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How to Tie a Cat's Paw Knot

How to Tie a Cat's Paw 

Connect a swivel to a double line with the Cat's Paw, a proven knot. 

 Also referred to as an Offshore Swivel Knot, the Cat's Paw is an effective and easy knot to use when attaching a monofilament double line to the ring of a heavy-duty swivel. Start by taking your double line and placing it through the eye of the swivel. Then make a half turn of the loop.

 Fold the loop back over the double line and hold both sides of the loop open, leaving enough room to flip the swivel back through the loop.

 Start passing the swivel through the opening you've created. You'll want to pass the swivel through the loop more times if you're using light line and fewer times with heavy line. When using 50-pound monofilament, five loops will suffice. If you make too many loops the knot will be difficult to cinch and wont sit correctly.

 Once you've made a sufficient amount of passes through the loop with the swivel, lubricate the mono with some saliva and begin to draw the Cat's Paw tight.

 Slowly tighten the knot using two hands. Pull the swivel with one hand and the double line with the other.

The finished knot is very strong because the stress is distributed along multiple wraps instead of a single pulling point.

Story and photos by Steve Dougherty.

How to Bait a Hook with Catfish Punch Baits

There are many different types of prepared catfish baits for catching channel and blue catfish. These baits are often referred to as "stink baits", but while they might smell quite foul to some anglers, the smell really attracts catfish.

Stink bait is a very broad term and there are several different types of these prepared baits with the most popular forms being dip baits, punch baits and sponge baits. The names of these baits has much to do with the texture and consistency of them, how the hook is baited, and the type of hook or "lure" that you use for fishing with them.

Punch baits are the thickest of these three different types of baits and have gained a huge following over the past ten years. Punch baits are very thick and packed with fibrous material, which makes them much easier to bait a hook with and keep them on the hook.

Unlike dip baits, which require the use of a dip tube, or worm or sponge baits that require the use of a sponge hooks, punch baits are fished with a plain treble hook and don't require the addition of any springs, sponges or other implements to hold them on the hook when catfishing.

How to Bait a Hook with Catfish Punch Baits

Step 1 Choose Your Preferred Catfish Rig

There are many different catfish rigs that can be used for fishing with punch baits, but most anglers use these baits to target channel catfish, so they prefer to use a slip bobber rig or a slip sinker rig. Regardless of what your preferred catfish rigs are, the process of baiting the hook is the same.

Step 2 Lay the Hook on the Top of the Bait

Lay the treble hook on the top of the punch bait and get ready to bait the hook.

Step 3 Punch the Hook

Using a long stick, like a paint stirrer or even a screwdriver. Push the hook down into the bait with your stick. This is called "punching the hook".

Step 4 Smooth It Over

With the hook still inserted into to the bait, take the stick and smooth the bait over the top of the hook really well.

Step 5 Remove the Hook

Grab the fishing line with your hand and pull the fishing line up and at an angle to remove the hook from the bait. The hook should come out loaded with bait. If it doesn't, repeat the process again until you have plenty of bait on the hook. Check out the video below for a demonstration.

How to crimp your connections so they don't slip.

How to crimp your connections so they don't slip.

Crimps are aluminum-alloy sleeves made for monofilament connections. This type of crimp can be used on leader ranging from 50- to 900-pound test. Crimps are used mainly on heavier monofilament lines where they outperform bulky knots. The crimps pictured above work on 200- to 600-pound test.

These shorter crimp sleeves are better suited for cable. Longer aluminum crimps are preferred for monofilament because they grab more line and don't pinch a small area, which can cause damage to mono.

The basic crimping tool offers several hole sizes to fit the various sleeves used to meet the thickness of the line. For lighter lines that require smaller sleeves, you should always use a light-duty pair of crimpers so you don't apply too much pressure and damage your line.

To create a loop using crimps, start by sliding a sleeve that matches the thickness of the line onto the end of leader.

Taking the end of line, run it back into the sleeve leaving a loop that is larger than the one you plan to use. Bring the end of the line flush with the end of the sleeve so the line does not extend outside the crimp or get pulled inside.

With the end of the line flush with the edge of the sleeve, begin to slide the sleeve up the line to make your loop. Adjust the sleeve until you get a loop size that fits your needs.

