Rigging Trolling Lures 3

Nick Drakes, a Trolling Lure manufacturer and owner of Sekard Technology resumes his new four part series on the ins and outs of rigging big game trolling lures. In Part 2 of this series we looked at the leader. In part 4 Nick talks about some of the essential tools required to rig up successfully.

CRIMPS
The heavy monofilament and wire cable that we will use to make our lure trolling rigs cannot be tied using knots. Both require the use of crimps (sometimes called swages) to form connections or loops. The internal opening through the centre of these special crimps is either oval or a figure 8 in profile; this allows a double thickness of heavy monofilament or wire cable to pass through while keeping both strands absolutely parallel.

It is important that we choose the correct type and size of crimp to suit the material we are working with. Crimps to secure nylon monofilament are made out of aluminium alloy and the crimps used to secure wire cable are copper, nickel plated copper or sometimes brass. Do NOT use aluminium crimps on wire cable, firstly they could slip and secondly they will corrode and deteriorate very quickly in Copper Crimps Aluminium Crimps sea water due to electrolytic action between the dissimilar metals. It is also best not to use copper crimps on monofilament as they are far more likely to damage or cut the monofilament than the correct aluminium alloy crimps.

It is very important to ensure that the correct size crimps are used to suit the diameter of the leader material. It is difficult to use a crimp that is too small as the leader or wire cable simply will not fit through it, but it is very easy to use a crimp that is too large. The leader or wire cable should just fit nicely through the crimp without any noticeable slack. Using too large a crimp will mean that you have to over-compress the crimp sleeve within the crimping tool and this will result in a very unreliable connection.

On the subject of crimping tools, you must buy (or have access to) a proper crimping tool that matches the type of crimps you are using and you must learn how to use it correctly. Don't try to make do with an unsuitable tool or (heaven forbid!) a pair of pliers, if you do I guarantee you will regret it!!!

THIMBLES AND RIG TUBING
More often than not connections made within our leaders and rigs are constructed by forming a loop in our leader material or wire cable. This may be where the leader or wire cable passes through the eye of a hook or swivel or where we are forming a fixed loop at the end of the leader to later connect to our main reel line.

In all cases I strengthen and reinforce the loop by means of a stainless steel thimble or a short section of plastic rig tubing. I will use plastic rig tubing with both nylon monofilament and wire cable but I will only use thimbles with wire cable. The reason for avoiding stainless steel thimbles with nylon monofilament is due to my concern that the thimble could turn or twist slightly under heavy pressure and damage or cut the mono. There is no such danger with the softer rig tubing.

Mono loop with rig tubing wire

Loop with thimble

Perhaps I should mention here that the type of thimble to which I am referring is not something that we have stolen from the wife's sewing kit! In the context of big game rigging, a thimble is a small tear drop shaped piece of stainless steel channel that is used to strengthen loops in wire cable. Much larger versions of these thimbles are widely used in industrial situations and you will regularly see them on cranes, lifting hoists, wire stays on telegraph poles, etc.

So, why do I use thimbles or pieces of rig tubing? This is to protect the nylon monofilament leader or wire cable and combat abrasion within the loop. Imagine the leader loop constantly rubbing back and forth against the eye of the hook or the wire of a snap swivel. During a long fight with a huge fish this could easily wear very badly and result in the loss of the fish of a lifetime. Thimbles and rig tubing also prevent the loop from collapsing in on itself under heavy pressure. This is particularly important with wire cable as a collapsed loop will cause the wire to bend through a much more severe angle and this will promote premature metal fatigue.

As with crimps it is important to select thimbles and rig tubing that match the diameter of the leader material. Too small and they won't fit, too large and there will be excessive movement and damage could be caused to the leader or wire cable.

WIRE CABLE
We have already mentioned the use of stainless steel multi strand wire cable as a possible leader material when specifically targeting aggressive toothy predators. But, even when using the more usual nylon monofilament leaders, I will often use a short section of quite heavy wire cable within my lure rigging.

This is sometimes used to form the actual hook set and to join the hooks together if preparing a two hook rig. It is also a key component when constructing stiff rigs. The explanation and construction of these hook sets will be covered in full detail in a later article but, just for now, be aware that wire cable is a very useful and valuable rigging component.

The piece of wire cable used will typically be only a few inches long and will be fully contained within the lure skirts, it will not form part of the main leader on which the lure runs. There are various reasons for using this short piece of cable but one very valuable benefit is that we have a highly bite resistant section immediately next to the hooks. This obviously gives us a much better chance of landing the fish if we unexpectedly encounter a Wahoo, or similar predator with sharp teeth, while using a monofilament main leader.

