How To Rig A Live Shrimp Weedless On A Jighead
- By: Richard Thomas
- on
Are you using live shrimp for bait but can’t seem to cast it out far enough?
Or you can’t get it to fall into the water column you want?
You should try to rig the live shrimp on a jighead!
Learn how to rig a live shrimp weedless on a jighead here!
How To Rig A Live Shrimp Weedless On A Jighead [VIDEO]
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Equipment Used:
- 30lb Stren Magnathin Monofilament
- 15lb Braided Line
- Falcon MH 7’6 Coastal Clearwater Rod
- Quantum Smoke Inshore Reel
- Mission Fishin’ Jighead (1/4 oz.)
- Bottom Sweeper Jig (1/4 oz.)
If you often fish around structure or areas with weeds or grass in the water, then you should rig your shrimp weedless on a hook or jighead.
Weedless rigging is super effective for fishing around rocks, shells, and docks or any structure that you would likely get your bait hung up on.
Mission Fishin’ jigheads are excellent for this approach because of the ‘football’ shaped head that forces the hook to sit upright and can glide over any structure due to its design.
This type of rigging can work for both live and dead shrimp.
To begin, look for the little joint right where the tail of the shrimp meets the body.
Insert the hook point at the joint and go straight down.
Once the hook is through, you want to twist the jighead around so it is facing the other way.
Then, you insert the hook point in the body of the shrimp but stop right before it pierces the shell of the shrimp.
The joint in the tail and body has enough strength to maintain a hold on the shrimp through current and any structure.
Also, because the hook is not free, you will prevent getting snagged on any rocks or debris.
Have any more questions about rigging live shrimp?
Please ask me down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to learn more live bait rigging, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Thanks Richard. Great tip!
We use live shrimp on a jig head alot in the Yankeetown/Crystal River area. Usually threaded on like a soft plastic which helps with casting distance. Catches a lot fish but also can get rocked up as well. How does this weedless presentation cast distance wise and will it stay weedless after a long cast? Looking forward to trying this set up!!!
Thanks Michael!
So this set up actually does cast well, I’d say you could easily cast 60ft or so with no issues of slinging the shrimp off. I typically don’t throw that far when I’m using this technique usually because I’m fishing around very heavy structure like rocks and pilings etc. and I don’t like a lot of scope because your line will get tangled up many times. Another technique you can do though if you’re wanting more distance to not spook fish is just use a lighter jig head and position yourself up current. That way the shrimp will get swept down with the current and give you some more distance from the boat.
Thank you Richard!
Hello Richard,
Been enjoying all your tutorials, glad to have you on the Salt Strong team. I miss Wyatt’s reports from the Carolinas because that area was more like the Jacksonville, FL area where I fish. It looked like you were in some murky water, what area were you in when filming this tutorial?
Thanks Rick! So This tutorial was done in Jax! I fish all along the coast, and I will be covering the SouthEast regions from N/E FL to the Carolinas!
Gonna go ahead and ask the dumb question, but are you supposed to retrieve this rig or cast out and wait? If you do retrieve it, can you show the best method to maintain a realistic presentation and not lose the bait easily?
Great question Mike!
So this rig you can actually fish a couple ways, but the most effective I have seen is in 1. heavy current where your jig is just enough weight to hit the bottom and also be pushed with the current, all you have to do is keep a little bit of slack in the line so it looks natural, when a fish hits you will know!
2.Throwing around heavy structure and pilings etc and just allowing the shrimp to sit on the bottom. With this rig the shrimp will crawl some as well. You can retrieve it, but most of the time the best place to fish is on or close to structure and it usually doesn’t take long for a fish to find it.
Good stuff Richard! I’ll have to try this out this winter when the big black drum post up on the bridges in my area. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Pat, I think it would be perfect for that!
A good weedless rig. Here is another similar one done by Luke . . . https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/texas-rig-weedless-shrimp. Good tip, Richard!
Thanks Rob! Thats a good one as well that I use quite often!
Great tip and video. Thdanks.
No Problem Mel!
I was just saying in a fishing report, “it’s weedless shrimp season”. Haven’t seen this type of hook placement before but I’ll be using it next time I’m out. Thanks Richard!
No problem Jeffrey, It’s super easy and definitely works!
Thanks. I have tried this rig & it works. Caught to decent flounder on it. One over 16″, one over 20″ and many other species.
Jim, it’s definitely one of my favorites.
Definitely gonna be trying this out!
Let us know how it goes!
Could not see the hook placement
Marshall, just put the point of the hook on the first joint of the shrimp near the tail, push through then turn the hook point around and go into the body of the shrimp, but don’t push it all the way through the shell out the top.
Super quick and effective!