Some time ago, I started fishing live dabs for bottomfish. Now I am reluctant to fish them another way. I am conviced that a live sand dabbler will bring the biggest ling on the reef in short order. Deadly.
I have two ways of rigging them, and would be interested in hearing yours.
Rig #1:
Dropper loop. This is what I use to target lings on the reef. I put a dropper loop in a 50 pound topshot (65 main) about 30 inches above a copper pipe jig. I then use a loop to loop connection to attach the dropper loop to a 50 pound mooching leader with 2 octopus circles, about 5" apart. The leader is very short, maybe 6" for the loop to loop before you get to the first hook. Put one hook through the jaws, the other near the tail, send her down. This usually gets to the bottom without any tangles and rarely hits the bottom more than a few times before the dabbler is consumed. You can run a big treble on the pipe jig, but the bigger fish always seem to eat the bait.
Rig #2
High plains drifter. This is what I use for shallow water halibut/lings on long drifts over sand or cobble. I put an appropriately sized mooching lead for the depth, then attach a 4' leader with the same double circle hook about 5" apart. Same hooking, unless the drift is slow. If it's slow, I will hook that sand dab backwards, and let him struggle against the weight. If you put it backwards with much of a drift, it's gills will blow out, it will die, and it will spin and drag and you will have a hard time staying on bottom. This type of rig is best lobbed away from the boat, and then let it sink. Vertical drop will result in sand dab wrapped around mainline.
I would love to hear how you rig em up, why, and how it works for you.
I have two ways of rigging them, and would be interested in hearing yours.
Rig #1:
Dropper loop. This is what I use to target lings on the reef. I put a dropper loop in a 50 pound topshot (65 main) about 30 inches above a copper pipe jig. I then use a loop to loop connection to attach the dropper loop to a 50 pound mooching leader with 2 octopus circles, about 5" apart. The leader is very short, maybe 6" for the loop to loop before you get to the first hook. Put one hook through the jaws, the other near the tail, send her down. This usually gets to the bottom without any tangles and rarely hits the bottom more than a few times before the dabbler is consumed. You can run a big treble on the pipe jig, but the bigger fish always seem to eat the bait.
Rig #2
High plains drifter. This is what I use for shallow water halibut/lings on long drifts over sand or cobble. I put an appropriately sized mooching lead for the depth, then attach a 4' leader with the same double circle hook about 5" apart. Same hooking, unless the drift is slow. If it's slow, I will hook that sand dab backwards, and let him struggle against the weight. If you put it backwards with much of a drift, it's gills will blow out, it will die, and it will spin and drag and you will have a hard time staying on bottom. This type of rig is best lobbed away from the boat, and then let it sink. Vertical drop will result in sand dab wrapped around mainline.
I would love to hear how you rig em up, why, and how it works for you.
