Stealth Rigs

[LittleCasino]

Stealth Rigging

So your budget doesn’t allow downriggers and you want to get your lures down deep and you can’t fork out the big bucks for downriggers? Here’s an inexpensive and downright sneaky way to get your presentations down deep.

The “stealth rig”; what is a stealth rig you ask? Stealth rigs consist of a one pound lead cannonball sinker and a Church Tackle # 40400 trolling weight clip held together with a cross or duo lock snap.






I will have to give credit to Great Lake fisherman for the development of the stealth rig as it has been used for years to help put skittish salmon in the boat. We have had a great deal of success with it on the Great Lakes as well and have been incorporating it into our striper & wiper-trolling program for years with incredible results. The results have been so good that we have actually eliminated several of our downriggers and have gone with stealth rigs almost exclusively.

The way it works is you tie on a lure, in this case a jig. Lower it in the water and let out your lead, lets say 100’ then attach your clip and cannonball directly to the line. If you have a line counter reel you will want to reset your counter to zero now, and then slowly lower your stealth rig down to the desired depth. Then place your rod in a rod holder so it’s horizontal with the water. Back it up with at least a medium heavy trolling rod with a little backbone to support the weight of the stealth rig. Now you’re going to experience some sway back as you increase your speed. The stealth rig will rise and you will loose depth and gain depth with slower speeds. The only way your going to be able to accurately nail down your depth is going to come with experience and time using it on the water, you will have it down in no time (believe me).

A few quick tips when using your stealth rig are to keep your drag loose on your reel. When a fish hits your lure you want the fish to make several runs dragging that one-pound stealth rig around, and believe me the fish are going to tire out quickly. When you start to gain line on the fish just take your time, and then if you feel fit put some brakes on him (its not about hooking them, its about getting them to the boat). When the stealth rig appears just snap it off, set it to the side and continue the fight. Another little trick I like to do is painting my stealth rig in an olive drab or forest green as it appears as debris in the water opposed to the shinny lead and clip. I actually believe it helps out a little and sometimes a little can do a lot!

So give stealth rigging a try and get your lure down deep in a stealthy inexpensive manner.


Best Fishes

Mark (Willie) Williams