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Two Hook Sliding Mooching Rig (Illustrated)

77K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  deepsix2 
#1 ·
By popular request, I've illustrated how I tie a sliding mooching rig for herring. It's probably not unique, but it may help some others. I've used two different colored lines and red hooks for clarity. Normally I use only one type of line, either Maxima 40 or Ande 50 pound test. For spring fish I use 5/0 hooks. For fall fish, I use 6/0 hooks and 50 pound test line.

You'll need hooks and line:


Two hooks and two sections of line - one about 6 feet long, the other about 18 inches:


Pass one end of the long section of line through the eye of the hook and pinch it so it's just a little longer than the hook.


Pass both ends of the short piece of line up through the eye of the hook. Leave one just long enough to grab, but pull the other one through until you have a small loop along the shank of the hook:


Fold the long end back, wrapping it tightly behind the eye (do this carefully, as it has a tendency to come loose), and wrap it back over the loop and the main line. Note that I have the small loop still pinched on the left. Make the wraps tight and close. With a little practice, you'll be able to do this inside your pinched fingers, which will help hold things together:


Pass the long end of the line through the loop:


Then pull the short end which is sticking out of the eye of the hook to tighten the loop and secure the wrapped line. (Don't pull the leader out! This is the step where it's important to look at the color of the line I'm working with. Pull the wrong line and you'll have to start over!):


You can now trim the short tag you pulled, but no shorter than about 1/8th inch. Note that only the leader is extending above the hook now - don't be confused by the shadow:


Now, I use the same piece of line to tie an egg-loop, not for eggs, but because it's a very secure, tight knot that's easy to tie. Start by laying the line along the hook shank, extending just a little further than tag end of the main leader:


I wrap the line over itself and the leader, around the hook, staying as tight to the first knot as possible. Note that the section of line that is perpendicular to the shank is the section you will be wrapping - it's already headed in the right direction:


Then, pull the tag end of the looped line to tighten the knot. This knot will have one strand of line over the wraps, holding it all together (sorry about the fuzziness):


You can now trim the end of the wrapped line, leaving about 1/8th inch, so the knots don't come undone. The main leader has no bends at this point:


Pull the main leader so you have about 8-10 inches to work with. Moisten the knots to prevent friction and heat or you will weaken your leader when you do this:


Slide the leader through the eye of the second hook:


Create a loop with the main leader on the second hook, to tie an egg-loop:


Pull the tag end of the line to tighten the knot:


Trim the end, again leaving 1/8th inch tag for knot-safety, and you're ready to bait up! Keep in mind, the slider knots should be moistened before moving the upper hook.


Now, if you've gotten this far, there's one more trick - really more of a superstition. Each time I turn wraps around the shank, I use 13 turns of the line. Why? Well, I was born on the 13th and a hangman's noose has 13 turns of rope!

Good luck!
 
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#2 ·
Thanks Pete. I'll save this one.
 
#4 ·
have you ever noticed that the slider roughs up the leader where it moves around?

I used to use this exactly until I moved to Eureka, CA and I found that on the kings I was busting off several fish a year and it broke on the roughed up spot where the wraps sanded away the outer coating of the leader.

If you want to do a simple test take some toilet paper and your hook rig. Slide that hook a couple times back and forth and then slide it way up the line. If you then take the TP and wrap it around the leader where the hook was sliding and rub it back and forth briskly you will just destroy the line and it will come apart easily if it is burred. If the leader is completely intact the TP will just slide along the leader harmlessly.

This same test is wonderful for teaching kids and new people to fishing the value of lubricating their knots before they cinch them up.

You can tear through 150 lb tuna leader in about 3 seconds w/ two squares of the TP if it is roughed up.
 
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