From 2003 to 2006, I got to fish with one of the best teams in all of sport fishing, Capt. Dave Noling and mates Alberto Sanchez and Arturo Moreno on Double Trouble. We fished out of Los Sueños Marina in Costa Rica, and during Nice Rack that time I saw the mates rigging 60 to 80 circlehook ballyhoo every day in anticipation of the hot bite offshore. At first, a lot of the crews used a wire loop and a barrel swivel pushed up through the head to rig their baits, but it wasn't long before most switched over to using the floss rig known in some circles as the x-on-the-head method.
This method doesn't require the use of any needles and is definitely faster and easier to learn than the swivel rig, but there's one aspect of the floss rig that doesn't sit right with me. Part of the procedure involves tightening down your floss knots by putting the tag end in your mouth. This has always bothered me since I suspect that some of the ballyhoo we use have been treated with formaldehyde before packaging. But even when using fresh or frozen baits that you've caught yourself, you still end up with a good amount of scum and slime in your mouth when rigging 60 baits every day.
To avoid having to stick the floss in your mouth, I came up with a device that holds your ballyhoo in place while you rig, resulting in a much easier and healthier experience for the mate.
The Rigging Rack allows you to rig three baits faster than you could rig two the old way, and you don't have to suck up a bunch of ballyhoo slime in the process — there's simply no need to place the floss in your mouth when using the rack.
I made the Rigging Rack out of hard plastic, soit won't scratch the boat— even painted surfaces.It's also sturdy and stable enough to use while fishing offshore. Once you use one of these racks, you'll never want to rig the x-on -the-head rig without it.
For more information on the Rigging Rack, contact Jeff Whitehead at 919-770-3039 or j.whitehead@mindspring.com.
Doug Salomon
Roanoke, Virginia
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