Umbrella Rigs???

[DoubleB]

Any of you ever tried this? It would seem to be frustrating to me, but I do like the idea...

Umbrella Rig Picture

Seems like it would be good for any fish that eats baitfish...

 

[DHaun]

I have one that I made by adding jigs to an emtpy umbrella rig - used it a couple times and caught stripers on it. Only one hook is allowed in TN.

 

[minner]

I got a buddy thst does real well with them on Smith Lake here in Bama.

 

[JerDog]

Yup, are productive around here. I have one and have caught many Stripers but only in the spring. Beware though of shallow water. You will loose them because they are heavy. The key is to keep your speed and not let it lay on the bottom to get hung up.

 

[Guest]

Umbrella's are pretty much the standard rig for open water trolling cheaspeake bay stripers. Typically without the inner ones and dressed with four 6-9" swim shads and one larger swim shad in the middle (9-16") which has the single hook.

 

[DoubleB]

DHaun - 3/28/2007 9:13 AM

I have one that I made by adding jigs to an emtpy umbrella rig - used it a couple times and caught stripers on it. Only one hook is allowed in TN.

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't that make a crank bait illegal? Or are we just talking about trolling for stripers?

 

[DHaun]

I should have clarified...Out of the 9 jigs total on a U-Rig only one is allowed to have a hook - typically the center trailer jig. I think more hooks are allowed in other states and certain coastal areas.

 

[DoubleB]

AAHHHHH..

That makes much more sense.

I wonder if setting up some jigs for deeper water crappie in the summer would work. Would that still fall under the single hook rule?

 

[DHaun]

Good question - I trolled 6 rods last weekend for crappie and each had a jig with a hook in it. U-Rigs are governed differently for some reason. I saw them for the first time and learned here on CFF that only one hook was allowed on a U-Rig. Typically used for stripers, never thought about using them for crappie.

 

[DoubleB]

Found this on the TWRA site. Looks like I'll be fine.

Umbrella rig restriction - Umbrella rigs are defined as an array of more than 3 artificial lures or baits (with or without hooks) used by a single rod and reel combination. If the hook size is 6 or larger, then only one lure or bait may have a hook and that hook must be a single hook.

 

[Guest]

Keep in mind that it is a small #6 hook-- NOT a big 6 aught hook.emoThumbsup

 

[MadBomber]

Hey, if all you want to do is trawl up a bunch of fish, get a board and screw down a bunch of Zebco 202's like Squirrel Maynor used to do.  He would have about 12 lines out at a time.</p>

Just kidding, folks.  Seems to me, there is a limit on the number of rods or lines an individual fisherman can use.  I'll have to research that.  I'm not near my regs book right now! </p>

 

[slo-ride]

JerDog - 3/28/2007 3:21 PM

Yup, are productive around here. I have one and have caught many Stripers but only in the spring. Beware though of shallow water. You will loose them because they are heavy. The key is to keep your speed and not let it lay on the bottom to get hung up.

JerDog, I just bought a few of these:

http://www.junebugtackle.com/umb_12-4-8.html

the center weight is about 3/8 ounce (i think) and they seem to run about 10 ft.(or less) with a 3/4 ounce jighead and 125 ft. of line out.

 

[JerDog]

Slo-ride,

Yes those are perfect for trolling down here. At nickajack the water is around 14 feet and these would be perfect. The umbrella rig I use actually has a crankbait attached on a leader that will take the rig down to the 10ft. mark and hold. I had to modify it by taking off the hooks, but it works great in the spring time.

 

[RocnRebel]

I have spent a lot of hours on the water trolling u-rigs for stripers. I have occasionally caught spots and largemouth. Boat speed is usually around 2.8 to 3.2 mph done with the big motor. Line out varies depending on how deep you want the rigs to go. I have hooked up as short as 35 feet and as long as 150 feet. In most states there's no limit to the amount of hooks allowed on a rig, however, TN limits you to one hook. Most catches are made on the center jig. Even when multiple hook-ups occur there's always a fish on the center jig.

I used the u-rigs primarily has a fish locating tool for tournament pre-fishing. U-rigs are good for putting numbers in the boat, however, for striper fishing the larger fish typically come on big live bait.

There is a small version of the u-rig made for crappie fishing, (lighter wire, shorter arms, etc,) Can't say that I've ever tried it.

The most productive way I've found for putting big numbers of crappie in the boat starts with a good fish finder and ends with 8' cast net with 1" square mesh, but then that's illegal in most states too.