Alternatives to Pickerel Rig
 

As the title states. What's your go-to deadstick bait river presentation? Besides the ole' pickerel rig.... out of curiosity.

I use a slip sinker rig. I use two double barrel swivels. The swivel that slides is tied to a sinker with a light breakaway line and the other swivel is tied to the line and has a gamakatsu hook with fluorocarbon.

Bait of choice? Floating worm?

Nightcrawler, minnow, sucker meat occasionally.

Yeah I'll bump my own thread. Ok

I've used slip sinkers for trolling spinning rigs on lakes. Work great. I'm guessing a lot of guys employ them on the river. Will a minnow on a bare hook be suspended in a river using this method?
Honestly not much of a spin casting river fisher. Haven't done much of it. More of a lake and (river) fly fisherman...
I hate Pickerel rigs although acknowledge why guys use them...

I use wolf River rigs and Lindy rigs.
Never use pickerel rigs
Cat

I use about 14in or so of line to the hook. It suspends the bait nicely and gives it a nice flutter in the current.

Pickerel rigs are effective, but messy (both in rivers and tackle boxes) and the materials are very cheap.

I dont bait fish much anymore and dont like pickerel rigs. But if and when i use bait in a fast moving river i use a hook a couple of feet above the weight. Simple,effective and no tangles. Not much to loose. I tie weight on in a way that it breaks away first before the main line can break. Either worms or minnows work for me this way.

In Manitoba, we call Pickerel Rigs "Ukrainian Drop Shots" :)

On the North Sask River we call them garbage.

I use the same rig as jhutter but I attach my weight with a small snap swivel that slides along my main line. If the weight snags the snap will pop open and I usually get the rest of my rig back.

Spit out my morning coffee. Thanks man. 👍 Totally agree though 😎

If you do use a rig, I now use a pike rig over a walleye rig. No tangles and doesn't seem to change my catch rate.

If I'm bait fishing, and I want to use 2 hooks, I will simply wind a snelled hook around the main line that is tied to a weight.

To stop the snelled hooks from sliding, and over hand and pass thru on the main line helps. (Just have to do this with the top hook first).

Seeing as this old thread is going again im curious what else someone might use for bait in the NSR besides running to cabelas constantly for minnows and worms. Of course if its top secret i promise not to tell if you PM me. :)

Ive tried just tying on a curly tail but didnt work at all.

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Sucker belly. It’s free and readily available. (Need a worm first to catch sucker)
Cut it into desired peices, freeze it for later use. Goldeye, mooneye, walleye, sauger, sturgeon all love it.

And it stays on the hook quite well.

Yes. No need to reel in and check your bait after a couple bites. It’s there.

https://i.imgur.com/fPlJkiS.jpgHere's another slider rig …… the egg sinker there can be larger if currents are heavier.

This particular one has two float/glow beads ahead of the first hook and a pink stopper bead that allows you to control the amount of "slack" before the egg sinker is picked off the bottom. The one in the picture has roughly 10"-12" of slide and a 20"-24" tag - but you can slide this up and down as far (or as tight) as you like.

It also has a double trailer there. A few close ups ….

https://i.imgur.com/9M2jskD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NYDxtcI.jpg

I've started tying a snelled trailer hook as a "stinger" as well. It can be nice when bait fishing if you lose your bait on a missed strike.

I've also had success adding beads and spinners to my rigs. When the river has a little bit of current, the spinners add some nice action to the rigs. I've found that I do get a few more snags when using the spinners and extra hook.

I use a heavy PowerPro braid as a main line, 20lb fluoro as the line to my hooks, and an ~8lb mono line for my weight. I know that it might be a little over the top, but when there are large sturgeon and trophy walleye in the area, I don't want fish to die from snags, and I don't want to lose a memorable fish.

As far as bait, you have to go natural, at least in my experience. Worms, minnows, leeches, sucker meat, shrimp, bacon, etc.

Not overkill at all. I use 80 lb power pro mainline, 50 Lb leader to hook, and a bit of 30lb to the weight. I want the weight to break off but 30 lb gets you out a lot of the time without having to lose the weight and re rig one on.
But I’m usually targeting sturgeon though.

I always use paternoster system. Pickerel rigs are absolute garbage and litter for rivers. No self respecting angler should ever use that crap.:argue2:

https://www.amateurangling.com/aa/wp...g-1024x683.jpg

Yep the one on the left is what i use. Easy to setup and no getting tangled up.

Just wished it wasnt such a pain to get worms or minnows so often. Dont really want to go in the store to much re: covid as im compromised health wise.
Maybe ill try shrimp see what happens till i catch my next sucker.

I started a worm farm finally, see how it works I guess, I have a 30 mile drive to buy bait.
rig on the left is what Ive used for a lot of fish and a lot of years, just upsized it to handle my sturgeon now. I dont use sliding anything, I tie my hook snell on with a simple loop tied at each end one hoop goes through the hook eye over the hook then pulled tight to attach the hook, make sure the line is out of the hook joint or a big fish can pull hard enough to cut your line, the other loop I interlock with the same thing on the main line, just an overhand tied loop. Foot to 2 feet above the end of the line, where I use another loop to attach a length of lighter line, to my 50 to 80 pound braid. Usually a foot or so of 20 pound fluoro leader since theres one in my backpack :) weight tied directly to the lighter line with a couple overhand knots, dont need the strength of a fancy knot its supposed to break if it needs to. Ive caught thousands of fish up to my size on this rig and I still trust it. easy to tie with cold wet hands and bad eyes too. The one in the pic I just tied the weight to my main line, I know that area well and there are very few snags to get hung up on. not the norm for me though I prefer the breakoff weight. retie it to the light line now and then the bottom abrades the fluoro eventually. rig may not be for everyone but I like it and use it to each his own I believe out of 642 lake sturgeon approximately 641 ish were caught on this rig
:bad_boys_20:
https://i.imgur.com/kjldJCH.jpg

That ..... my friends .......... is a mic drop.

There is nothing left to say.

This works ...... it ain't fancy, it ain't pretty, it just works.

Wayne has left the stage !!!!!!!

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Only 642??

If you have a lawn try releasing some night crawlers instead of having a worm farm. I always found the worm farms to smell.