Rig For Reds

[nautical prince]

hi out there have been chasin reds for a little while now with results slowly improving was wondering if any one had any rigs or ways to fish for these big guys to improve on my results

cheers any help would be great Lenny ;D

[jake0]

lenny, Daza, (Wahoo) is the guy to ask, loves his reds, when i went out with him, he was running 120lb leader, huge snapper sinker on the bottom, and say 200 - 250mm up from that he was using a 10/0, he uses nothing but calamarie (sp) and filled the 10/0 and some, hope he fills you in a bit more

AR

PS if your getting smaller nibbles, dont strike straight up, just bear with it, the larger reds will come to you

[dayoo]

Lenny,

From my personal experience over the years a 40/50lb main line tied to a strong two way double barrel swivel with the sinker (snapper dropper 8/12oz) attached to a 50cm length of 40lb line tied to the the bottom of the vertical swivel. Two 9/0 to 13/0 hooks are snooded to a 80/100lb line(50cm long) which is attached to the horizontal swivel.

Mullet or hussar fillets are generally the best baits.

Hook size depend on the size of the fish. 9/0 for reds up to 12kg, 13/0 circle hooks for the monsters.

The first few seconds of the hook up are critical. You have to set your drag to at lease 6kg and get the fish up off the bottom quickly otherwise the fish will get you into any nearby reef and good night Irene.:'(

Reds can be caught all year but I have found that April to June are the bag out months.

I can give you some the extra strong double swivels if you PM me.

Heading out tomorrow or Friday on "Alexander" weather permitting.::)

Cheers
Barry

[jtpython]

If you search Reefmasters threads and see the reds or monsters as they are refered to he has articles in the Bush and Beach about rigs chasing reds .
JT

[scrubba01]

100 pound line 7/0 hooks minimum, big slabs of mullet, sqid, hussar or iodine bream connected to a deck winch and get them up before the sharks get them. I find night time is the best to chase them and between 45 - 70 m of water. Look for slight domes or rises in the bottom not a lot of stucture just a rubbely bottom. Depending on your sounder as to how they show up but mine show as orange highrises of individual fish spaced apart with only a small amount of bait showing. These are not big shows and they can be hard to pick until you know what to look for. Mostly it is just about time spent searching in the right areas, sometimes they can be there and just not be in the mood to bite its all about timing and luck.

They certainly are the king of the reef fish best of luck.

[nautical prince]

Lenny,

From my personal experience over the years a 40/50lb main line tied to a strong two way double barrel swivel with the sinker (snapper dropper 8/12oz) attached to a 50cm length of 40lb line tied to the the bottom of the vertical swivel. Two 9/0 to 13/0 hooks are snooded to a 80/100lb line(50cm long) which is attached to the horizontal swivel.

Mullet or hussar fillets are generally the best baits.

Hook size depend on the size of the fish. 9/0 for reds up to 12kg, 13/0 circle hooks for the monsters.

The first few seconds of the hook up are critical. You have to set your drag to at lease 6kg and get the fish up off the bottom quickly otherwise the fish will get you into any nearby reef and good night Irene.:'(

Reds can be caught all year but I have found that April to June are the bag out months.

I can give you some the extra strong double swivels if you PM me.

Heading out tomorrow or Friday on "Alexander" weather permitting.::)

Cheers
Barry
Bazza bring some with ya mate we will be right behind ya have organised to catch up with peppi. see ya in tha mornin

[Reefmaster]

Here's the article I wrote on rigs and baits for Reds a little while ago.



This month I thought I would go a little more into detail on rigs and baits I use for catching Red Emperor and in particular large Red Emperor. For a good majority of offshore fishermen catching a big Red is the most prized reef fish to have under your belt and an ambition that many will go to great lengths in hope of seeing that red glow rising from the depths. Most think that Red Emperor are the hardest reef fish to capture and that they require extra special attention when it comes to tackle, rigs and bait selection but the truth to matter is that they would honestly be one of the easiest fish to catch. What makes Red Emperor hard to get in the esky is their elusive nature and trying to locate them is enough to drive even the most experienced offshore fisherman crazy. Most fishermen look shocked when I tell them that Red Emperor are complete scavengers and will just about eat anything presented in anyway or form. However there are techniques, which can be applied to better your results and give that advantage of pulling the bigger reds, which could be on offer.

