Up and Over Rig

What’s the best fishing rig? At fishingtails we are constantly asked to recommend the rigs we use and show how we make them. In this, the first of our rig articles, I want to show you how to make an Up and Over Rig.

The Up and Over Rig is used to target larger fish, such as Cod, Ray and Smoothound, but it is also useful as a distance rig for Plaice. One of the main advantages of the the Up and Over Rig, is it allows you to have a longer snood length that is still streamlined for a distance cast.

I have been using the Up and Over Rig a lot this winter, often in preference to one of my other favourite rig, the Pulley Rig (next rig article).  I believe the Up and Over Rig allows you to fish a bait hard on the sea bed, just as you would with a Pulley Rig. The main difference is the amount of fish hooked seems to be considerably higher on the Up and Over compared to others.

I am not exactly certain why this is the case, but my theory is because the fish has a long length of leader to tighten before it hits the resistance of the weight, it isn’t scared off and hooks up. With a pulley rig, however, the fish has a chance to feel increasing resistance as the line runs through the swivel before hitting the stop that is the weight. This could give the fish the opportunity to drop the bait without us even knowing. This is something we hope to prove this year through using underwater camera’s to see how rigs actually work when cast out. Whether the theory is right or complete nonsense, it’s hard to tell without proof, but I do know the rig works.

If the rig is so good, why not use it all the time? Simply because when you are fishing over rough ground or in very rough conditions, you want the weight of the fish to keep the weight in line and not dragging on the bottom. I lost several decent fish in rough surf on Chesil due to the weight on the Up and Over Rig catching on the shingle, just as I was trying to land the fish in the surf.

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Rig components: All of the components, with the exception of the hooks are from Gemini and are included in their Genie Rig building tackle box 

I use 70lb line for the main body, but others prefer to use slightly heavier or lighter. For the hook lengths (Snood) I use between 15 and 30lb depending on how heavy the fish are I am targeting and how rough the weather is. The lighter you can go the less chance you have of spooking a fish. However there is no point in hooking a 20lb Cod on 15lb line and losing it when it snaps off when the surf pulls it back.

The length of the main rig body will be roughly half of the length of the snood length. I like to assemble all the components and lock the SRT spring and bent rig clip in place, but leave the crimp above the snood swivel until last. This will allow you to clip the hook into the splashdown clip and hook the line over the bent rig clip at the top. You then tension it up and clamp the crimp nice and tight. This should give you the perfect length. Be careful not to crimp too tight or you may damage the line.

The important components of the rig is the SRT spring and bent rig clip. The rig clip is held in position by a piece of silicone rig tube used as a stop knot. It has a small section of rig tubing above it to give the stop a bit of protection and to act as a buffer. To create a stop knot simply thread on a 3-4mm section of silicon tubing then bring the line through the top part again and this creates a knot that can be moved.

The SRT spring keeps tension in the rig when it is all clipped up and helps throw the line off the bent rig clip when it hits the water. This ensures the line doesn’t get caught up and fishes the snood hard on the bottom.

In the diagram I have shown the snood line tied on to a snood clip. I only do this so I can quickly change pre-made snoods to allow me to use different size or more hooks, such as in a pennel rig, or change the strength of the snood line. If you are not going to do that, then simply tie your snood onto your snood swivel.

If you are not going to use Splashdown clips or weights, you can use a a bait clip instead of a rig clip to attach your weight at the bottom of the rig.

 

 

[the-upao]