This is gonna sound stupid but what is a split shot rig??

[The Rooster]

What is a split shot rig??  I've heard about it before, just don't know how to put it together.  Is it a cheap carolina set up, with a soft bait on a hook and a split shot a foot or so away??

[Gatorbassman]

Think of it as a lite tackle C-Rig.

Lite line and a small worm hook with a splitshot weight pinched on the line 5 to 12 inches above the hook. It is great for fishing on top of submerged vegitation. Drag it like you would a C-rig and don't forget to sweep set the hook.

[skillet]

Not really! If you don't know, you don't know . Always use spinning outfit. All it is: hook and bait at end of line, go up 12"-18" and add splitshot as weight. Kind of like a lite Carolina rig ;D...

                            As ever,

                             skillet

[The Rooster]

OK, I've actually been doing this for awhile now. I started out doing this my first year of fishing and was incorrectly thinking I was carolina rigging way back then. After a time I learned how to correctly set up the carolina rig but never knew until now that what I had been doing instead was actually an accepted method of fishing also. All this time I just thought it was me being cheap and lazy!! I sometimes would even put a bullet weight on, then 2 glass beads, and then crimp a split shot behind that, all to make a rattle. I'd leave about a foot of line for the hook behind all that. I had pretty good success with this setup too.

So then, if that's OK to do then why do people actually go to the trouble to tie the carolina rig using swivels and having to tie 3 knots??

I've even seen lately being sold in a tackle store....a little thing for quickly making a carolina rig with only tying one knot.  It's a small cylinder shaped piece of solid plastic, about 1/4 inch long and available in either red or clear, with a slit that goes from end to end in it up through the middle.  You squeeze this thing and make the slit open up, then slide it up onto your line to create a stopper (it replaces the swivel).  You do this after you've already put on the slip sinker and any beads you want to use, but before you tie on the hook.  It's supposed to grip the line but not crimp it like a split shot sinker does, and it's removable and reusable too.  That's the lazy man's carolina setup, and since I'm lazy.......you can guess what I'm gonna be getting some of. ;D

[bigfruits]

I sometimes would even put a bullet weight on, then 2 glass beads, and then crimp a split shot behind that, all to make a rattle. I'd leave about a foot of line for the hook behind all that.

d**n good idea. ever have any problems with the line breaking at the split shot?

[Muddy]

I use a split shot rig. I never had line break at the split shot. A long time ago I was taught to crimp them using a needle nose pliers and to take time to do it right, so the line sits in the groove and the shot crimps around it. That was some good advice and has serve me well

[The Rooster]

The kind of splitshots I use have the teeth inside of them and the tabs on the back of them making them removable. They leave a W pattern in your line after you remove them cause they crimp down right on top of it, they don't have a groove in them like Muddy described his splitshots as having (which I knew were to get those!) I always cut the line above the crimped place and retie after removing the splitshot from my line cause I do recognize that that is now a weak spot in the line. But while fishing it, I've never had it break not even one time and sometimes when I get snagged up I still am not able to break the line by pulling on it TRYING to snap it. So I don't think it's as weak as people want to say it is, but you can never be too careful when fishing for "big mama". All the fish I've ever caught on that rig though would be 15" or less in size so it's never been a worry for me at all. And I crimp them good too, using needlenosed pliers to put them on.  

I guess I'll continue to "splitshot" now that I know it's an actual method of fishing and not just a cheat. ;D

[Muddy]

Hey Rooster, I tried the shot with the tabs and those teeth are the reason I stayed away from them I use the old fshioned round ones, the bb type. If you take your time when pinching them you will put minimal stress on the line.

I may have been crimping the tabbed ones wrong but i am happy using the lod fashioned split shot and never had a breakoff at the shot.

PS when fishing weeds the round shot does not pick up the snot weed as bad as those tabs do

[Jake.]

Whatever you do, don't put a 5" green pumpkin Zoom Lizard on it.  :-X

[Big-O]

Rooster, if you are fishing tournaments with this rig and you need to land every fish without line breaks due to split shot crimp, use a small slip sinker bullet weight etc, and rubber peg it.

This gives you an opportunity to land larger fish on this lighter set up than  on a standard split shot.

Big O

[Micro]

Try a 4.5" straight tailed Roboworm. Robos float and they are the most flxible worms I've ever used. They're perfect for splitshotting.

[kikstand454]

the reason that this hasnt replaced the c-rig is because it takes a long time for a 1/8 split shot to fall 18+ feet. and then when it gets there.... you cant feel it.

split shotting is great for shallow water... and i suppose in super crystal clear deep water.

this is the same rig i think we all threw as kids on our zebcos and a nightcrawler. was mine anyway.

i like to use the stike king zero for this.... they will float a 3/0 hook and they are impervious to those d*@!m  bream that  attack this rig with vengence.