Rigs:
Slowly overtime the popular paternoster rig has been replaced by the floating style rig for it’s ability to present baits in a more natural way has improved catches and quality on particular species. Both rigs have their place for offshore fishing and basically it all comes down to presenting bait’s in the correct way to suit the species of fish you desire to catch. Red Emperor are a bottom feeder and in some cases could be mistaking on sounder as a small bombie showing that these fish roam the ocean and feed very close to the sea floor. It’s for this reason why the Paternoster rig is the most successful rig for targeting Red Emperor as it has the ability to present and hold a bait in the strike zone at all times. Holding baits close to bottom is the most important part of red fishing hence why a paternoster rig out performs a floating style rig but in saying this I have caught a lot of Reds on floating style rigs but the importance in doing this is to use greater weights to get the bait to the bottom and then hold it there. This rig really is no longer a floating rig but more so a floating style rig with a large amount of lead which can be lowered at a fast speed and able to hold baits on the bottom in the strike zone. The only problem with using a floating style rig is making sure that the bait sits on the bottom and this can become a problem in strong currents and windy days but in good conditions a heavy floating style rig will work equally as good as a paternoster but if you have any doubts whether the bait is on the bottom at all times then use a paternoster rig.
For a paternoster rig the leader material is an important choice as a hard fighting Red will soon show any weak links among the rig and by keeping the rig strong and simple you will have no worries at landing these prized fish. Generally leader material around 60-100lb will do the job fine while using mono main line around the 50lb and upwards and leader material of 80-150lb if you choose to use braided main line. I use 80lb Schneider for leader material as it has great abrasion resistance and seems to be super strong with knots not affecting the strength. Most lines over 100-120lb don’t tie easily and seem to weaken considerably so don’t be scared to use crimps on really heavy leader as this will not put the Reds off feeding. I keep my paternoster rig about 1.5m in length from swivel to sinker and only use one dropper loop of about 10-20cm long. The reason I only use one dropper loop is to avoid two big reds hooking up at once and possibly snapping between loop sets or worse snapping on the top dropper loop knot and loosing both fish. You may say hooking two at once and only raising one doesn’t sound all that bad but when you have driven hundreds of km’s and put in hours upon hours searching only to loose one red which puts all the other reds off in minutes you soon learn that single dropper loop paternosters are a much better idea. Suitable hooks can either be ganged or single but personally I prefer to use ganged hooks to take advantage of the extra hook points whilst using large baits. As a minimum try to use hooks around 6/0 and upwards but personally I use 7/0 and 8/0’s as a minimum while using flesh baits or smaller whole baits but for the large dead baits around 25-35cm I use 10/0 to 12/0’s. The brand of hook is personal choice but I do prefer ganging 7/0-8/0 in the mustard all-round 7766’s as these hooks are thick gauge and reasonably short in length which means you can usually run an extra hook in the bait. For the bigger hooks I run a three ganged VMC in 10/0 or 12/0 but once again it’s personal choice and as long as the hooks are strong and sharp there won’t be an issue. When using large whole fish baits and the hook size is increased you may need to run heavier drag pressures so that the hooks can be set into the reds mouth and for this reason I use a very solid short stroker rod with 80lb Schneider as both my main line and leader line. I’m yet to break this line on any fish and even sharks seem to be no match so I’m able to run big drag pressures and pull those hooks out of the large whole bait and penetrate strongly into the reds mouth. For flesh baits and smaller whole baits then I use 50-55 lb in Schneider or Low Stretch Platypus with 80lb as leader. The use of single hooks and in particular circle hooks works well also but running big whole baits with one hook is really not ideal but more suited to flesh baits. Big circle hooks on deck winches are ideal for reds and even using thinner gauged circle hooks on regular tackle with flesh baits will also work great. If you wish to use single hooks like mustard big guns then it’s better to run two hooks on the paternoster loop and to achieve this you can slide one hook up the loop and hold in position with some plastic tubing/shrink wrap whilst tying or looping the end hook onto the dropper loop. You can even attach the two hooks together with a short length of crimped wire and then loop or tie these onto the end of the dropper loop. This makes the rig super strong with the benefit of having chemically sharpened hooks for better penetration into the fish’s mouth. Don’t think the wire will put the reds off because it won’t make a difference. When attaching the hooks to the dropper loop I like to tie my hooks on using a half locked blood knot instead of just looping the dropper loop over the hook. By tying the hooks on it eliminates the line pinching and breaking on the end of the hook eye where it meets the shank and also gives it double the strength so the fish’s mouth won’t rub through.

