WEEDLESS RIGGING

Proper weedless rigging with a dropshot rig is all the more important after stormy weather when there is lots of floating weed.

The simplest way is to invest in some small offset hooks, which are becoming more common in the UK. I use size 4 down to a size 12.

Alternatively, try a standard-shaped dropshot hook (wide gape, medium or short shank), such as the Sab Polo Wormer from Tronixpro.

When tied with a Palomar knot on a dropshot rig, it is possible to fit the worm so that the hook point is buried in the lure. When a fish bites down on the hook, its wide gape means that the lure can be pressed down and will slide around the hook bend. This exposes the hook point and allows you to nail the fish with a strike.

This presentation works well with Gulp Sandworm and Marukyu Isome, and means you can fish through fairly heavy cover.

While Gulp and Isome are undoubted fish catchers, they tend to be soft, meaning snags or fish can tear them off the hook fairly easily. Counteract this is by using a Soft Bait Saver from HTO. This is a small, hard plastic insert (right) that pushes into the nose of the lure. It has plastic barbs on the side that hold the lure securely without tearing it. You rig your hook through the small plastic eye in the Bait Saver. It can be great for nose hooking lures, as well as weedless rigging.

This type of presentation has the hook at the head of the lure, leaving a long trailing tail. It allows maximum flexibility of the lure. It may seem that the hook is too far up the body of the lure and fish will not get hooked. However, many fish grab the head of the lure first and, when using scented baits like Gulp or Isome, they will just engulf it confidently. This weedless presentation with the Sab Polo Wormer hook is not conventional, but it works.

When working through rough ground and weed with a dropshot rig, especially if I am casting and retrieving rather than vertical work, I use a column weight. Due to the slim profile, it slides through weed and snags easier than a round dropshot weight.

The finished weedless rigged sandworm should look like this.

Then slide the lure up the shank of the hook and over the hook eye.

Pull lure down until the eye is in the lure, then push the hook point into the body.

Insert hook into nose of lure so the hook point pokes out the bottom of the lure.