Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Isn’t that what this whole forum is based on? Throwing your 2 cents in and creating a discussion? Otherwise it would just be a string of boring posts w/o any replies.....:confused:

.....and I’m still trying to figure the wonder rig thing out

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

True of course, but that wasn't the point.. The OP was just giving kudos, and wasn't asking for opinions or anecdotes, so i can understand where he's coming from.. Wasn't my place to throw something out there that I think works as well.. , he wasn't asking for that, ,,, bob

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Just poking my head in the door here, to say thanks to Doug for sharing the wonder rig. This helps people like myself, thank you. Ignore the yapping ankle biters.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Its still just a glorified bait rig. Thats my 2 cents

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

yeah, mine too lol

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

I'll take your lack of direct response to my inquiries as acceptance

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

When fishing killies I do find smaller hooks can sometimes make a HUGE difference. I used to fish #4 octopus on a 10" 8lb leader, 1/4oz bullet weight above the swivel...slayed in the rivers. My dad insisted on #1 or 1/0 and was easily outfished 10:1 on most days. I have very little doubt that the "wonder rig" is outperforming traditional bait rigs by a huge margin in the rivers, if only for the light leader + smaller hook on live killies.

Btw, you guys should try the #2 Gammy Aaron Martins Dropshot hook.

https://i.imgur.com/gAAY5hQ.jpg

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

SHHHHH, the drop shot rig is another rig that I’ve had success with (using either GULP or a killie) on Fluke. Originally I was using a #2 standout hook but this year switching to a VMC #2 Spinshot Hook.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

haha it's deadly...but I've had terrible hookup ratios with the VMC spinshots, and that wire will fail you when you least expect it.

Decoy Open Swivel + #1 gammy G finesse dropshot hook, give it a shot, the best twist-free system I've tried.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

AS many have said the wonder rig isn't a new rig.

Many old time flukers have been using a version of it for decades.

But the way these guys using it should be a great reminder to many guy who have switched to other versions for fishing.


And that hook size used should be what allows the bait to swim the most naturally . That using too big a hook can sometimes effect how well a rig works.


works the same way for every type of bait, not just live bait.


Each body of water has different areas that different methods can be used to catch fish, That rig is just one everyone should keep in their bag of tricks as are all the other styles.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Fished the wonder rig today, and here's the result:

Attachment 123239

Could only keep three, had maybe 6 shorts.

Thank you sir!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Blackfish Bobby and Arbutis,

Thx for posting! The devil is in the details. Looking forward to trying this from my kayak in the rivers.

Bill

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Give credit where credits due , Doc named it , rigged it and succefully catches fish on it , what's the big deal ! Plus he shared it with anyone on this board , so,criticism or skeptics don't use it !

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Hey Bulletbob,
Your rig with a split shot is it used to keep killie or spearing lower down?
So I understand... the 2 trailing hooks are 18"/18" above sinker? The split shot is pinched on near the hook. Sorry to sound dumb.
Thanks
Howard

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Yes.. Its good in shallower areas in rivers and along the shallower bay flats.. it will do you little good in deep water or strong currents..
Couple of ways you can do it.. You can tie in 2 small fine wire hooks
[ #2 fine wire Sproat , longer shank- more or less a freshwater type hook]
and put 1/4 oz split shot at the end of the line, or before the hooks, it doesn't matter much.. You can even go down to a 1/16 shot if its slack water.. just so it gets close to bottom, and stays in the vicinity.. If its a fast drift or strong current and the rig is floating it won't do much good... i have found 1/4 oz plenty for most shallow areas, as long as the tide isn't ripping, and your boat isn't blowing away at 15 knots...
I would put the shot about 18 inches before the hooks personally, and the hooks maybe 18 inches apart.. If there is a ton of lettuce in the area, it might be problem, but usually its fine.. Basically is the simplest of bottom rigs.. LIGHT weight that keeps the bait near bottom but isn't dragging it, and allows for a bit of rod manipulation.. Its NOT for deep channels, fast water, or fishing in heavy wind.. It works well in the ocean as well, as long as the wind isn't bad.. you can always add another split shot or two if needed, and you'll still be way under the 2-3 ounce bank sinkers many guys use..
2 spearing at a time is cheap, way cheaper than 2 killies, and works about as good.. Squid works as well, but squid seems to draw more smaller fish for me.. move the rig off bottom regularly, but keep it fairly near bottom.. Fluke will come up quite high off the bottom to grab those dancing spearing or killies.. It will work in Shark river, Shrewsbury/Navesink, manasquan river, and all the bay flats, as long as you can keep it around bottom... If its constantly floating out of the zone it won't do much good.. Its a good finesse bait rig, but has limitations.. I was talking last year to a guy that used a similar rig in Shark river. Live killies, split shot, smaller hooks, and he caught over 100 fluke using this simple freshwater type rig... It works better than any conventional " fluke dragger rig", but conditions have to be right.. For whatever reason, 2 baits one behind the other has a strong appeal to Fluke, and when the dance and flutter off bottom it has to look more natural than the bait dragging anchored to sinkers/swivels etc...... bob

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

lol.......

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Fished “The Wonder Rig” and a hi-lo rig from a kayak today in the Navesink. Launched a little before 8am and returned around 3pm. Fishing was best early, until about 11am. Caught at least 20 fluke but none were keepers. Many were 15 to 16” and one was 17”. I lost one fish that may have been a keeper when the 12# leader snapped while trying to net it. I fished two rods. One with the “W” using Killies and the other with a hi-lo using 20# leader and 1/0 Octopus. Gulp tipped with spearing was used on the hi-lo. The “W” rig caught about 75% of the fish, all taken on the Killie except one fish that took both the Killie and the jig.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Got out in the Shrews this afternoon from about 1 to 4 pm. Bad conditions - wind from the south and tide barely coming in - made for difficult drifts. Three of us managed to catch five keepers with largest 21 inches. Well, the largest was actually booted at the boat by the net guy but that's a completely separate story. We lost about 4 keepers at the boat for various/stupid reasons. After about 30 fish you need to tie a new #4 Gama Red Octo hook - I had one break on me today on a hookset - but it was way over used.

Killies still prevailed but we did catch 2 fish on the jig/gulp today. When we ran out of killies we called it quits - we also froze our asses off in the chilly wind - Isn't it JUNE??? Why do I still need sweatshirts and windbreakers?

The Wonder Rig - You can't buy it, just learn to tie it!

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Billfish...so not a bad result overall,,,,,,, was this better than your normal outing when not fishing the WONDER rig ?

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

YIKES.......5000 hits....... WONDERful !!!!!!

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

I wish I could give you a good recent comparison but I have not Fluke fished much since the minimum size hit 17”. However it was obvious on Wednesday that the Wonder rig outfished Gulp and Gulp tiped with spearing. I am a believer in this rig in certain areas and conditions.

Re: Great Opening Weekend ...... Wonder Rig Strikes Again !!!
 

Like is said on the other post.... Its just a killie with a small hook and long leader. Im sure the fact that you have spots that are holding fish comes into play. If you r fishing with this rig or anything else in the wrong spots your not going to catch shit. You could drag that killie around for miles but if there is nothing there to eat it then your not going to catch. So having spots ,like you do, plays a major roll in your success.