What’s the best rig to use when bottom fishing? This question has two good answers: chicken rigs or carolina rigs. Both are very popular bottom fishing rigs used to catch a variety of snapper, grouper, trigger fish, black sea bass, amberjack, and others. In this article I’ll focus on chicken rigs.
Chicken rigs are also called dropper rigs or 2-hook drop rigs. Either way you hear them called, they’re all the same rig consisting of a bank sinker on the bottom of the leader and 2 loops spaced apart above that sinker, both loops with hooks on them.
Chicken rigs, or drop rigs, are easy and quick to tie. Many fishermen like these rigs also because of ease in changing out its components as conditions change. For instance, do you need to increase your weight because you’re fishing deeper or the current is bad? It will only take a few seconds to put a bigger sinker on! You’ll see quite a few charter headboats using chicken rigs since they don’t tangle as easy as the Carolina rigs as 40 or so people send lines down at the same time in such a small space.
Now let’s tie a Chicken Rig. There are a wide range of knots and connection ways you can choose, so the way I explain my rigging below is not the only right way to do it.
Grab a long length of leader line, you choose how strong a #-test you want. For Grouper I use 80 – 125# leader at about 4 to 8′. If I’m fishing for fish like Mingos or Flounder I will lighten it up to 40 – 60# leader at about 4′ in length.
On the end of the leader, form a loop in the line with your hand, wrap this around 2 fingers. Now tie a couple overhand knots through the loop on your fingers and pull it tight. This is the loop where you’ll wrap your bank sinker onto.
Go up the line and make another loop just like you did above. Repeat the overhand knot process and pull tight. You’ll attach your hook to this loop.
Continue up the line for the third loop. Again, your 2nd hook will go on this loop.
A note on hooks: choose a hook that matches what you’re fishing for. What I mean is don’t use a huge hook for small mouth fish, and don’t use a tiny tiny hook for a huge bait!
Tie a snap swivel or just a swivel to one end of the line. This will be where you attach your leader to your mainline.
If you need to see a video of the Chicken Rig being tied this way, watch this How To from Capt Delo.
As I said before, you can choose your own ways to tie the loops; there’s no one right way. Here’s a video on tying Dropper Loops:
That’s it!! You’re done and ready to go fishing! Bait the hooks and send this dropper rig down to the bottom and hold on.
Look for my Carolina rigs article next!
