Drop slide rig

[Fiskadoro]

I do a lot of my own rigging, and here's a rig I came up with that works like a dropper loop with a few advantages.

Since I have been having some success with it and it's simple rig I thought I'd pass it on.

I came up with this about a year ago for fishing macks and smelt up north around Esco County and BKR. I call it the drop slide rig, my buddy who's now using it as well calls it the JD dropper.... LOL but we both have had very good luck with it.

Here's the logic behind it. I like the dropper loop for fishing macks because if you keep the line tight on the drop they can't twist up the line and I like the fact it keeps them under control and off the bottom when the rig is down. The drawbacks of a traditional dropper are the poor knot strength, the fact that if the fish takes the bait he has to take two lines in his mouth instead of one, and if you try to let them run with the bait they end up feeling the weight if they run much at all.

To get around all this I came up with this:


So here's the setup I take a small 1/4 inch long piece of clear 3/16 tubing and slide it on my mainline. I then tie the hook on with a palomar knot. That's pretty much a 100% connection from the fish to the reel when hooked up. I then tie 2 1/2 feet of ten pound test fluoro to the center of the tube with a uni or improved clinch (my preference)

Here's the detail:



I then I tie the other end of the ten pound to my weight.

When hanging with the line tight it hangs and fishes just like a dropper and the mack or bait can raise hell but he just can't tangle it, but if you get a hit or a bump you can slack your line and let the fish or bait run, because the line will slide right through the tube.



Here's the detail:



That's exactly how it worked the other day on some La Jolla yellows.



When they picked up the squid, I threw the reel in freespool in order to get the rod out of the holder. Since the line freely slid through the tube they felt nothing until I tightened the line, when I felt them and hit them. I don't know how far they went with the squid before I set the hook but I do know they didn't have to drag the weight around. Once I hooked up I had a clean solid connection to the fish. when the big yellow above actually hung up the sinker in the rocks he just popped it off, no skin off my back. In fact that rig in the pictures is the exact same rig I caught the fish on. All I've done is tie a new weight on it for the picture. Check out the chaffing he definitely worked it.

All and all the rig is not really any more visible the a dropper loop does everything it can do, but with some real advantages.

Hopefully some of you guys will have use for this. It definitely has worked for me... LOL


Jim

[fearnofish]

Nice looking rig for sure, Thanks for the detailed pics. Now for the fish.... Dude thats a TOAD, nice fish!!

[Ojos_raros]

nice looking rig.

ive used a similiar set up using one of those sliding plastic tubes guys up north use.

i think i like yours better. your using 10 lb in case the weight gets caught, itll easily break off ... but why are you using flouro??

and does that plastic tube slide up and down? if it is, you can slide on one of those carolina stoppers to keep it from sliding.

great pic by the way; send that one into WON!

[frady]

That rig looks great. I'm definitely going to use that this week. I can't quite tell from the picture if you have a snap swivel on the weight, but a little trick I have learned from a few to many lost fish is to use the extremely light snap swivels, so once the weight gets caught the snap just bends open and you are free.

Nice Fish!

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Ojos_raros

nice looking rig.

ive used a similiar set up using one of those sliding plastic tubes guys up north use.

i think i like yours better. your using 10 lb in case the weight gets caught, itll easily break off ... but why are you using flouro??

and does that plastic tube slide up and down? if it is, you can slide on one of those carolina stoppers to keep it from sliding.

great pic by the way; send that one into WON!

You don't stop the slide from sliding down, you want the slide all the way down against the hook, as it is then less visible to the fish.

In a normal dropper the double line tag end (especially if your using forty or fifty pound test) is not flexible like a leader but instead rather stiff. The only advantage too making a longer tag or loop loop say 2 inches is to allow the fish too take the hook deeper before running into the main and sinker lines, and it will additionally give fin bait enough flexibility to right itself.

That said they do not have enough room to swim around or tangle. A dropper is not designed to give the bait that much freedom of movement or to allow it to swim around like a leadered halibut rig. The idea idea is to control the bait and hold it in a set position

With my rig when the fish takes the bait he can swallow it as deep as he wants because the connection slides, so there is no need for any length between the slider and the hook, additionally since the bait can twist and turn all he wants as the slide can twist on the line as well as slide there is no need for a longer tag end because the bait can right itself by twisting the hooks orientation to the slde without a flexible leader.

I know where your coming from and have tried it both ways.

I actually have a leadered version of this rig I use for Halibut.

I use the same slide and weight setup but on the main line below the slide I slide on a small 1/8 inch section of the same tubing, double the line back and run it through the small section again so it then it becomes and adjustable stop.







This is my go to halibut rig for fishing clear shallow water with ten pound fluorocarbon.

It works great as well, but it's for a different kind of fishing then the slide dropper.

I'll warn you now.... There is one thing to watch out for with the halibut version. When you run the line through the stop tube the second time, it's very important that you do not make overhand knot in the line. The deal is that if you get a good fish on it the line it can cut through the vinyl tube, and you end up with a knot in your line and reduced breaking strength.

All that aside.... Bottom line is with the dropper you do not need a stop, you in fact want the slide to rest against the hook, but if you need a slide you can make one out of a small piece of tubing. The deal is you just do not need it as I have tried it both ways and the dropper works fine if not better just the way it's designed to work without one.

Jim

[MalibuJohnny]

Why don't you use a swivel?

Seems like a lot of work...

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by MalibuJohnny

Why don't you use a swivel?

Seems like a lot of work...

It's no more work then using a swivel as it's the same exact number of knots, it's cheaper then a swivel as the tubing is cheap and each chunk costs maybe a penny at best, it is smaller than a swivel and it's clear so it does not show up as much and is less visible to the fish, it doesn't oxidize like a swivel and because it has some length to it (tube verses ring) it is also less likely to tangle.

I mean to each their own, far be it from me to tell others what to do, I'm just showing what has worked for me.

Jim

[Dan]

i like it, thanks for sharing....i looked around work for that tubing, but I'm gonna use a cut section from a clear pipette tip...should be a good sub.

[John M]

Jim
Looks like a nice set up. Never was too happy with standard droper loop.
What type of store sells the tubing? Also 3/16" OD?
John