Knocker rigs

JohnAB

Would somebody please explain to me what technique to use when fishing a knocker rig in say 70 - 120' of water. Thanks !!

CaptainBly

I personally don't care for them all that much but I do use them occasionally. I prefer to use jigs or Carolina rigs but that may just be me. One issue is you can't generally let it free spool down because the weight will fall faster than the hook/bait and then that extra line after the weight tends to wrap around the main line causing a mess. So, one piece of advice is to either stop it every couple seconds to let the weight get back to the hook or keep your finger on the line to slow down the decent to avoid this. May be obvious, but hopefully that helps.

Soda Popinski

If you keep it just off the bottom and you are using braid you should feel any hit on your bait. I've watched rigs where the weight was 2-3' above the hook get bounced around until the bait fell off and my rod tip never twitched.

ptag

I typically fish in those depths and I typically use a knocker rig. Speaking from my experience the most effective way to fish it is to let your weight sit on the bottom, hold your rod tip still, and little to no slack between the weight and the rod tip. I catch 90 percent of my fish with this rig/technique. I always use as light of weight as possible, and very rarely does it tangle for me.

JohnAB

ptag wrote: »

I typically fish in those depths and I typically use a knocker rig. Speaking from my experience the most effective way to fish it is to let your weight sit on the bottom, hold your rod tip still, and little to no slack between the weight and the rod tip. I catch 90 percent of my fish with this rig/technique. I always use as light of weight as possible, and very rarely does it tangle for me.

So you are keeping the weight up against the hook? Do you ever let the line out so the bait/hook moves away from the weight?

Earthmover

Weight on main line with snap swivel, bead to protect the knot. Then use a leader with swivel on one end and hook of your choice on the other. We use a 2-3' leader. Weight goes on the ocean bottom. If u use live pin fish, or froz en bait cut the tail off this will stop your tangles. Works fine for us.

ptag

JohnAB wrote: »

So you are keeping the weight up against the hook? Do you ever let the line out so the bait/hook moves away from the weight?

One would think the weight would be next to the hook, and sometimes it is. At depth there is a bow in your line and even with weak tension the bait is free to move away from the bait. You want your weight sitting on the bottom like a rock, holding light tension on your line your bait will be able to drift or swim away from your weight. You can give your line a little slack momentarily to allow it to move away from your weight, but if you do not hold tension they will take your bait and you will not feel it. As long as the weight is sitting on the sea floor, they will eat the bait next to the weight or away from it. The snappers and grouper that we catch here all feed off the bottom (in addition to feeding in the water column). If you watch grouper or snapper feed they will root around in the substrate and often times their stomachs are full of benthic crabs that they picked off the bottom. You essentially want your bait laying on the bottom with just enough tension to feel it at all times, dead or alive they will eat it, try it, it works.

JohnAB

Thanks for the info.

Lilcthefishslayer

I use it 60% of the time I fish out in the gulf. I do it a bit differently though, I put about 6-8ft of leader and a small glow in the dark rubber bead around the knot on my hook. Works wonders on mangos and gags during the full moon and even during the daytime. Usually never go heavier than a 2 oz but most the time I stick to 3/4 or 1 ounce.

JohnAB

Lilcthefishslayer wrote: »

I use it 60% of the time I fish out in the gulf. I do it a bit differently though, I put about 6-8ft of leader and a small glow in the dark rubber bead around the knot on my hook. Works wonders on mangos and gags during the full moon and even during the daytime. Usually never go heavier than a 2 oz but most the time I stick to 3/4 or 1 ounce.

How deep are you fishing with that 2 oz?

Lilcthefishslayer

Over 100ft

Xaf

While I occasionally fish a knocker rig on the bottom, most of the time I fish the knocker rig completely different than what has been described. It is my favorite way to fish for snapper, especially mangroves. I find that the larger fish are usually above and on the outskirts of the main body of fish. I use 20-30 lb line with a short piece of fluorocarbon top-shot and a light (1/8 - 1/2 oz depending on conditions) sliding weight. I basically put a small piece of bait on the hook, cast it out and let it drift back and down to the school of fish. You may have to cast around a few times but once you locate the place to cast and depth/time it takes to get a strike you can usually repeat it time after time. This is particularly effective when the fish are up in the water column. Fishing in 100' of water I've watched mangroves hit the bait less then 5' below the surface. I find it is fun fighting large snapper on a light setup with virtually no weight.