Fishing Rigs for the NSR
 

A pal and I will be heading to a new spot to try our luck and I figured I'd see if I could get some insight on what kind of rigs that people prefer. We had luck with a pickeral rig and some worms but I am always looking for new and better ways to catch fish. If you have names of different rigs that work best I can google them to see how to tie em up. Thanks in advance!

Theres only so may ways to rig a hook, line, and sinker. You can either make a slip sinker rig, fixed sinker rig, or a dropper rig like the pickerel rig you've been using. I prefer a slip sinker rig myself as it is less inclined to tangle than a dropper rig, and I find that my hooking percentage is higher with a sliding sinker. Google slip sinker, fish finder, Carolina, or Lindy rig to see how to tie it.

The only time I use a dropper rig is when I am switching back and forth between using bait and using lures. A dropper rig's only real advantage is that it can be changed out easily.

I've been playing around with a fixed sinker rig a little bit this year, the idea being that with a slip sinker if the fish runs towards you with the bait or on an angle, when you reel up your slack you need to move the sinker and the fish will feel it and drop the bait. With a fixed sinker it moves with the fish and this is not an issue, ideally with the use of a fairly heavy sinker the hook is set when the fish moves off with the bait, regardless of direction. It seems to be working but I haven't used it enough to say whether I think its a better system than the slip sinker.

What you want to use is a "slider rig" or a "catfish rig". 100x better than a weak crappy pickerel rig. Catch sturgeon, walleye, goldeye, mooneye, sauger, pike, suckers etc on the slider rigs. They are a lot safer for the fish as well if your line snaps, the weight slides off and falls to the bottom compared to a pickerel rig where the fish will have to swim around with a weight and a second hook dragging behind him, eventually snagging in something. Any more info feel free to ask or pm me.

I prefer a slip sinker rig to a pickerel rig. They get hung up alot less and offer a much better bite feel plus you can feed the fish line through the weight without the fish feeling resistance giving you a much better hooking percentage.

Had pretty good luck using slip bobbers in some of the slow water, creek mouths and back eddies.

If you are fishing for sturgeon then use a sturgeon sliding rig.

If fishing spots for walleye, goldeye etc a pickerel rig is fine.

Thank you for the input folks! Great to have people giving a tip or two to aspiring anglers haha! I will put the advice to good use tomorrow thanks again.

Pickerel rigs are deathtraps for fish they belong in the garbage. I prefer a fixed weight rig, never used a slider yet and over 600 sturgeon can't be wrong. :)

Please do not use store bought pickerel rigs on the river, the sturgeon can not tell the difference between a slider rig and a pickerel rig. If you are using a pickerel rig then make one from much stronger line then the store bought ones from china. My friend saved a sturgeon that was carrying this mess with him, got lucky and snagged one of its many lines that were hanging off it. Also ensure you have a strong main line going to the rig of choice, I've seen too many people trying to catch sturgeon with 10-15 mono and trying to power the fish in with no technique at all.

I agree with you. Pickerel rig has no place in the river were sturgeon are. And if you catch a pike they will bite it off easily. I to like the slip sinker. And about 18" of floro leader. If you are wanting to use a store bought rig step it up to a jack fish rig.


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For sturgeon I use a fixed weight rig.

Main line to a 3-way swivel, off the middle eye it goes to the hook, and the bottom I use a lighter pound line to the weight. If the weight snags I can pull the weight off and keep the fish.

I use 100lb braid for the main line, 30lb braid for the hook and 17lb fluro for the weight.

that 30 pound is going to leave you in tears on the riverbank one of these days :bad_boys_20: I use 80 pound for my hook too. had 30 break a couple times

Just trying to understand the value of using flouro specifically for the line to weight myself?

Also trying to understand how a 3 way rig is preferable to a pickerel rig in regards to fish wellbeing? If the fish breaks the line he is still attached to the sinker, which is my main concern. And if I lose the rig it still has the potential to catch fish and kill them which is my second concern. In regards to landing fish I can see why a 3 way rig is preferable to a pickerel rig but I cant get my head around what would make it more ethical than a pickerel rig, which is the impression I'm getting here. Given DC's drastic drop in line strength after the swivel however I would imagine that breaking off at the main line would be fairly improbable.

When I tie a fixed weight rig I tie a short loop off of the middle eye on my 3 way swivel with a surgeons knot. I then run the loop through my sinker, then I run my main line through the tail end of the loop that is sticking out of my sinker and tie it to the other eye on my swivel. Tied in this manner the sinker comes off if the line breaks and the rig's ability to harm fish is greatly reduced.

I will show my rig after work. If the fish snags up on the weight the weight will break off , just started using 17 pound flouro for the weight also just had a spool in my gear. I use mono but the rocks would wear it out so you lost the weight after somany casts, the fluorocarbon is just more wear resistant so you don't go thru so much lead. This rig works great when a big sturgeon blasts the the flooded willows . Never lost one that way just the weights . 30 pound line is no where nearly strong enough around here there are some big fish that know how to use the big current :sHa_shakeshout:

Just a point, for the sake of accuracy... but big slews of line like the one in the picture happen because people use line strong enough that they cant break it off when their main line is snagged, therefore they cut the line and instead of just leaving a rig behind they leave 40 yards of line down there. At least mono deteriorates relatively fast, braid will stay in that hole for years...

Now I'm not disagreeing with you that you should use strong line for sturgeon, just making a point that the current trend of using super heavy line just because you are too cheap to sacrifice a few rigs or risk a large fish getting away is a two edged blade. I've taken snorkel gear and gone diving for hooks in the fall when the water is clear... and in heavily fished holes I find that more lost hooks are snagged in the tangles heavy line than are lost to the snags themselves. The end result is actually more lost tackle, and it makes a mess of the river and poses a hazard fish and other wildlife.

My point being that for general purpose river fishing I think it is a wise choice to refrain from using stronger line than you are capable of breaking off.