Tying my own Fishfinder Rigs:

By JohnnyBeefs

Every Surf fishermen I ever fished with has a different way of setting up their Fish Finder Rigs, And depending on my mood so do I . Different sizes and styles of hooks, weather a Slip Sinker or a tied loop knot for a pyramid sinker! But the basics of the rigs is always the same, my hook tied to the bottom, a 3oz Slip Sinkers , or a fish Finder sinker holder , Snap Swivel, I keep my leader at the 3 feet mark. Some fishermen like them shorter or longer , but I feel if the leader is to long it’s a little more uncontrollable to cast

What is a Basic Fishfinder Rig?

A fishfinder is a slider for your weight that put on above your swivel/hook. Most are a white plastic slider that the line goes through, and a clip for the weight. The idea is that the weight holds the bottom but the line still slides.

Some FishFinder are made of plastic and some are made of metal ,, There So many opinions on this typic ,, here is a few that was sent to me .. In one of my Fishing Groups .

Bleeks :The best choice for a fish-finder rig is to use a strong swivel on a McMahon, Gemini Genie, Breakaway or similar lead link to connect to your lead. Put a plastic bead above and below the swivel and it will slide on the shock leader just fine, but won't BREAK as the plastic sliders often do...

ALSO - use the shortest hook trace possible on an open beach. You'll be able to cast much farther since the bait won't helicopter nearly as much and cut your distance.

NYFisHTaPPER :I agree that eventually your line *might* wear through the plastic tube/slider (especially if you're using spectra), in all my years of casting I've only once actually broke off a tube/slider. And that one was worn already. You can buy replacement sliders for just a few dollars per gross. The snap can be reused.

It may not be the most aerodynamics thing to cast for max distance but it does work very well and with less hardware that can snag, foul, spook or otherwise mess up.

Another surf rig I've seen originates in Australia or NZ, they call it a sliding rig. It uses a FishFinder, but in a different way. Usually you clip your sinker onto the FishFinder, allowing your shock leader and terminal tackle to slide freely while the sinker stays in one spot. But with this NZ rig, you tie your sinker to the terminal end of your line, and you have a short leader, with beads, hooks, etc tied to the FF. this allows your hooks to slide along the line after a pickup, but usually only a pretty short distance before the fish will run into the resistance of dragging the sinker. With this type of rig they usually use two hooks, both tied to the same trace, right together, so you hook one piece of bait with two hooks. Usually you use one large hook and one smaller hook, called the "keeper" hook, and this is helpful to hold your bait on, especially using large cut bait, and I think it also improves the rate of firm hookups on big fish. sorry I can't describe this better (( if any of you guys have a picture of this rig could you let me know ))