Bait:
As I have already said Red Emperor aren’t fussy in what they eat but offering baits in certain sizes can increase your chance of landing the bigger fish. Mullet fillets would be a favorite among most Red fishermen and by using normal sized strips of mullet whilst trying to locate some reds you also have a good chance of picking up other species until you find them. It’s when you locate some reds that you can start using whole mullet fillets to attract the bigger fish but even reds around legal size will eat these large flesh baits so this is when big whole dead baits come into their own. Butter flying large dead baits also is a great option but this also gives the smaller fish a chance to chew the flesh to bits. If your getting nice legal sized reds or even under sized reds then by putting on large dead baits around the 25-35cm mark you will eliminate catching those smaller fish and soon find if any big Reds are close by. Whole mullet, Tailor, Yakkas, Hussar, Parrot are all good whole baits for Reds but I do prefer using fish with a soft area between the eye and mouth area so that hook can pull easily out and sink quickly into the Reds mouth when striking. Hook position in the bait is extremely important to ensure that a solid connection is made and don’t be afraid to have hooks almost fully exposed out of the bait as it will not worry the Reds and ensure a quick solid hook up. When using big baits it may take some time for the red to swallow the bait properly so let them chew on it for 10 seconds or so before striking hard otherwise they will spit the bait very quickly. To sum it up if you use heavy tackle, large baits with hooks in a position to easily pull out and the ability to hold that bait on the bottom at all times then the chance of pulling a large Red Emperor has increased dramatically. Till next month tight lines

I have attached a few pics to show bait sizes (30cm ruler in pics) and inparticular the placement of hooks in big whole baits which is very improtant.

Regards,
Greg Lamprecht

[dfox]

What ! No red pic's! >:( ;D;D

[Reefmaster]

Well you asked for it foxy ;D :P

Foxy with a fine speciman;D ;D ;D

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/Sharkedred.jpg

[nautical prince]

What ! No red pic's! >:( ;D;D
i will try mate but the pics are not coming up i might have to try another way when i work it out i will put em up

[nautical prince]

Here's the article I wrote on rigs and baits for Reds a little while ago.



This month I thought I would go a little more into detail on rigs and baits I use for catching Red Emperor and in particular large Red Emperor. For a good majority of offshore fishermen catching a big Red is the most prized reef fish to have under your belt and an ambition that many will go to great lengths in hope of seeing that red glow rising from the depths. Most think that Red Emperor are the hardest reef fish to capture and that they require extra special attention when it comes to tackle, rigs and bait selection but the truth to matter is that they would honestly be one of the easiest fish to catch. What makes Red Emperor hard to get in the esky is their elusive nature and trying to locate them is enough to drive even the most experienced offshore fisherman crazy. Most fishermen look shocked when I tell them that Red Emperor are complete scavengers and will just about eat anything presented in anyway or form. However there are techniques, which can be applied to better your results and give that advantage of pulling the bigger reds, which could be on offer.

