Question: Rigging Umbrellas

[drichitt]

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