Baiting up Early

[Outdoor Zack]

Just wondering how early in advance you rig up your plastics before a trip.  On the water or a couple days before?

 

Also, is it any harm if I rig up 1 - 2 days prior to a trip and store the rods in my garage?  Will the scents affect how the baits work or will they lose their action if they sit a while out of the bag?

["hamma"]

I will tie stuff on the day before, then apply a "scent" when I pick up the rod while fishing

[Catt]

Texas rig & Jig-n-Craw stay tied 24/7/365, the t-rig doesn't have plastic on it yet.

 

It's pre-spawn here so I have a Rat-L-Trap & spinnerbait tied on.

 

Most of my fishing trips a spontaneous

[Crestliner2008]

I have most of my tackle pre-rigged and ready to go - without the plastics on the hooks. That goes for my drop shot, jig rod, float rod, etc.. The morning I'm leaving for fishing is when I put the plastics on, along with any scent. Seems to be working well for me.

[Oklahoma Mike]

Right before I leave the house.

[A-Jay]

I'll have rods "ready to rig" without hard bait attached in the rod locker and I'll have anything that requires plastic rigged (weights, hooks, or jig heads) without the plastic.  All are rigged at the ramp or on the water. 

The only exception is Night Operations where everything is pre-rigged in advance; usually that day.

 

The factors that drive the bait choices I'll make are routinely water color / clarity, wind speed & direction, if it's horizontal or vertical deal and the depth I'll be presenting baits.  Sometimes I'll rigged the same type rig with a couple of different weights & hook sizes.

A-Jay

[lo n slo]

i always re-tie before hitting water but i will use the "old" worm or lizard if it is still good to go.

[Spankey]

I have all my stuff rigged before. On soft plastics rigs I have them rigged with my worm,craw whatever in a snack size zip lock. No sent applied till I get on the river. 

[everythingthatswims]

I usually rig up the night before if it's a legitimate "fishing trip"

[Mike L]

I re rig, retie and condition flourocarbon the night before even if I didn't use a particular setup in a week. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

I never tie on any lures until I get to the water and assess the  conditions. Obviously some of my rods already have lures on them but I never pre-rig a single thing because you can't force feed the fish. Of course there are exceptions when going to certain destinations you know certain Lures will work regardless of conditions but in general, the plan I come up with the night before is an epic fail. I always have better luck trying a few different places and tactics and seeing what mood the fish are in

[roadwarrior]

Rigged and ready. Sometimes (often) I never go to my tackle bag. I am rigged for a trip to the

Tennessee River tomorrow and for Toledo Bend 3/15. I guess I'm ready for the Pickwick Roadtrip

in April, too!

 

 

[bigfruits]

I tie on the water. the only sure bet is that there will be a jig on at least one rod!

[Darren.]

Usually I rig up when I'm sitting in my kayak but

before I've pushed off the launch.

 

Sometimes I've rigged the night before a planned

trip, but not usually.

[WRB]

I have tested a lot of different knots and mono, FC, Copolymer line types to determine the effects of knot strength degradation when tied for 24 hours. The results were about 25% loss in knot strength. Braid wasn't affected by time stress when tied direct to the lure or snap. 

My routine is threading the line through the guides, run it down to the reel, add line conditioner to the reel spool and put on a rod sleeve. Organize whatever terminal tackle needed, get out a few lures and make sure they are ready to use, make sure I have the soft plastics ready and whatever else that may be needed ready yo use.

Before launching I rig up T-rig, drop shot, slip shot,  tie on a few jigs and snaps for crankbaits and swimbaits. If know what soft plastics are working I will rig whatever I plan to start with, usually wait until after launching. Tournament fishing I get everything ready before launching.

Tom

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

I have tested a lot of different knots and mono, FC, Copolymer line types to determine the effects of knot strength degradation when tied for 24 hours. The results were about 25% loss in knot strength. Braid wasn't affected by time stress when tied direct to the lure or snap. 

 

WOW!  

Thank you, that's news to me. I will retie everything before fishing the rigs.

 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

 

WOW!  

Thank you, that's news to me. I will retie everything before fishing the rigs.

 

With the size of the smallies you are targeting in big time current, any knot would break!!! 

[blckshirt98]

Interesting post Tom, I was considering pre-tying my trout rigs but using 2# line I can't afford to lose any knot strength.

 

For bass I've always been prone to just leaving my leader and mainline connected together and will store it that way until I fish next time.  I think going forward I'll start to cut my leader off at the end of the day and just tie fresh next time I go out.

[Catt]

Don't know what test y'all using but on the water experience show no drop off in knot strength!

 

Edit: while I have lures tied on 24/7/365, I might fish 3-4 times a week, & I will retie at the slightest hint of abrasion or a nick!

OK how about edit #2!

Because of the cover I'm throwing in I'll respool every 3rd trip

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

Don't know what test y'all using but on the water experience show no drop off in knot strength!

 

Edit: while I have lures tied on 24/7/365, I might fish 3-4 times a week, & I will retie at the slightest hint of abrasion or a nick!

OK how about edit #2!

Because of the cover I'm throwing in I'll respool every 3rd trip

Most of the places I fish are gin clear, so I'm usually throwing 6-8 lb on tubes/grubs/flies and 10-12 on Texas rigs and jigs. And then there's the zebra mussels (razor clams as my buddy calls them). Once it warms up I can get out the heavy stuff and fish some shallow rivers

[scaleface]

13 hours ago, Outdoor Zack said:

Just wondering how early in advance you rig up your plastics before a trip.  On the water or a couple days before?

 

I see no need of rigging a plastic bait before  its ready to be used . I usually put it on at lakeside or before the first cast .  Maybe I'm not understanding the question .

[Outdoor Zack]

33 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I see no need of rigging a plastic bait before  its ready to be used . I usually put it on at lakeside or before the first cast .  Maybe I'm not understanding the question .

 

I ask because I'm planning on going out on Saturday and maybe Sunday and was wondering if tying up my soft plastic rigs (plastics on) on Thursday or Friday would make any difference 

 

Example:  it's been cold and partly cloudy and is supposed to warm up only a little, so I know I want to use a 4" yum dinger in green pumpkin and black flake.  Would it be ok to rig it and store it on the rod for a day before ?

[RoLo]

My lure arsenal is pre-rigged at all times, and stashed in the garage behind my boat.

Soft-plastics aren't threaded on hooks until we're on the water (I screw a plastic cup over trebled plugs).

 

Roger

[Bluebasser86]

The day before if I know what I'm going to be fishing for sure. Some of the lakes I fish vary a lot in water color so I'll wait to get there before deciding what color/bait to use. 

[long island basser]

Rigged and ready the night before.