When selecting multi strand stainless steel wire cable for lure rigging, go for material which is of quite high breaking strain. I generally use 400lb to 600lb cable depending on the size of the hooks and lure being used. You should certainly use wire cable that is at least equivalent to the breaking strain of the main leader.

Don't be under the impression that wire cable MUST be used for all lure rigging, as that is certainly not the case. It is merely a useful accessory well worth having in the rigging kit.

TAPE AND SHRINK TUBE
The term stiff rig has already been mentioned when discussing the usefulness of wire cable. These hook sets will be explained in much more detail in the next part of this article but the basic principle involves rigging the hook, or hooks, so that they are held straight and stiff within the lure skirts rather than being allowed to swing and flex in an unrestricted manner.

The materials most commonly used to bind the hooks and wire cable to form these stiff rigs are electrical insulating tape and heat shrink tubing. Both these items are readily available from big game tackle suppliers or from major electrical component distributors.

I much prefer insulating tape produced by the big name suppliers such as Sellotape or 3M; it always seems much easier to work with and has better adhesion than the cheaper brands.

With regard to heat shrink tubing, I always go for a brand with the heaviest possible wall thickness and one that has an epoxy adhesive lining. This adhesive lining melts when the tubing is heated and securely bonds everything in place as the tube shrinks. I usually carry tubing with pre-shrunk dimensions of 6mm, 9mm, 12mm and 16mm diameters, which will allow the full range of hook and lure sizes to be rigged. This tubing is commonly available in 2:1 and 3:1 shrink ratios, I try to find the 3:1 ratio tubing as this snugs down much better when heated and makes for a tighter and neater finished rig.

Both tape and tubing are available in a wide range of colours so it is also possible to add a little extra visual attraction to our lures by using a bright colour such as red, yellow or orange.

RIGGING TOOLS
Most keen anglers will already own some of the basic tools required for lure rigging such as pliers, line cutters and a sharp knife. Even if you don't have these in your tackle bag there will certainly be suitable items in your household DIY toolkit. However, there are a couple of more specialist tools that are essential for big game lure rigging.

The first of these is a set of cable cutters. These are for cutting the heavy multi strand wire cable that we use for making hook sets and occasionally leaders. If you cut this 400lb to 600lb cable with ordinary wire cutters or side cutters the ends of the wire will tend to splay out and explode into a bunch of thin individual wires. This makes it almost impossible to thread the wire through a crimp and is also awkward and uncomfortable to handle due to the sharp ends of the wire strands. Proper cable cutters will compress the cable as it cuts and leave a neat end without any splaying of the individual strands.

The second specialist tool that we simply cannot live without is a set of crimping pliers. Whatever else you do, please do NOT try to compress the heavy aluminium alloy or copper crimps that are used in big game lure rigging without the correct type and size of crimping tool. The strength of all the connections within our leaders and hook sets rely upon the crimps being compressed correctly.

Big game crimping pliers range from the smaller hand held types, with handles approximately 12 inches long, up to the very large heavy duty commercial crimping presses. I myself use a large bench mounted crimping press and this piece of equipment gives the best possible crimp connections with excellent consistency of crimping pressure. Most individual anglers would not justify the expense of a large bench crimping press, but a decent pair of crimping pliers are reasonably inexpensive and, if used with care, will produce good reliable crimped connections. The key thing here is that you must buy or borrow some proper, correctly sized crimping pliers if you are intending to make your own rigs. If you are not prepared to do this then don't even think about doing your own rigging, buy your lures ready rigged or pay someone who has the right equipment to make your rigs for you.

RIGGING ACCESSORIES SUMMARY
Here's the summary of the basic shopping list of components and tools that we require to rig our big game trolling lures:

Hooks
Nylon monofilament leader
Multi strand wire cable
Aluminium alloy crimps
Copper crimps
Thimbles and rig tubing
Electrical insulating tape
Heat shrink tubing
Line cutters
Wire cable cutters
Crimping pliers
And don't forget, we also need some lures!!!

That concludes Part 3 of this series of articles on rigging big game trolling lures. In the 4th and final instalment we will bring all the components together and assemble our finished trolling lure rigs.

If you'd like to raise any questions or seek clarification on any points within this article, feel free to contact me at on the Sekard Technology website at www.sekard.com

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