The best luck I,ve had trolling live smelt this time of the year is one or two colors leadcore not off planer boards at one half to one m.p.h. I think the amount of slack in the line between release and rod tenson is a problem in hooking-up. My .02 cents worth. Cal P.
We tie a similar rig and field tested it last year. We don't hook the smelt. We leave the hook free float and have no issues on hook up. As stated if fishing on planer boards get to the line asap and get the slack out.
Our rigs: www.versatilefishermen.com
Our rig uses a tube. If you bump up bait size you can rotate the line inside the tube so it runs under the between the snaps two surfaces (basically pinching it without hurting it) to increase the tension.
Don't get it looked at diagram don"t see any tubing. With the hook just hangiing don"t see how it will hook anything. Or is the one that is used. Must be hooked into bait
TripleD the tube is on the duo snap. They put a tube over the line and the Duo snap. The tube is just loose enough to allow the leader to slide. You then just open up the duo snap , which has the clip piece straightened out and most likely they put a point on the end they straightened out. They then just stick the point end through the top and bottom lips of the smelt, Then you just adjust the line to the lenght of the fish, as your trolling the hook just glides along side of the smelt. you can hook the bait in the tail but I guess those guys don't. I would.
Exactly. We don't hook the bait but it is really a matter of preference. I guess if we had problems hooking up we would try hooking the bait. When I say we field tested this I'm not talking a trip or two. We fished these rigs from spring to fall until we couldn't find live bait anymore.
Spike
Thanks for the Ideas! I think I will try one with hook out and one with hook in and see what gets better hookup rate. I will have to watch rig and see how close the hook is to the bait if left out. Sounds like it may work... Hadnt even considered it!