Rigs:
Slowly overtime the popular paternoster rig has been replaced by the floating style rig for it’s ability to present baits in a more natural way has improved catches and quality on particular species. Both rigs have their place for offshore fishing and basically it all comes down to presenting bait’s in the correct way to suit the species of fish you desire to catch. Red Emperor are a bottom feeder and in some cases could be mistaking on sounder as a small bombie showing that these fish roam the ocean and feed very close to the sea floor. It’s for this reason why the Paternoster rig is the most successful rig for targeting Red Emperor as it has the ability to present and hold a bait in the strike zone at all times. Holding baits close to bottom is the most important part of red fishing hence why a paternoster rig out performs a floating style rig but in saying this I have caught a lot of Reds on floating style rigs but the importance in doing this is to use greater weights to get the bait to the bottom and then hold it there. This rig really is no longer a floating rig but more so a floating style rig with a large amount of lead which can be lowered at a fast speed and able to hold baits on the bottom in the strike zone. The only problem with using a floating style rig is making sure that the bait sits on the bottom and this can become a problem in strong currents and windy days but in good conditions a heavy floating style rig will work equally as good as a paternoster but if you have any doubts whether the bait is on the bottom at all times then use a paternoster rig.
For a paternoster rig the leader material is an important choice as a hard fighting Red will soon show any weak links among the rig and by keeping the rig strong and simple you will have no worries at landing these prized fish. Generally leader material around 60-100lb will do the job fine while using mono main line around the 50lb and upwards and leader material of 80-150lb if you choose to use braided main line. I use 80lb Schneider for leader material as it has great abrasion resistance and seems to be super strong with knots not affecting the strength. Most lines over 100-120lb don’t tie easily and seem to weaken considerably so don’t be scared to use crimps on really heavy leader as this will not put the Reds off feeding. I keep my paternoster rig about 1.5m in length from swivel to sinker and only use one dropper loop of about 10-20cm long. The reason I only use one dropper loop is to avoid two big reds hooking up at once and possibly snapping between loop sets or worse snapping on the top dropper loop knot and loosing both fish. You may say hooking two at once and only raising one doesn’t sound all that bad but when you have driven hundreds of km’s and put in hours upon hours searching only to loose one red which puts all the other reds off in minutes you soon learn that single dropper loop paternosters are a much better idea. Suitable hooks can either be ganged or single but personally I prefer to use ganged hooks to take advantage of the extra hook points whilst using large baits. As a minimum try to use hooks around 6/0 and upwards but personally I use 7/0 and 8/0’s as a minimum while using flesh baits or smaller whole baits but for the large dead baits around 25-35cm I use 10/0 to 12/0’s. The brand of hook is personal choice but I do prefer ganging 7/0-8/0 in the mustard all-round 7766’s as these hooks are thick gauge and reasonably short in length which means you can usually run an extra hook in the bait. For the bigger hooks I run a three ganged VMC in 10/0 or 12/0 but once again it’s personal choice and as long as the hooks are strong and sharp there won’t be an issue. When using large whole fish baits and the hook size is increased you may need to run heavier drag pressures so that the hooks can be set into the reds mouth and for this reason I use a very solid short stroker rod with 80lb Schneider as both my main line and leader line. I’m yet to break this line on any fish and even sharks seem to be no match so I’m able to run big drag pressures and pull those hooks out of the large whole bait and penetrate strongly into the reds mouth. For flesh baits and smaller whole baits then I use 50-55 lb in Schneider or Low Stretch Platypus with 80lb as leader. The use of single hooks and in particular circle hooks works well also but running big whole baits with one hook is really not ideal but more suited to flesh baits. Big circle hooks on deck winches are ideal for reds and even using thinner gauged circle hooks on regular tackle with flesh baits will also work great. If you wish to use single hooks like mustard big guns then it’s better to run two hooks on the paternoster loop and to achieve this you can slide one hook up the loop and hold in position with some plastic tubing/shrink wrap whilst tying or looping the end hook onto the dropper loop. You can even attach the two hooks together with a short length of crimped wire and then loop or tie these onto the end of the dropper loop. This makes the rig super strong with the benefit of having chemically sharpened hooks for better penetration into the fish’s mouth. Don’t think the wire will put the reds off because it won’t make a difference. When attaching the hooks to the dropper loop I like to tie my hooks on using a half locked blood knot instead of just looping the dropper loop over the hook. By tying the hooks on it eliminates the line pinching and breaking on the end of the hook eye where it meets the shank and also gives it double the strength so the fish’s mouth won’t rub through.

Bait:
As I have already said Red Emperor aren’t fussy in what they eat but offering baits in certain sizes can increase your chance of landing the bigger fish. Mullet fillets would be a favorite among most Red fishermen and by using normal sized strips of mullet whilst trying to locate some reds you also have a good chance of picking up other species until you find them. It’s when you locate some reds that you can start using whole mullet fillets to attract the bigger fish but even reds around legal size will eat these large flesh baits so this is when big whole dead baits come into their own. Butter flying large dead baits also is a great option but this also gives the smaller fish a chance to chew the flesh to bits. If your getting nice legal sized reds or even under sized reds then by putting on large dead baits around the 25-35cm mark you will eliminate catching those smaller fish and soon find if any big Reds are close by. Whole mullet, Tailor, Yakkas, Hussar, Parrot are all good whole baits for Reds but I do prefer using fish with a soft area between the eye and mouth area so that hook can pull easily out and sink quickly into the Reds mouth when striking. Hook position in the bait is extremely important to ensure that a solid connection is made and don’t be afraid to have hooks almost fully exposed out of the bait as it will not worry the Reds and ensure a quick solid hook up. When using big baits it may take some time for the red to swallow the bait properly so let them chew on it for 10 seconds or so before striking hard otherwise they will spit the bait very quickly. To sum it up if you use heavy tackle, large baits with hooks in a position to easily pull out and the ability to hold that bait on the bottom at all times then the chance of pulling a large Red Emperor has increased dramatically. Till next month tight lines

