By Carl Bullock

The Required Components

I love the hooking potential and the anti-tangle properties of in line leads however, they do have their drawbacks, i.e. in the unfortunate event of a break off then a fish could potentially be trailing a long length of line including any leaders that may have been used.

 

After seeing one of Steve Fantauzzi’s similar rigs which incorporated the use of a large bead and drilling the front of the lead out slightly, I was impressed with the idea but wanted to simplify it a little.

 

I simply used a flexi-ring swivel spliced onto the leadcore via the larger ring. Then using another flexi-ring swivel I simply slide it onto the leadcore helicopter style. The lead is then attached to the leadcore by pushing the swivel into the end of the lead and running it around the outside of the lead (normal drop off style).

 

However I found that the swivel was being gripped too tightly for the lead to drop off easily, so I simply cut the plastic insert back slightly (see note) and placed an ESP Heli Bead onto the eye of the swivel and this gives just the right amount of resistance to prick the fish without being too tight.

It doesn’t matter which way the fish runs as either end of the lead drops off easily enough then the other end inevitably does the same. You are then left with the hooklink being pulled against the flexi-ring swivel and should your line break then the fish is left with only the hooklink in its mouth.

Step 1

Splice a Flexi-Ring Swivel onto the end of the Leadcore via the ring rather than an eye on the swivel, then place an ESP Heli bead onto the end eye of the swivel.

Step 2

Then slide the second Flexi-Ring swivel onto the leadcore along with the tail rubber. (the hooklink can be tied on now or later).
Step 3
Now cut off the wider part of the plastic insert from the lead.

 

Note: Don’t cut the wider end off completely as it will be possible for the tubing to slide out from lead leaving it trapped on the leadcore, defeating the object of the rig.

 

 

 

 

Step 4

Now replace the plastic insert into the lead pushing it in as far as it will go. Then attach the swivel to the lead by pushing the bead into the opening.

Step 5 Now all that is left to do is ensure that the hooklink swivel is towards the front of the lead and attach the tail rubber to the end of the plastic insert.

 


 


So there you have it, a rig with all the benefits of an inline and the safety of a helicopter.

This rig also works well to get fish up quickly when fishing over the back of sharp gravel bars etc, as the lead comes off on the take most of the time.

It is ideal for stalking in the edge and used in pva bags.

 

Related posts