rod from the rod holder and whatever (BIG) was on the other end, made a run and jerked the rod out of my hand. LOL

Brian

[20lbSloughShark]

I call it my "original" rig, because it was the first thing I came up with when I started making my own rigs. I would not use 25 lb line, I use 80 lb mono or 35 lb stranded wire. My "clear originl" rig uses 3' (2' to the front hook) of 80 lb berkly mono leader material, (3) berkly size 4 leader ties, an 80 lb ball bearing swivel, a 3/0 octopus hook, and a size 1 eagle claw treble. Make sure you have plenty of leader between the front hook and the rear so the bait can swim. I use either a 1 ounce egg weight or a 1 1/4 oz trolling sinker directly cliped to the rig. A spinner is an option, jut put 3-5 beads and the spinner infront of the front hook. I use 8-10" suckers. I troll them at up to 1 mph otherwise they die quck. Keep them cool and aerated, I use a cooler and a battery aerator. In the spring and fall I use my "natural" rig 3' under a big bobber, but thats for another day. Let me know if you need help making them. You wont get 100% hook rates, not even close This rig has about 80% success, my natural rig has 90%+ but cant be used to troll. BTW 50lb steel wire (cortland toothy critter is my favorite) is probably the most versitile for both northern pike and muskie.

[50inchpig]

hey i use the tyger wire for musky sets in the fall, i think it'll fit the bill for your rigs, however, do yourself a favor and take a lighter to your knots to melt the plastic coating just a bit and secure your knots, otherwise, they WILL come untied at the worst time. the tyge wire is great stuff.

[20lbSloughShark]

...do yourself a favor and take a lighter to your knots to melt the plastic coating just a bit and secure your knots, otherwise, they WILL come untied at the worst time...

I assume you are talking about wire leader material? You can tie most wire leaders (my favorite cortland toothycritter is labeled as "tieable"), but I think its better to just buy leader ties. They look neater, and I feel are stronger than any knot. Wire just does not knot well. You can buy cortland toothy critter at almost any bait store, as well as leader ties. I buy mine from cabelas. Its cheaper, and they have better leader ties there, which are WAY cheaper than the berkly ones.

[50inchpig]

by leader ties do you mean crimps? i just like to knot my rigs to keep them light, but the nylon coated wire knots slip after a few fish if they aren't melted a bit.

[20lbSloughShark]

Yes, leader crimps, they are called leader ties in stores.