By Victor Delgado

Recently, I have been hearing quite a few instances where after reeling the bait after a missed hit, where the disappointed angler is left with only a half of what was once a live bait, and the bite falling short of the hook. After much trial and error, we have found a way to improve your hookup ratio and reduce the number of missed hits while fishing with a live bait.

The theory behind this rig, is that there are two primary reasons for a short hit on your bait. One is that the fish hits the bait tail first, and bites down to immobilize the bait before swallowing it. The second is that the bait is too big for the fish to eat at once, therefore biting the bait in half short of the hook. What this rig is designed to do, is cause minimal injury to your bait in order to maintain it in a lively condition, therefore attracting the fish and enticing it to bite and hook itself by biting on the hook in the tail section.  

The first step is the leader. We are using the basic fishfinder configuration here. You can use your choice of mono or steel braid or wire if your prefer. The most important aspect of this leader for this rig, that is not shown in the illustrations, is to have a barrel swivel at least 18 inches or more above your bait. This is very important because without the swivel, as the bait swims and moves it will spin and twist causing a twist and kink in the leader, the swivel allows free more natural movement of the bait without twisting and line kink.  

After we have our leader configuration taken care of, the next rigging step is to thread your hook and line from the inside lower lip of your bait to the outside and feed the hook and line through as shown in the first illustration below.  

Illustration #1:   After threading the hook and line through the baits lower lip, you will then pierce the side of the bait near the tail and run the hook through as shown in illustration #2.

Illustration #2 :  After the hook is placed near the tail, you will take your first of 2 zip ties (cable ties) and wrap the 1st zip tie around the shank of the hook and tail of the fish to hold the hook barb in the proper position to the fish for hookup as demonstrated in illustration #3

Illustration #3:  Once the hook is secured with the zip tie, you will then remove any slack in the leader between the fish's mouth and its tail and then place your second zip tie over the dorsal fin behind the gills of the fish to secure the line close to the fish as in illustration #4.

Illustrtation #4:   Once you have secured both zip ties and tightened them down, you can clip the tag ends of the ties flush and your bait is ready to fish and do its job. Be careful not to place the forward zip tie directly under the gills as this will disturb the normal breathing of the bait fish.

Article by Victor Delgado (aka whopperstopper on TX-Outdoors saltwater fishing message board) 
TexSafaris Outdoor Adventures

Photography by Chris Delgado