Your go to Rig????

[Quan Ly]

I have been fishing for a while now and depending on what type of fish I go for, I use specific types of Rigs. If I'm fishing from the shore in the ocean, I use a modified version of the chicken rig where the weight is on the bottom and 3 hooks separated about 12" - 18" apart. The leader is only 6 inches. this is because fish in the ocean don't always suspend at the same depth during the day. Depending on the tide and the strength of the waves will make the fish consistently adjust their depth.

When fishing for Sturgeon, I used a sliding weight on a brass slider with a heavy barrel swivel and an 18" leader. This helps to keep the bait sitting on the bottom, the fish can't feel the tension on the main line and when it swims away, it doesn't know it's hooked.

Recently I have tried to fish for perch in Lake Simcoe but didn't have much luck only small ones. I have tried bobber fishing, The Chicken Rig and sliding sinker using an egg sinker but can't seem to be consistent. Bobber fishing in rouge river seems to be the only thing producing at the mouth with a few bites from bass and Perch and a little further up, I have been successful at catching creek chubs just below Milne Dam.

When salmon fishing, I'm used to Plunker fishing where you tie on a 3 way swivel and the leader on the sinker is about 36" with a lure leader of 48". This produces a lot of fish but the flows in the rivers from my home town average 36,000 cfm to 70,000 cfm depending on season so keeping the lure moving is a not an issue. Here, I have not seen water flow that quick consistently (except for the Niagara River) and when salmon runs, the water is slow. I've seen people at Port hope all use a bobber but they are all surrounding a pool shoulder to shoulder and mostly tangling one another (not interested in combat fishing).

So to the guts, Depending on what type of fish you go for there is always a go to rig that you use. I'm not proficient with slower moving water as I used to fish the Columbia River Basin and the Oregon/Washington coast. I have never targeted Walleye, Pike, White fish (I think that's how you spell it), Crappie, Land Locked Salmon (We call these salmon Kokanee (I know this is mostly specific to Sockeye but we use this generically for salmon that never reached the ocean)) and until recently, Yellow Perch.

As you can tell, I'm a novice fishing in Ontario and such, I don't know many experience fisherman to refer to, I'm learning how to catch these fish on my own. Knowing what rigs to use when targeting specific fish helps to get the bait/Lure in the strike zone (after you find the fish) so for me my go to rigs are as follows:

River Sturgeon : Sliding sinker on a brass slider using a bait leader of 18"

Ocean Run salmon in large rivers: 3 way swivel with 36" sinker leader and a 48" Lure leader

Coastal Shore Fishing: Chicken Rig. Sinker on the bottom and 3 hooks 12 - 18" apart with a 6" hook leader.

One rig that I want to try is a modified Dropshot rig using a Jig head as the weight. Has anyone tried this?

Also please add how you use your rigs for edification. I would like to try them out.

[Fossil Fish]

I have had plenty of success on Simcoe with a UL rod, 1/32 oz. jig heads (VMC Neon Moon Eye) and plastic minnows like Yamaminnows, TriggerX goby grubs, Bass Pro Stubby Butts etc. Perch, sunfish and when they're around, crappie all love this setup.

[Fossil Fish]

Of course, you still have to find them. Last time I was out in my inflatable, early November, I was totally skunked for a couple of hours. Not even a nibble. Then, once I found them (in 7-8 feet of water) I caught 16 or 17 keeper perch within an hour all on this setup. 2 meals for the family and just enough left over for a fish taco for my lunch.