These are simply my opinions for c'riggin'. Just like…. ears… most folks have'em and usually more than one!
1.) The weight: I use a 1oz. egg sinker exclusively. If I need something other than a 1oz. weight I'm using a different method of fishing. I think the main purpose of a sinker on a c'rig is to get a bait to the bottom and keep it there. 1oz does exactly that. I've tried bullet weights and mojo weights and found neither more effective at eliminating hang-ups that are going to happen while c'rigging. And both tend to helicopter on the cast with the mojo weight being the absolute worse at it. Early on I tried brass n' glass weights n' beads but after years of c'riggin' I came to the conclusion that, for me, it was a waste of time and money. Unless you jigglin' the rod trying to make a noise with that set up… straight drag and stop c'riggin' stacks the brass n' glass up and it doesn't separtate then clack together.
2.)Main line – Braid 50#s minimum. I started c'riggin' with mono simply because braid was not available at that time. Advantages of braid: good hook set capability on a 3,000yd. cast. OK… maybe not 3,000 yard but you get the idea. When you get hung up you are able to turn over a lot of rocks if hung up on rocks, pull up a lay-down or similar piece of wood cover or if the hook is stuck to an immovable object either straighten the hook or break the leader. Much less wind resistance of comparable test mono. All of that and the ability to feel the almost imperseptible "tick" at the end of a long cast. Disadvantage – If you can't turn over the rock, break the leader or straight the hook… that's what deck cleats are for! Also…. braid is not rock friendly if it contacts the sharp of edge of a rock while under a strain – the rock will cut it off like a sharp knife. This happens to me seldomly but it does happen.
3.) Rod - 7'6″ graphite flippin' stick. Even though it's a flippin' stick, I use one from CastAway, it needs to have some tip action – but not much. Advantages: better distance on casting, better hooksets due to better line take up capabilities – required because of the leader/swivel set up. And… better "feel". A soft tip will not transmit the bottom as well as a stiffer rod. If you're using less than a 1oz. weight you can get by with a softer tip - but I don't. Disadvantages – Non-boater gets tired of hearing you holler "Get the net!"
4.) Reel – I use a Curado 6.2 or 7.0 but any high-speed reel will suffice. 2 reasons: Sometimes when c'riggin' only part of the cast area is productive. Say you get past the rough/rocky bottom and hit the soft stuff – cank back in and cast again. A lot of times the fish has picked up the bait and is swimming towards you – the boat is positioned in very deep water while you're casting in the 15-25' depth. For some reason it seems that when a fish grabs a meal – it heads to deeper water. You'll need a reel capable of catching up with the fish and you'll struggle doing that with a 5.x ratio class reel.
5.) The leader: 20# co-polyomer. See tip below.
Tip: If you go from mono to braid AND you utilize a stiff rod. You need to up the pound test of the leader or plan on experiencing leader snaps on the hook set. When I first started with mono I used a 10# mono leader(berkely trilene). With braid and stiffer rod… bite… hookset… snapped leader. In the course of finding the smallest diameter leader I could use I went from 10# to 12# to 15#… snap…snap…snap…. 17# was better but 20# leader was the final solution. I have tried flurocarbon and, I think, due to the low stretch and poor knott strength, it would break. Fluro coated co-polyomers worked a little better but still didn't equal a straight co-polyomer. Currently I'm using 20# AN40 but most any 20# co-polyomer should work fine.
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