Question: Rigging Umbrellas
 

I'm re-doing my umbrella's this week.

How long of leader should I use to attach the shad/hook behind the umbrella? 60 lb test is enough for that, right?

Thanks,

Mike
The Miss Adventure

Mike, We use 18" for that leader. 60lb is more than enough. Have you ever tried Spreader bars? Once you do, you won't go back to umbrellas. I suggest you put one in your spread ( the long line is best for this test). Umbrella on right, spreader on left. Put em out 200 ft and see which one is easier to reel in, especially with a fish on!! Good luck.

X2 on the speader bars. For the rare occasions I run them, I switched half my baits on the umbrellas to large twister tails. That helps them come in a bit easier than having all shads on them as well. Good luck!

I use 20" to 22" leaders on opposite arms of the umbrella rig with 60# test mono.

I am a die-hard big umbrella fan and use twin baits on each of mine. Yes they are a bit tougher to reel in when 'fishless' but they do catch fish. I started out with Penn 113H reels for my big umbrellas and then upgraded those to Penn 114H reels. As for reeling it in with a fish, the umbrella itself gets turned sideways (unless you have a double) and doesn't have as much drag but who cares if you have a fish on. I also use about an 18" leader if I rig my umbrellas with twin baits off of opposite arms.

I also rig half of my big umbrellas so as to have a tandem rig come off of the rear center. The longer leader with the lighter lure has a 6' leader and the shorter leader with a heavier lure is 2.5-3 ft long. The heavier lure should be at least 3-4 ozs heavier than the lighter lure to be sure they remain separated. When rigged this way you will have the full exposure of the umbrella when reeling it in with a fish, but I don't mind.

If you are using anything lighter than a 4/0 reel (113H) you are going to probably wish you had used spreader bars in the long run. Good luck....Don

Wow - sounds like I've been doing something much different than many of you.

My umbrellas have 4 arms with 2 shads on each arm and then one in the center (with the hook) trailing on an 18" leader. So yeah, 9 shads total adds quite a lot of drag.

In the past (Massachusettes) I've fished umbrellas with 4 arms holding 8 tubes with 8 hooks. Sometimes we'd double or even triple up. But that's not how we do it in the Chesapeake... :rolleyes:

I've seen the spreader bars - but never used one. Might hafta' add a few to my arsenal.

Thanks, guys.

Mike
The Miss Adventure

I like about 30 -36 inch leader if using a single off the center.

I favor 2 oz parachutes as the trailing lure with a 9 inch shad.

60 lb clear Ande is my leader choice.

Wise to remove the swivel that comes with the umbrella and replace it with a Sampo ball bearing. They cost $3.00 or so but well worth it.

With short leader - a snagged baitfish or spinning Rockfish can cause leader to break - costing you a good lure.

One other trick - use a Tony # 19 or Cripple Alewife 11/0 spoon instead of a parachute. It really does good - call it the " secret weapon ".

The 8 shads all swim nicely but the spoon looks wounded and falling behind.

I like to run that off a down rigger.