monkeyonthemoon Posted July 12, 2023 Report Share Posted July 12, 2023 Hello there SU, I am looking to start making A rigs for striper here in CA. I have no experience making baits but figured that I would give this a try. At this point I think my biggest question is what kind of wire to use for the arms and how to afix them together. I am using the G Funk A Rig as inspiration and would rather not make a lead head to hold the wires together. Does anyone have any advice for how to get started? Any things to watch out for, common mistakes, tools or other advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted July 12, 2023 Report Share Posted July 12, 2023 The size of wire is a good starting point, it will dictate durability of the lure. Things to consider but not limited to 1. species of fish 2. Number of arms 3. weight of overall bait 4. Number of legal hooks for your area. The sky is the limit but if you can answer exacts of above.... people here can help out better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyonthemoon Posted July 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2023 My goal is to mostly target bigger stripers 10lbs+. I think I’ll stick with a 5 arm bc in CA you can only have 3 hooks. Weight isn’t very important but I’ll probably be using 4-5” baits with 1/8-3/8oz heads depending on how deep I’m going to be fishing. So far I’ve been looking at using some single strand leader wire rated for 500lbs at 0.05” diameter. I’m not sure if that’s way overkill but seems like it could be pretty durable and hold its shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted July 13, 2023 Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 lightest wire I would use for stripers is .040 .... better movement using lighter wire but sacrifice durability. Breaking strength with wire is not an issue. LPO is good for the stainless steel wire. Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyonthemoon Posted July 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 Ok good to know, I think I will go with slightly heavier wire just in case I hook into a giant. I was looking at using some HI SEAS stainless wire, is that a good option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azfisher Posted July 13, 2023 Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 I know you're after stripers so not sure how relevant this info will be but he goes... I've had a number of different A-rigs over the years but the best swimming one was a homemade one from a guy in my area. It was made with piano wire. No idea of the lb strength or diameter and I believe it was a stranded wire. I'll be the first to admit the wire was not strong enough to be durable over the long run. But in the short term it was the best action wise of any I've ever seen. The piano wire gave the baits the same fluid look that a darting school of baitfish has just from bumping the reel handle as it was swimming. Bump the handle while reeling and the baits would speed up and come together like spooked bait does and then spread back out some. Gave it a great erratic movement as opposed to the more ridged wire that just kind of swims along. The piano wire really flexed awesome. Made the baits dart like a nail weighted fluke on light line. It fished like a donkey rig but with 5 baits. This rig just had the wires kind of folded over each other and crimped together in the head with a little lead and a line tie and some heatshrink over the head with a glue on eye. It was totally rednecked together build wise and I wound up breaking one of the wires eventually. But before that it caught alot of really nice 5-6 lb fish and got me big fish $$ a number of times in our bass club TMX, until the BASS rule of no A-rigs. Caught numerous doubles on it and had two for just under 13 lbs once. If I were going to make some I would try at least a couple with a really flexible wire, just stronger, just because of that experience. I bought the Original A-rig from Paul Elias at the 2013 Classic in Tulsa and that wire broke also and it was quite ridged. Good luck with your project, stripers tear ish up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Process77 Posted July 13, 2023 Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 16 hours ago, azsouth said: lightest wire I would use for stripers is .040 .... better movement using lighter wire but sacrifice durability. Breaking strength with wire is not an issue. LPO is good for the stainless steel wire. What is LPO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyonthemoon Posted July 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 Thanks a lot for the advice. I have heard that the piano wire is prone to rusting and I will be fishing in brackish water a decent amount so I'd like to prioritize longevity ie not rusting if possible. I definitely think there is a tradeoff between stiffness and action, might try and make a flexible rig with lighter wire for bass and a heavier one for striper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azfisher Posted July 13, 2023 Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 LPO is Lure Parts Online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted July 13, 2023 Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 I use a collar from rivets to hold wires together at the head. Make all my wires then put them into the collar and only one has an eye to tie to, the rest are bent 90 degrees to sit on the collar. Once wires are in and adjusted I use UV Resin to keep them in place... this is where experience and ability comes in molding the head, it also plays a fairly large role in overall weight.... you can use epoxy or lead for the head....I personally like epoxy for 2 reasons 1. you can add weight to desired effect 2. you can paint to any color shade desired. azfisher hit it home for sure! the lighter wire baits will get bit more often but don't have the durability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyonthemoon Posted July 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2023 Oh that's a good idea. I was thinking about soldering the wires together and then just adding some heat shrink on it to cover it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog snatcher Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 I make these. Took a long time to figure out how to make the wires up Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaswimbaiter Posted August 22, 2023 Report Share Posted August 22, 2023 I have made some hard baits with wire like a chatterbait and spinner bait and I can tell you that real heavy wire is a pain to bend. I just upgraded to .047 SS wire. It’s heavy, but can still be bent. And get the concave wire bending pliers, I tried with regular needle nose and it was a pain and looked like crap. Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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