In this article I’ll show you the best surf fishing rigs, and will also cover how to fish them, and how to choose the ideal setup for your purposes. What are the best surf fishing rigs? The number of hooks on a sea rig is generally determined by the size of the bait being used and the target species. Single-hook rigs are often used for larger baits and target species that are less prone to nibbling, such as cod or bass. Multi-hook rigs like flapper rigs or paternoster rigs are designed to present multiple smaller baits, increasing the chances of attracting fish. They are effective for species that travel in schools or for mixed-species fishing scenarios.

The flapper rig is best suited for surf fishing which doesn’t require long casting distances over 40 or 50 feet. The number and sequence is a matter of choice, but a common choice is to thread on a sequin, then a small luminous bead, another sequin and another bead onto the hook snood. Finally, you can also peg a float to the leader, and turn it into a floating fish finder rig. I like to do this when the crabs keep on stealing my bait. A flapper rig is a popular surf fishing rig that consists of a weight attached to the end of the leader, as well as two to three hooks rigged on snoods above the weight.Live bait adds more action and animation to your hooks as they float around, while using multiple chunks of cut bait maximizes the scent in your targeted area and thus draw more fish to the trap. The best choice of rig for beach fishing in the UK often depends on various factors such as the species you're targeting, the local tide conditions and the type of seabed. However, some of the most commonly used rigs for UK beach fishing include the pulley rig, flapper rig and pennel rig. These rigs are designed to handle the varying conditions and target species that are typical of UK shorelines. Then open your bail and slowly release line, which allows the current to carry your baited circle hook parallel to the beach. Multi-hook rigs are notoriously prone to tangling during long casts, and this is why it’s important to choose a rig that is sufficiently tangle free for your purposes.

The metal crimps (or the stop knots) are necessary to fixate the distance between the snoods and prevent them from sliding up or down the rig body, and the beads are there to protect the crimps and increase their durability. Below the sinker, the main line (usually braid) is tied to a barrel swivel, which in turn connects to a 1 to 3 foot long mono leader ending in a snelled hook. You can choose any of the sinkers that are used for surf fishing, including a pyramid sinker, bank sinker, or breakaway sinker (also called spider weight). How to make a flapper rig The second swivel should be crimped on the rig body far enough above the lead to allow for your chosen length of snoods (say 2ft) Using fewer hooks and shortening the length of your snoods may help to improve your casting range, but as a general rule, this line setup should not be the way to go if you are aiming for distance.For uncomplicated short and middle range casting from piers and beaches and for a host of species, the two-hook flapper is hard to beat. When distance is a priority clip down the bait close to the main trace line. We have shown you how to do this in earlier rig building sequences in this series. Fasten the crimps to the line, the distance apart should ensure that the snoods will not tangle when casting or fishing. Care should be taken when fixing the crimps not to damage the line. Round nose pliers work better than “crimping” pliers. Tom had his first sole within minutes of casting out on the urfe! It was looking good and sure enough he added to it with a double shot on the urfe. Both being a lovely size for the pot, great stuff! Sole is certainly an excellent eating fish and perfectly sustainable to take a few when rod and line caught. As with anything, just be sensible on the numbers retained and if catching a good number, focus on any that are deep hooked. There’s always bound to be a few when catching multiple fish. The reason for this is that the weight and the hook are both located at the end of the line, and thus can’t get tangled with each other or with any other part of the rig during the casting process.

The pompano rig is most often used in the surf with cut bait and natural bait. Personally, my favorite bait for this surf fishing rig are sand fleas, but you can also use shrimp (live or dead), clam, squid strips, or freshly cut fish.Longer snoods are usually favoured for some shy-biting species, but if they are used remember to extend the overall length of the rig body. The flapper rig is one of the most popular line setups for surf fishing. With a smart design that allows casting multiple hooks at once, this rig offers systematically a higher bite per cast ratio and adds more exciting moments to fishing trips. Big carp displace a lot of water when they start shuffling about whilst working a spot, and anglers far greater than I will ever be have often reported observing fish avoiding a balanced hookbait which wafts about a little too readily after they have noticed the bait behaving unnaturally, despite it being tethered to a perfectly tied link. Yes, there are certainly times when a nice, heavy bottom bait brings advantages. In essence, the Flipper Rig uses the bait’s inherent weight to enhance its effectiveness, its weight dragging the hook point down towards the fish’s lip the moment that hooklink tightens. Beads or sequins are optional attractors on the hook snoods and can be held in position by adding a bait stop above them. Make these from 1cm length of silicon sleeving. Pass the line through the sleeve twice and then pull the line tight to form the stopping device. I searched the web to see if other fishermen go artificial with this rig, but unfortunately, I didn’t find plenty. Most anglers use natural baits and very few even talk about lures.

The flapper rig can be fished in the surf with cut bait or natural bait, and works well for medium range casting and a bait and wait strategy. When considering hook sizes for baits, a simple starting point would be a size 6 combined with a 16mm hookbait, and a size 5 with an 18–20mm bait. If you use your nouse, it is easy to extrapolate the correct size of hook for particle hookbaits, doubled small boilies or other change hookbaits; just look to see that the rig appears balanced.

How to Tie a Three-Hook Match Rig

So the Carolina rig is a great choice for surf fishing if you want to fish actively by casting and retrieving your setup across areas where you suspect fish to be feeding. Longer 5ft-plus rigs spread hook baits over a wider area and are the ideal choice for surf or estuary fi shing. In surf a longer rig increases the chances of placing bait where the surf gouges the sand and marine life, a notorious hot spot. The high low rig is another popular double hook surf fishing rig that comes with the sinker attached to the end of the line, as well as two hooks tied to the leader above the sinker via T-knots.