[The Rooster]

Rooster, if you are fishing tournaments with this rig and you need to land every fish without line breaks due to split shot crimp, use a small slip sinker bullet weight etc, and rubber peg it.

This gives you an opportunity to land larger fish on this lighter set up than on a standard split shot.

Big O

How do you rubber peg it??  I've always heard to do something like this using toothpicks broke off in the hole to sort of wedge it there.  

[The Rooster]

Hey Rooster, I tried the shot with the tabs and those teeth are the reason I stayed away from them I use the old fshioned round ones, the bb type. If you take your time when pinching them you will put minimal stress on the line.

I may have been crimping the tabbed ones wrong but i am happy using the lod fashioned split shot and never had a breakoff at the shot.

PS when fishing weeds the round shot does not pick up the snot weed as bad as those tabs do

I've had these splitshots ever since I started fishing and have never changed them.  I bought that kind cause I knew they could be removed and reused again later.  Never occurred to me that the others were made any different, especially since I don't use them hardly at all, just every once in a while but no more than 2 times a year probably.  I'll check out the plain kind now cause that would be an improvement for crimping on the line, plus I hate that snotty stuff that comes back wrapped around it too.  

[Glenn]

I've been split-shotting since the late 80's.  I've long since discarded the traditional split-shot, and now use the cylindrical weights (some of you may call them "Mojo Weights" or "slip shot weights").  I peg them with rubber Peg-Its.  This allows me to move the weight up and down the line, plus the weights are reusable.

Here's links to them:

http://www.***.com/descpage-TBPI.html

http://store.mojolures.com/mojoluresslipshotsinker.aspx

[Sam]

Rooster,

If you can find Carolina Keepers you can slide them on your line below the weight and then be able to move your weight up and down the line without any line stress or crimping.

Woo Daves used to sell them at the Richmond Bassarama so you may want to check out his web site.

Great way to set up a Carolina rig, too, as long as you don't use a very heavy weight.  

[The Rooster]

Rooster,

If you can find Carolina Keepers you can slide them on your line below the weight and then be able to move your weight up and down the line without any line stress or crimping.

Woo Daves used to sell them at the Richmond Bassarama so you may want to check out his web site.

Great way to set up a Carolina rig, too, as long as you don't use a very heavy weight.

Yeah, I was talking about these earlier in this thread.  They're at my local tackle shop and I plan to get some next time I'm there.  

[Muddy]

I've been split-shotting since the late 80's. I've long since discarded the traditional split-shot, and now use the cylindrical weights (some of you may call them "Mojo Weights" or "slip shot weights"). I peg them with rubber Peg-Its. This allows me to move the weight up and down the line, plus the weights are reusable.

Here's links to them:

http://www.***.com/descpage-TBPI.html

http://store.mojolures.com/mojoluresslipshotsinker.aspx

Hey Glenn: That koks interesting 2 questions:

1. What weights do you use

2. How does it get on and stay on?

[.ghoti.]

Hey Muddy. I used to use those Mojo Weights, and can no longer find them. And I was always loosing the rubbers, and the threader used to install them. I use the following rig and get a two-fer out of them.

Put on a 1/16oz Ultra Steel weight, then a bead, then a bobber stop, then a hook. The bobber stop is one of those yellow string things tied on a plastic tube. Costs about 6 bucks for 100. It keeps the weight any distance you want from the hook. The bead is required because the weight will sometimes slide past the bobber stop if the bead is not there. Any weight heavier than 1/16oz will overcome the grip the stop has on the line, and the weight will end up at the hook after the cast.

Now for the two-fer. Reverse it. Bobber stop on first, bead next, weight next, then the hook. Now you a pegged T-rig. This will work with weights heavier than 1/16oz because the weight is already at the hook.

I get two completely different rigs with the same components.

Cheers,

GK

[Glenn]

Muddy,

The weights are still available, however I don't use the rubber skirt/threader to hold the weight in place.  I use Peg-Its instead.

Thread the weight on the line, and then thread the Peg-it through it and trim, like so:

Peg-its: http://www.iovino.com/beadpeg.html  although I think you can get them through BassPro and Cabelas as well.

I buy the weights locally at tackle shops.  I wish I could recall the brand. In addition the links I posted above, here's some more:

http://www.iovino.com/projo.html

http://www.bulletweights.com/Products/Lead/torpedo.aspx

[Muddy]

Ihanks Glen And Gary: Something to look into during the upcoming hard water season