How To Rig Swimbaits – Best Set Up To Land More Fish

Knowing how to rig swimbaits will help you catch more bass when you are out fishing. Here are the details of one of the best ways to rig a swimbait, so you don’t miss as many fish. Included in this post are all the gear, tackle, and some video clips of how this awesome swimbait rigging works. Get Stoked!

   

How To Rig Swimbaits – Treble Hook Style

The best way to rig swimbaits is with a treble hook. This rig style enables you to have more hook points exposed underneath your bait, so your odds of hooking up on more fish improves dramatically. As opposed to the traditional lead head swimbait method, where people often struggle because there is only the one hook point on the top of the bait.

There are two main drawbacks to the treble hook method of fishing a swimbait compared to the traditional lead head rigging style. The first is the treble hook rig limits the amount of weight you can add to your bait. The treble hook style won’t let you get down as deep like a heavy lead head rigging can. The other drawback is the treble hook rig can hang up a little easier because of the exposed treble hooks under the belly.

The main advantage of the treble hook style is you will land a lot more of the bites you get on a swimbait. The extra exposed hooks, and the natural swimming style created with this treble hook swimbait rig flat out puts more fish in the boat. It really shines in the spring & fall when fish are shallow and cruising around feeding.

How to Rig Swimbaits – Tackle Set Up

Here is all the tackle you need to rig your swimbaits up with a treble hook. This process takes a little bit of work, but if you have the right equipment listed here it can make a big difference. Depending on the size of your swimbait, this set up throw’s well on either a baitcasting or spinning rod & reel combo.

Treble Hook

Match the size of the hook to the size of the bait. I use a size 4 treble hook for the 4 inch Keitech Swimbaits.  

Swimbait

The 4 inch Keitech Swimbait works well for this set up, but here are some others worth checking out too;Top 5 Softplastic Swimbaits  

Split Ring

Use a split ring to connect to your treble hook, a good pair of split ring pliers will make the job easier.  

Pop-Rivets

A box of pop rivets in a variety of sizes will help you for various types of swimbait sizes.  

Long Sewing Needle

A long sewing needle with a wide enough eye to thread your line through the swimbait is a key piece for this set up.  

How to Rig Swimbaits – Process

Here is how to use all of these pieces to get set up rigging a treble hook onto your swimbait. Trust me it looks & sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. After some practice, you will be able to get the job done pretty quickly.

1. Connect the split ring to the eye of your treble hook.
2. Separate the cylinder of the pop rivet from the shank.
3. Insert Cylindrical portion of the pop rivet into the belly of your swimbait.
4. Insert sewing needle through pop rivet out the nose of the swimbait. (Make sure you place the eye of the needle out through the nose, so you can pull your line through the swimbait)
5. Place line through the needle eye, and pull it through the swimbait and pop rivet.
6. Tie fishing line to the split ring on the treble hook.
7. Pull line tight, and place one barb of the hook into the swimbait.

 

How to Rig Swimbaits Video

Check out this video below of how to rig swimbaits with a treble hook. Sometimes it’s easier to see how to rig swimbaits instead of being told. This video demonstrates how to rig swimbaits, and shows some fish catches using this technique to prove to you how awesome it can be.

   

How to Rig Swimbaits – Additional Tips

This way of rigging a swimbait with a treble hook, should help you catch more fish. The softplastic swimbait can be a fish catching machine throughout the year. As mentioned earlier this treble hook style is a really light set up. Try adding some insert weights into your swimbait, or you can add a split shot weight onto your treble hook to give you more depth with your swimbait on with a treble hook.

Overall, you will be quite pleased with how much easier it is to hook up on fish with this swimbait rig. I discovered this set up by watching a professional fishing tournament, and a pro used this rig to win by landing those lightly biting highly pressured fish. After experimenting with it, I’ve been quite pleased myself with the results.

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As always,

Stay Stoked!