Drift Fishing Rig Set up for the River

This is my favorite way to fish when on the river to target fish, whether the fish are on the move or if they are holding in a certain area to get some much needed energy for their journey. Drift fishing to me is fun because I don't get bored and I'am always moving around, this is especially good for me when it gets cold outside and I tend to stay warm when drift fishing.

I like to use a variety of attractants when drift fishing; whether it be yarn (which comes in many different colors and sometimes with some scent attractant), lures, salmon egg clusters, or sand shrimp. I also like to change the color of yarn often if one color isn't working maybe a different color will work, and there's nothing that says you have to use only one color at a time and sometimes I use two or three colors at a time just to give a little different presentation to the fish.



What you will need to set up a drift fishing rig is: a 1/0 hook (I like Owner Hooks, they have a nasty little barb and point on them), 15-25 pound leader line, 2 swivels, pencil lead (which you can melt yourself from old wheel weights or you can purchase a small coil of it from the local fishing store), surgical tubing(small enough in diameter to hold the pencil lead tightly), and finally a corkie of your choice of color(I find that kings like red, peach, green, black, purple, and pink).



You must tie an egg loop on the hook if you intend to use any kind of yarn or bait when drift fishing, after the egg loop has been tied you can choose the color of corkie you plan to use and slide it down the leader line to the eye of the hook.




The next step is to decide if you want your weight to be fixed or sliding; by using the sliding weight the fish will not sense the weight is there when the fish takes the bait, start by using more lead than what you think you may need because you can always cut your lead down but if you don't cut enough it won't be heavy enough to get your presentation down in the water to where the fish can see it. Cut the lead with needle nose pliers to the desired length and then cut a piece of surgical tubing big enough to hold the weight and still have a little bit left over to secure to the swivel.




The last step is to tie on a swivel on the main line and just above that slide another swivel and attach the pencil lead to that swivel for a sliding weight. Then choose to fish with either yarn or the bait of your choice and remember to cast 1/4 upriver and let the rig drift downriver, if the rig is getting hung up on the bottom, you have too much weight and need to cut some off, you should feel it hit the bottom and continue downriver "tick tick ticking along the bottom of the river" is perfect.





I also like to set up a few different rigs before I go fishing without the corkie and weight and just tie a few leaders and place them in my Pips Leader Keeper and this way I can always be ready to just pull a tied leader out and slide on the corkie, this is especially helpful when the bite is on and I have just lost my hook set up to a fish or if the rig gets stuck under rocks or any other object.