scratching rig?

[Drew]

Hi Folks,

Can someone please explain what a scratching rig is? I am mainly a charter fisherman, beachcasting is for when I am on holiday.

Cheers

[Ben]

a scratching rig is a rig with lots of hooks to cover alot of ground with small hooks tryna pick up fish which are few and far between
i have seen the portsmouth rig, it looks pritty hard to make, need to buy the parts for it

[Hooker]

First time making it its confusing but after a couple of goes its as easy as anything else.

The only different bits you need is cascade swivels. also use a srt spring for tensioning.

[Ben]

yeah, those are the things i neeed, i have 1 cascading swivel

[Crusty]

I would term a scratching rig as being used at this time of year (Feb/March) to catch small rockling, flounder, pout etc. Very good in measure and return matches but if fishing to size limits maybe not so good. I've fished many matches where I have scratched too effectively - I caught an 8 cm flounder last week!

I personally use small metal booms attached to 6/8 lb flouro-carbon line with size 4 match kamasan hooks. This is a good rig for catching small fish at short range, say up to 50 yards max.

Use small baits and consider using baits such as harbour rag and white rag alongside standard ragworm and lugworm.

I absolutely detest scratching but "needs must" in many matches at this time of year unfortunately.

[Ben]

thanks for that, i always worry that 8lb might be too light, what happens if you get a fish with teeth on?

[Crusty]

Ben,

The rig should be used in certain conditions only. i.e. On venues where only small fish exist and the chance of a large fish turning up is remote. This is a lot of venues at this time of year on the south coast. 6lb or 8lb line is necessary to present baits delicately enough to get bites.

If you use heavier line you'll fail to catch in many cases.

Typical venues I will use this rig for include places like Avon Beach and Branksome in the Bournemouth area.

Chris

[Ben]

thanks, have you ever considered making a very small pennel rig on each trace?

[Crusty]

No. Mainly because I am limited to three hooks in a match and a pennel rig will count as two hooks. 3 snoods x 2 hooks means disqualification. I only scratch in matches not for pleasure.

Personally, I only tend to use pennel rigs when targetting larger fish with a large bait - bass, rays, cod, smoothhounds etc.

Chris

[upnorth1]

When scratching I like to use rigs called pop-ups! They work wonders for me in matches when it's slow, size 6 kamasans sometimes size 8, with pop-up beads or corks, keeps the crabs off and small fish generally get hooked up every time!