Day 2: the ever popular huddleston rigging thread.

There is a fair amount of rigging info on the web already, but I haven't seen any do it quite like me. Getting more bites can sometimes be all about the details, and this rigging goes to every length to get all the details just right.

First, hooks. We figured out right off the bat if you don't want to kill the fish, and don't want to scare them away, you need small hooks. Frog hooks? Insane. 2/0 Gammies? You'll kill every other fish. I settled on heavy wire #2s and #4s. These hooks are razor sharp and will NEVER BEND, even at tiny sizes.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7105-hook_package.jpg

These hooks are bronze, and the belly of a huddleston is white. So the obvious thing to do is paint them white. You can buy paint for metal at any craft store. As you can see, I paint all but the tip of the hook point.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7106-white_hooks.jpg

For rigging, I don't use wire or braided line, I use 40lb Big Game. I've been using it for 4 years and have never lost a fish from a broken trailer rig (line broke once, landed the fish). A few benefits with mono are 1) it's more sneaky and 2) the mono can absorb a bit of shock before breaking. Anyway, tie the hooks a couple inches apart with palomar knots.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7107-tied_hooks.jpg

The rest is simple. Attach the hooks to the belly of your hudd with a small Hyperwire split ring. Here it is, #2 up front #4 in the back, both embeded:

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7108-rigged.jpg

Keep some white hooks handy pretying them with 40lb if you want

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7109-hook_box.jpg

The second way I rig huddlestons has been covered many times by other sites. It's just the #2 hook rigged on top of the lure, immediately behind the dorsal fin. I attach it again with 40lb Big Game attached to the hook eye.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7110-top_hook.jpg

You'll get a few more bites this way, but will miss more fish. Good for heavy weeds, not much else IMO. Then again it looks like Butch Brown uses this method, and what does he know :)

If you haven't already, go ahead and thank Rob for calfishing, and Nico for well, rocking.

Talk about full disclosure. I'm a huge fan of full disclosure on certain things. Huddleston Rigging (and rigging in general) intrigues the hell out of me. This will save you YEARS of trial and error, say pay attention here. The Huddleston is my #1 swimbait, the bait I spend more time on than anything. (Side note: look for new discussions here when Ken releases his weedless bait. Can you imagine a completely weedless Hudd?)

I am going to try and summarize my Hudd rigging via pictures and take offs of Nico's post. I too use #4 and #2 super duty trebles, hyperwire rings, however I use 80# mono and double barrel crimps to complete the belly harness. I use cut paper clips to hold the harness to the belly of the bait cleanly.

I use ST-66 Owners. However, I've used the Gammie kind too. Nico, I have bent them out, too. I've bent out the ST-66s too. So, still there is that risk in my mind, but very less likely, I'll tell you that with the super xxx trebles.

Bent Gammie #4 rear, notice harness rigging:



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7112-bent_gammie.jpg


I've found if you get a bunch of tiny corks from Janns Netcraft (used as popping bug bodies by fly fisherman) you can use these corks to cover your hook points for hook masking. I use spray paint and go to town, a bunch at a time. I used to do it by hand with nailpolish. Painful. This works great, lots of coats:



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7113-hookmasking.jpg


Finally, I mask all components to my rig. The hooks, the paperclips, the barrel crimps. Put the crimps on a strand of 80# prior to painting, that way you don't get excess paint in the holes where the crimps won't go on the leader material easily:




http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7114-terminalrigging.jpg

This site rocks!

Here I am thinking I was the only guy using #2 trebles on my Hudds, guess not. The way I rig mine is the same as Fish Chris and Butch Brown (usually one hook on top) but I also use 40 pound Big Game or 80 pound braid, but the mono is the easiest to work with. I have not caught as many Hudd fish as Matt or Nico, but I thought I would add to the discussion. I have not painted any of my hooks but I have thought many times about do it. I have also looked into buying tooling dye to chemically dye my hooks white. I used it when I worked in a sheet metal shop and it is cool stuff. I am just do not know if it will effect the strength of the hook. I guess I will not know until I try.

Cool. I use 40# Mono for my stingers too. I like it. Its quick and easy for me to add a stinger on the water if needed. Not a one lose using it ether.

Don.

Go ahead and prove me wrong about the bent Gammies :-)

Could you post some pics of the Owners compared to the Gammies? I have a hard time believing you could make a more heavy-duty hook at that size than those Gammies.

Matt Peters can bend any hook known to man as long as it has been rigged on a Hudd :-)

I would be glad to. The pics will have to wait until this weekend. I'm living on various couches lately, and don't have my Hudd stuff with me.

Couple points though on the ST-66 vs the Gammie 4X kind:

1) Owners are balanced hooked. The three parts of the treble, are welded to a single shank, and you can get a single prong in the Hudd and have two points outward, AND have the eye of the hook in the middle dead center laying flat with the harness. I think I need to explain this better perhaps. A huge point in my mind with clean rigging.

2) Sharpness. I don't care what anyone says, Owners are sharper. Stinger style. Literally sticky hooks.

3) Gauge: I think the Gammies ARE slightly thinner gauge than the Owners. However, the Owners aint bad.

4) Color: My Owners are regrettably shiny silver/nickle. I do mask the hooks white, but still, that stuff rubs off, and shiny hooks are no bueno typically. Bronze is mas mejor. Point to Gammie. I don't know honestly if ST66 Owners are available in other colors. Need to google.

One thing I don't like about owner hooks is that they're really difficult to sharpen well. The gammie hooks are made of slightly softer metal and sharpen fast and well.

FWIW. Still curious about the owners, as I haven't tried that particular model.

If you fish the bait fast enough, the fish cant even see the hooks :P ....

In all seriousness.....Thanks for this info. I do my rigs the same way as Matt, but to see this kind of stuff for everyone to read is gonna stoke a bunch of people out for sure!!

One thing to note about the paperclip deal. It allows you to hang the hook from a split ring instead of inbedding one point in the bait. 3 points is better then 2 right?

I wish I could get bit on a Huddleston swimbait!!!

I too like looking at all of the different stinger set ups that people use. I've fished with Bassindon and seen him use numerous stinger rigs, all of which have caught fish. I guess I like to keep it simple, no stinger if there is alot of wood around and just a split ring and 1/0 or 2/0 on the bottom if there aren't many snags around. I'm sure some of it is just a confidence thing, I figure the less junk I have on the bait the more natural it's going to look. I might try running a stinger a little farther back this year and paint some of my hooks white to see if it helps my hook-up ratio.

I haven't caught as many swimbait fish as alot of you guys but I have caught a few, I think I have only had one die on me. It was about a 7lber and I don't think it was even hooked in the gills. I think it was just the jig hook in the top of the mouth. I have hooked fish that got their kills knicked but none of them have ever died. If their gills get knicked i'll put them in the livewell and run fresh water over them for an hour or two before releasing them.

When I first used a huddleston I think I put 1/0 and #1s on the belly and every 3rd or 4th fish was bleeding from the gills. I don't remember any of them dying, but I'm pretty sure some would have if I kept at it. And I'm still somewhat horrified when I see 2/0 trebles for sale on the huddleston website.

I have recently found myself not using a stinger much at all. I do think that anytime there are trebles on the bottom, regardless of their size, there is a chance of it getting in the gills. I think the treble on the top is probably the safest stinger rig for the fish.