Umbrella
Rigs - the quick and dirty on running umbrella rigs.
By the Pro Staff at Core Fishing Tackle |
Umbrella
rigs are an easy way to catch fish and anyone can do it. Its also
a great way to do scouting before putting bait out, because you
can pull umbrella rigs while you're looking and you might even catch
fish while you're looking!
Umbrella Rig tackle - the basics. A stiff rod, a line-counter
reel, braided line, monofilament and an umbrella rig. That's it.
You'll need a stiffer than normal rod to pull umbrella rigs because
of the heavy weight and hard impact of a striper or multiple stripers
hitting the rig at once. A 7 to 7 1/2 foot medium-heavy fiberglass
rod or even a heavy action fiberglass rod will do. There's a thousand
of these rods out there, but we suggest something inexpensive but
sturdy like Ugly Sticks and Okuma rods. We like the Ugly
Cat Ugly Sticks for Umbrella Rigs.
The reel needs to have a line counter because you need to know exactly
how much line you have out behind to boat to determine the depth
that you're running. The Okuma
Magda Pro is perfect for this. These are sturdy reels with a
line counter and they're inexpensive too!
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line has been the ticket for trolling umbrella rigs in freshwater
because of its small diameter and invisibility to the fish. Braided
line is tough and doesn't have any stretch which is essential to
trolling umbrella rigs. We strongly recommend 50lb
Power Pro Braid. Before you spool your Magda Pro with braid,
be sure to put about a ½ spool of monofilament on the spool
to serve as a base and to prevent slippage of the braided line.
We recommend spooling 20lb Suffix Monofilament on half of the reel
and then using a blood-knot, attach your Power Pro 50lb Braided
line. Use the entire spool of 150 yards of 50lb test Power Pro to
fill up the spool. |
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After you've spooled your Magda Pro, now test the line counter.
The accuracy of the line counter will depend on the amount of
line you put on. Definitely put on more than enough line so that
you can cut line off to make the reel accurate. To check the accuracy
of the counter, make two marks on the ground that are 40 feet
apart. Lay the reel at one mark, reset the counter to 0 and then
pull the line to the 2nd mark. The first time you do this, it
will probably not be 40 feet by the counter's reading. From here,
start cutting a little line at a time and re-check. After a couple
of tries you'll see how much you'll need to take off to get an
accurate reading.
After your reel is calibrated, attach a heavy-duty coastlock
swivel to your Power Pro braid using a strong Palomar knot. With
this Coastlock swivel you can easily switch between different
Umbrella Rigs.
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For the actual Umbrella Rigs, just have fun with selecting these.
There's been some very creative approaching to using different
colors and different jig heads. Just experiment with colors and
sizes to see what works in your fishing spots. Natural colors
are always a go-to and chartreuse is a favorite of most.
The amount of line you let out will definitely determine the
depth that your umbrella rigs are running. If you want to run
the umbrella rigs at 18-20 feet, you'll need to put out 90-120
feet of line, depending on the size of the umbrella rig and size
of the baits/jigs on the rigs. We suggest taking a day and go
to a spot where there's a flat, clean bottom and just keep running
the umbrella rigs over these spots and letting out line and adjust
your boat's speed, until you start hitting bottom. Then you'll
know how much line is needed to reach your desired depth and at
what speed you need to run the boat.
The Pro Staff at Core
Fishing Tackle
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