How not to rig a dropper rig.

Howdy all,

I lost my favorite twin tail scampi yesterday, as well as four other 3 oz. jigheads and swimbait bodies, either to fish or snags.

The ones I lost to fish are entirely my fault.  I ran out of the pre-tied shrimp fly rigs that I have been using after snagging bottom and breaking off.  I then went on to using some dropper loop rigs that I had tied myself.  I used seagur 20lb fluorocarbon leader materials, Sampo bearing swivels at the top, and locksnap swivels at the bottom.

One of the rigs that I lost was at the boat - a cabezon managed to snap off the bottom lure (the twin tail scampi and 3 oz. jighead that Fishes From Tupperware gave me on my first trip out) during a fubared netting attempted.

The second lost rig was the next one that I tied on, and it broke at the top dropper loop after attempting a hookset (and I wasn't swing for the fences on it).

So, a couple of observations.  I have had several experiences with fluorocarbon leaders snapping at loads much lower than what they are rated to.  I need to figure out what knots work with fluoro.  I'm okay with it being my topshot, since it is tied off to the spectra on my spool with an albright, and the fluoro only has a single bend inside the spectra whipping, and the terminal end I make a loop with a simple palomar.

The lure snapping I think is due in part to using a perfection loop to connect the fluoro to the locking snap, as well as the fact that the sampo locksnaps have a split ring, and not a welded ring.  There are two sharp edges on a split ring, and while I tried to make sure the open ends on the split ring weren't in contact with the fluoro when I tied the knots initially, things move around.  No doubt it was a combination of sharp edges, inappropriate knot, and getting the rig fouled in a net with the fish on the outside of the net.

The second break off is probably due to a combination of my inexperience tying dropper loops, and perhaps the fluoro itself.

So, I am going to go over to using snap swivels with solid rings, and 40lb mono.

Cheers,
Madoc

I for black rocks etc. I  run 100lb maxima for my home tied shrimp rigs. My rod is spooled with 30lb tuff with a 10-15ft 25lb big game topshot.  I  rarely lose gear and never have fish break off .  IMO fishing floro for bottom fish is like putting hub caps on a tractor . For lings I tie the 25lb big game straight to the jig (no shrimp flies) also rarely lose more than one or maybe two jigs a day.

I for black rocks etc. I  run 100lb maxima for my home tied shrimp rigs. My rod is spooled with 30lb tuff with a 10-15ft 25lb big game topshot.  I  rarely lose gear and never have fish break off .  IMO fishing floro for bottom fish is like putting hub caps on a tractor . For lings I tie the 25lb big game straight to the jig (no shrimp flies) also rarely lose more than one or maybe two jigs a day.

^ Yeah, that. ^
I have found that a 15 to 20 ft. top shot of 25 lb mono tied to a backing of 20 lb power pro works really well for me. I have recently started to tie my line to 2/0 bucktail swivels so that I can change out between 3 oz. and 4 oz. jigs quickly if I want to. I agree with Pelagic about flouro when going for rockfish and lings. They really don't seem to be leader shy so to me it just doesn't seem worth it given how spendy good flouro leader is. Just make sure you're tying your knots well. For flouro, I would go with a uni knot and make sure you wet the knot before you set it. I would discourage going any higher than 30 lb. for a leader material. If you find yourself having to break off, that could make things really difficult. I pulled up my recent hali using the setup mentioned above. If you're tying good, solid knots, directly to the jig, or some kind of welded ring like a swivel, you shouldn't have any trouble with fish breaking off your jigs.

Oh yeah, one more thing...
DRAG!! I try to have my drag set somewhat tight for the strike so I can set the hook well, but once I feel the fish is hooked well enough and it could be decent size, I back the drag off so it can easily take a run if it wants to. I recommend checking out Alan Tani's site on reel repair and servicing(http://www.alantani.com/). If you have the ability, make sure the drag washers on your reel are in good shape and greased up well because that will pay dividends for sure. 

  P-line flourocarbon is the only one i could get any strength from.. Royg