How To Tie The Best Surf Fishing Rig (Saves Time & Catches More Fish)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
- Found In: Beach Fishing, Fishing Knots, Fishing Tips, Weekly Newsletter: 5-31-20
It’s beach fishing time!!
In this video, I’m going to show you how to tie my favorite rig for surf fishing.
I’ve fished from the beach for many years, have tried a bunch of different rigs, and this one is my favorite by far.
It does take a little bit of extra time up front, but it’s worth it, especially if there are toothy fish like sharks or Spanish mackerel around, or if there are a lot of rocks or other objects to get snagged on.
Before I learned how to tie this rig, if I got broken off, I would have to retie the whole thing, but with this design, if you get broken off, all you have to do is retie one small part of it.
This saves you loads of time on the water, which helps you catch more fish.
Learn how to tie the best rig for surf fishing below.
Best Rig For Surf Fishing [VIDEO]
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Mentioned knots
This rig is made of a core and three offshoots.
The core is tied with 30 lb leader, and the offshoots are tied with 20 lb leader, so that if you get snagged or hook into a toothy fish, you will lose just the offshoot and not the entire leader.
In the past, I used to tie my dropper rigs with just one piece of leader, but tying them that way causes you to have to retie the whole thing if you lose one part of it.
This way, if anything breaks off, it’s simple to just tie on a new offshoot.
Alright, let’s get into the steps of how to tie this rig.
Step 1: Tie a loop using a double overhand knot at the end of your 30 lb leader.
This will be the bottom of the core.
Step 2: Tie the first dropper loop.
I usually tie this about 10″ from the bottom loop.
Step 3: Tie the second dropper loop.
I usually tie this second loop about 15-20″ above the first loop.
Step 4: Cut the leader about 10-15″ above the top dropper loop.
This is the top of the core and I like to connect this rig to my main line with an FG knot.
Now the core is done and it’s time to work on the offshoots.
Step 5: Tie a perfection loop at the end of your 20 lb leader.
Step 6: Cut the offshoot to about 7-8″ in length.
Step 7: Connect one of the core loops with the offshoot loop using a loop-to-loop connection.
Step 8: Tie a hook on the end of the offshoot with an Orvis knot.
I prefer the Orvis knot here, but other knots will work.
Step 9: Tie on the second offshoot repeating steps 5-8.
Step 10: Using 20 lb leader, tie an Orvis knot to the loop on the bottom of the core.
Step 11: Cut off about 10″ and tie a large perfection loop at the bottom of the offshoot.
This will allow you to loop it over a weight and make it easier to change out weights.
And there you have it!
The ultimate surf fishing rig.
Conclusion
By tying this rig with a 30 lb core and 20 lb offshoots, if you get snagged, you increase the chances of one of your offshoots breaking off, instead of the core.
Tying it this way helps you spend more time fishing when you’re out on the water, instead of tying rigs.
Have any questions about this rig?
Let me know in the comments below!
And if you know someone who likes to fish from the beach, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
I’ve used this exact rig in both fresh and salt water fishing and it works terrific, I have also used downsized in line strength to make some easy Sabiki Rigs. Thanks Luke, another fantastic video full of great tips.
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment David!
why not just use the loop that you already have there for your sinker?
I use the lighter line at the end next to the sinker so that I can be guaranteed to get the rest of my rig back if the sinker gets snagged on some sort of hard structure on the bottom.
Nice rig. It assumes your main line is around 25 lb, right? (It has to be heavier than the breakaway portions of the leader, but you’d typically want it lighter than the main leader line.)
Yes, I prefer to keep the mainline stronger than the sections that shoot out to make sure that the main assembly stays intact.
Caught a 2 lbs. pompano using your rig and fishbites.
great video. Question is their a place or app I can go to get daily fishing updates for panama city FL
Here’s a link to that regional feed in the Community where you can see the reports as they come in: https://community.saltstrong.com/index.php?region=1
Thanks Luke. That’s a good tip about using a combination of 30 lb and 20 lb mono. I’ve always built mine out of one continuous piece of 30 lb mono (like John Skinner) but I have lost entire rigs before. I’m going to start using that 30/20 lb combo and see how it works out.
I’m glad to see that you enjoyed this surf fishing rig. Hope you find that it helps save time in not having to retie the entire rig while out on the beach.
Added bonus! This lets you adjust the height of the bottom dropper off the bottom on the fly by increasing/decreasing the connection to the bottom weight. Now I can get by tying up a few of the core units and adjusting the height to wherever the best bite is taking place for the target species.
Glad to see that you enjoyed this video George! I use 10 lb braid with an FG knot to the 30 lb core. Since I’ve tested it, I know that my braid connection to the 30 lb leader breaks at 20 lbs, and my orvis knots on the 20 lb leader breaks at 17 lbs, so there shouldn’t be any reason that my braid breaks unless the mainline somehow gets compromised.
As for what line you should use, that all depends on your personal preference along with what species you’re targeting. If you’re going after pompano, whiting, slot sized redfish, etc, then 10 lb braid is all that’s needed.
Luke – have you used this rig for reef fishing with shrimp/cutbait (i.e. for sheepshead, mangs, etc)?
No. I have only used it for beach fishing. When reef fishing, I prefer to make my leaders stronger than everything else because they are likely going to be rubbing up against sharp structure, and making that bottom end weak will cause a lot of breakoffs.
Would you ever tie a swivel somewhere up that line for the rig to mainline connection? Rather than using an FG knot.
I personally wouldn’t because the FG knot is stronger than any knot to swivel that I’ve tested so far for connecting two lines together, and the risk of line twists is very small because the baits the typically do the twisting are isolated out on the offshoots.
Wow, this is a great dropper rig that makes it easy to retie break-offs! Thanks for the easy to understand video.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Bill!