TAG LINE VS SHORT RIGGER

[Baywolf]

I was recently in Hawaii and New guinea, did a few charters. I noticed all the boats were using tag lines instead of short rigger release clips. I kinda like the idea for bill fish. if you leave a big belly in the line when they pop the rubber band you get an automatic drop back and buy some time to get to the rod and continue feeding. I don't like loosing the versitility of the release clip. I am building a set of riggers now and am curious about different schools of thought.

[AhiSlayer]

Aloha Baywolf

Need more info:

What kinda boat?
what's yer on plane angle?
What size riggers?
What type holder?
What's the angle of the rigger?
What are you fishing fer?
What are you pulling fer bait?
How many lines you puttin in?

ahi

[Patudo]

I like taglines with black's clips on the ends, clipped into dacron loops on the mono main line for heavy tackle lure fishing. For light tackle I prefer roller-trollers. Light tackle is more handy- if you get a knock-down you can easily pick the rod up, reel the lure back into position and hold the rod tip high, waiting for the fish to come back on it. You can't do this with a heavy bent butt outfit so you've got to get that lure back into position ASAP. Tag lines with black's clips are the fastest way. Reel the dacron loop up to the rod tip pronto, grab the clip and snap it into the loop. Give the reel a bit of freespool and the lure shoots back into position. No messing around with hauling halyards up and down. The taglines also cut down on dropback, but I don't think that's a huge issue with most modern boats and rigger setups.

I don't like tagline setups with lighter tackle below 50 because making the dacron loops can be fiddly on lighter line, and you start having problems with the dacron loop going through little rod guides and rollers. (Never a problem on Bigfoot rollers). For light tackle I still prefer the good old roller troller. It's as simple as can be and gives instant lure adjustment. Plus, it's versatile to both lures and bait. Taglines are really for lure fishing only.

[AhiSlayer]

Yokwe!

Taglines can be set up allot of different ways.

Some guys use um fer light tackle lure fishin with small rubberbands.

You threw me off when you mentioned adding a drop back with a tagline. Is that what yer charter did? If so what were they catchin and what bait?

ahi

[Baywolf]

Ahi Slayer, Patudo
23 ft W/A cobia, don't knbow plane angle, 20 ft riggers, gunnel mount holders, 45 deg, and the fishing is seasonal. Starts with YFT's with a wahoo and occasional sail March and April, Marlin and dolphin mid April to Oct. Sept Oct Wahoo and sails go crazy. Mid Nov to Feb Giant Blue fin. I mainly drag meat with a skirt or naked. I fish 6 lines weather permitting 7. When fishing whites and sails, they will come up and bat the bait knocking it out of the clip, with the belly in the line it gives a short drop back, sometimes enough for them to get back on the bait before the boat draws up the slack. Yes They were doing this in Hawaii, I also read it was one of the tricks they use in Aisia. I didn't like the dacron on the line, you loose the versitility. I do like not messing with the rigger halyard, its alot quicker to clip it and drop it fast. Thanks for the great input.

Rick

[Patudo]

I'd reckon that your rigger clip setup probably serves you just fine for what you're doing. It gets a little complex running more than two sets of taglines off each rigger. Plus, you can incorporate a loop of dropback between your rod tip and outrigger clip already, without the need for tag lines. In fact, if you add tag lines you are going to be cutting down the amount of dropback (ie slack) between your rod tip and the rigger clip (or the end of the tagline as it would be). I'm guessing you are fishing light or stand-up tackle so if you get a knock-down and no hook up you can pick up the rod and work it from there. That's the best way for lighter gear. Heavier gear you do depend on Rodney Rod Holder a bit more because it's more cumbersome to handle.

The other thing to think about is that a lure needs a certain amount of weight to drag the tagline weight up the rigger- if you're running a small lure with low resistance you may find the lure won't go up the rigger. I think this would be a real problem if you tried fishing small baits on taglines. If you were really dead set on it you might need to use smaller tagline weights than the normal sized chrome brass weights, and very light tag lines like 80lb mono.

Incidentally, you can slide the dacron sleeves up and down the line- you'll need to floss the dacron end facing the terminal end with a few half-hitches of dental floss to stop it from fraying - when you're doing this, just tighten the hitches enough so that it won't fray, but not too tight that the dacron sleeve is jammed tight to the line and cannot move. a lot of folks using the dacron sleeves make them too short and they end up slipping. Make them long enough to grip the mainline, say 5 inches, and you won't have problems with slippage. This setup is better for heavy than light tackle though.

[flatline]

Great points Patudo!!!

[Baywolf]

Thanks alot for the info Patudo. Think I will stay with the short rigger sounds like it will best fit my fishing. I am using 50's and 25's with 40 lb and 25lb all stand up. Am new to the site, and I think I am going to like it here.
Rick