Penn Fishing

Anatomy of a trace
Rigs should borrow from the KIS principle – Keep It Simple. The more gizmos and gadgets attached to a trace the more likely it ain’t gonna work. Don’t use overly thin line for your snoods, consider 15lb a minimum for conventional surf rigs, preferably 18lb or 20lb which will help keep things tangle free. On the safety front bear in mind that stop knots and crimps will inevitably reduce the breaking strain of you rig body, if you use a 50lb leader use 60lb for the rig body.

Rig designs have come a long way in recent years with many and varied combinations now available. There are still a few guidelines that if followed will make your rigs all but tangle free. As a basic principle keep snood lengths to a manageable length and avoid designs that allow the top hook to come into contact with the lower snoods attachment swivel or visa versa when in flight. Remember when a clipped rig hits the water the hooks should release from their clips and will fly up as the trace sinks to the seabed.

Here are three rigs which will cover most basic fishing over relatively clean ground:

Two hook flapper
The basic two hook flapper is a mainstay rig and the design shown is simplicity itself. Virtually tangle free, you can alter the snood lengths if longer snoods improve catches, but retain the gaps between where the upper hook hangs to and the lower snood swivel.

Two hook flapper
The basic two hook flapper is a simple mainstay rig and has the added bonus of being virtually tangle free!

Three hooks clipped
The use of Cascade swivels and impact shields revolutionised clipped rigs making them all but guaranteed to release on impact. An SRT spring below the top snood swivel will allow the trace body to stretch during the power stroke of the cast without straining the snoods or hooks. When using an Impact Shield the trace must enter the water as close to vertical as possible to allow water pressure on impact to push the shield up against the stop and ejecting the hook. And don’t forget on clipped down baits you will need a stop above the bait to prevent it sliding up the snood. Sequins with a power gum stop knot above are ideal.

Three hooks clipped
When using an Impact Shield the trace must enter the water vertically. You will need a stop above the bait to prevent it sliding up the snood.

Clipped Pennel
For larger worm or cocktail baits the sliding Pennel is ideal. You have hooks at the top and bottom of the trace and using a sliding top hook you can adjust the distance between the hooks to suit the bait. A large or long bait is best clipped down above the lead to make it more aerodynamic in flight which will help retain bait presentation.

Clipped Pennel
Ideal for larger worm or cocktail baits. A large or long bait is best clipped down above the lead to make it more aerodynamic.