Question: Rigging Umbrellas

[MikeVJ]

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

[Capt. Charlie]

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.

[Chessie27]

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!

[Seanic]

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

[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

[MikeVJ]

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...

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

Thanks, guys.

Mike
The Miss Adventure

[Skip]

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.