I have attached a few pics to show bait sizes (30cm ruler in pics) and inparticular the placement of hooks in big whole baits which is very improtant.

Regards,
Greg Lamprecht
Cheers Greg i will take it on board i am gratefull of your help
cheers Lenny

[nickstock]

The holy Grail of reefies alright! I am yet to catch a decent sized one but going by the artical from Greg, I have never targeted them right.

What depths are the best to target Reds in the Cairns / Innisfail area? I marked a small rubble patch on Sunday when I was out but never fished it. It was near a pretty flat bottom in approx 35 meters of water. I have trouble finding deeper water here as most of the water I fish for Trout is less then 15 meters. I have managed a few Reds around the 40 cm mark from the shallows.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick Stock

[Reefmaster]

Targeting Red Emperor in the correct areas is another article in itself and various so much from location to location, time of year and day.

Chasing reds up far north queensland is a little different to chasing them down off SE Queensland. The country suited to them is somewhat different and most red emperor up north queensland only really bite well at night where down here they are commonly caught during the day light hours and on dusk but don't tend to bite all night like North Queensland.

Nick the ground you have describe that you come across sounds like a typical area reds prefer to hang around. Without knowing where you were exactly fishing its hard to say if your on the money in checking that area out more. My advice would be to head wide and fish areas people would rarely fish and try find a little more depth if you can. Flat rubble country with small isolated rocks well away from major reef areas is ideally what your after so fishing for Trout in shallow water is certainly not what you want for chasing reds.

Foxy has fished your area a fair bit and I'm sure he will give some advice also.

Regards,
Greg

[Pazz01]

Nick,

I have fished the Cairns area for about 15 years and targeting red emporer on their own can be pretty tricky. Generally you'll get them mixed in with big mouth, spangles etc. I have always fished in the 45 - 70 metre mark and get a mixture of the above. However, after reading Wahoo on here he catches them everywhere.

In the last 2 - 3 years I have fished a bit off Innisfail, in particular mourlyian and I've got a couple out wide fishing Gibley, hall thompson, wardle etc in about 40-50m or so. From my limited experience off there the ground seems to be a bit shallower than in the Cairns area that I fish. Again, like Greg said we have ran over a few rocks etc that have got fish on them and pulled up a few.

It's one of those things, if you see something a bit odd out on its own that is holding fish, you have to give it a try, more than likely will hold some type of red fish on it.

Pazz

[Dean1]

Lenny,

From my personal experience over the years a 40/50lb main line tied to a strong two way double barrel swivel with the sinker (snapper dropper 8/12oz) attached to a 50cm length of 40lb line tied to the the bottom of the vertical swivel. Two 9/0 to 13/0 hooks are snooded to a 80/100lb line(50cm long) which is attached to the horizontal swivel.

Mullet or hussar fillets are generally the best baits.

Hook size depend on the size of the fish. 9/0 for reds up to 12kg, 13/0 circle hooks for the monsters.

The first few seconds of the hook up are critical. You have to set your drag to at lease 6kg and get the fish up off the bottom quickly otherwise the fish will get you into any nearby reef and good night Irene.:'(

Reds can be caught all year but I have found that April to June are the bag out months.

I can give you some the extra strong double swivels if you PM me.

Heading out tomorrow or Friday on "Alexander" weather permitting.::)

Cheers
Barry Barry whats this your'e going fishing??? Have you dusted off the cobwebs yet?? Leave your 40lb line at home when you come out with me ;D Hey save a few of those double swivels for the onslaught too mate. Enjoy your trip out if you do get out, be interesting to see how you guys go. Cheers talk soon.

[Fisher4life]

Great topic guys, and thanks for the hints reefmaster! the are greatly appreciated.

I have been fishing out of Townsville for 3yrs now the Big Reds have still eluded us....

Cheers
Josh