rigged eel improv.

[zimmy]

This came up on an other site, so I thought I would share it here. I spent some time investigating a way to make the rigging process simpler, faster, etc. I found something that works for me. I bought stainless hog rings on line. They come in various sizes/gauges. The initial rigging of the eel is the same: dacron, rig needle through the body and so on. However, I no longer sew the hooks or use zip ties. Everywhere those techniques are used in the process, I now take the pliers and clamp a ring through the body of the eel. So where one would sew the eye of the rear hook through each side, I clamp a ring. A couple minutes at each location sewing or jamming a needle through with a zip tie is replaced with literally 2 seconds of clamping. I also attach a barrel swivel to an open eye siwash and run rings down through the snout and through the eye of the hook to secure it. I haven't had one slip down the shaft of the front hook yet. I can now make niced riggers in about 5 minutes. Just mentioning in case anyone is looking for an way to save time without negatively affecting the rigged eel as a bait.