Place the sleeve into the groove on the crimping tool that fits the sleeve you're using. Leave a small amount of the sleeve outside the jaws of the crimping tool.

Compress the sleeve with the crimping tool. With a small amount of the sleeve left outside of the tool, the sleeve should flare its edges so it does not pinch the line with the edge of the crimp.

The final crimped connection should look like this. The sleeve is compressed, but the line is not pinched and retains its full strength.

To add extra protection, tubing can be added to the loop before making your crimp. The tubing is also matched with the line size, helping you create a solid loop that is resistant to chafing.

When done correctly, crimps will give you a streamlined, solid connection that won't fail under pressure.

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                                       An effective bait for drift fishing at night

How To Make a Single Hook Stiff Rig

A simple and effective hook rig for billfish and tuna. 

 Start by sliding the lure on to the end of your monofilament leader material.

Now take two of your crimping sleeves and slide them onto the leader behind the lure.

Slide a piece of chafe tubing behind the sleeves. The chafe tubing will protect the line where it passes through the eye of the hook.

Put the line through the eye of your hook (we're using a 9/0 Owner JOBU on this lure) and then feed the line into the crimping sleeve. Slide the sleeve down in the direction of the hook in order to bend the chafe tubing. Depending on the size of your lure make sure to leave a tag end of leader line about as long as your lure so you'll have some extra material to work with.

Take the next sleeve and slide it over the tag end of leader line.

Now that the line is doubled you should slide your lure down to check the position of the hook on your lure. Be careful not to cut off too much as you want to try and run the hook very close to the end off the skirts. It's best to start out with the double line a little long, and then trim it down until you find the proper length for the skirts you are using.

Crimp the sleeve closest to the hook. Always crimp this sleeve first, as it will hold everything tight while you complete the stiff rig.

This is the most important step in making a stiff rig. Twist the two lines together evenly so they wrap around each other as shown. Making even twists stiffens the section and makes it so lay straight under the skirts. Twist the two pieces together with your hands before using your crimper to lightly hold the last sleeve while you further tighten the twists with your right hand.

Before crimping the sleeve that will hold the twist in place make sure to check that the tag end of line doesn't stick out of the sleeve where it will butt up against the back of the lure. Hold the hook in one hand and give the hook an extra twist to while keeping everything in line while you crimp the sleeve.

Your crimp should lay nicely up against the back of the lure head. If using rubber stoppers on the back of the lure head be sure to take the time to get the length of the rigging correct before twisting and crimping.

The Last step is to add a small piece of shrink tube or wrap electrical tape to the connection at the eye of the hook. This will keep the hook from flopping around and further stiffen the connection.

The stiff rig is designed to hold the hook near the end of the skirts while adding strength and durability as a result of the doubled line. This is a simple way to make a single hook rig in a short time with minimal tackle.

Only 3 crimps, a piece of chafe tubing and a piece of shrink tubing are needed to complete this rig. The single hook stiff rig is deadly on billfish and tuna.

texte and image by http://www.fishtrack.com

How to Make a Double-Hook Rig

Learn to build a double-hook rig for offshore trolling lures. 

The double0-hook rig can improve your hook-up ratio when trolling large skirted lures. To make the rig, you'll need a set of heavy-duty crimpers, double-barrel sleeves (2.8 mm pictured), stainless-steel cable (900-pound Malin pictured), two hooks (11/0 pictured) and chafe tubing.

Begin by sliding a sleeve and chafe tubing onto the end of the wire cable.

Bring the end of the cable back into the other side of the sleeve to form a loop.

Slide the sleeve into the crimping tool to hold it in place while you tighten the loop. Crimp the sleeve.

Your loop should look similar to the one pictured above.

Take one of your hooks and place the cable loop in line with the back of the hook's eye. Take the leader you plan on using and connect the two in the loop from the leader connection. The chafe tubing you placed on the cable loop will protect the leader from becoming abraded by the cable material.

Take the lure you plan on using and slide it all the way down the leader.

With the lure in place, you will now be able to judge where to trim the cable to form a loop for the second hook. In this case, cutting the cable at the end of the lure skirts will give us enough extra cable to work with for the second hook.

Slide the lure up out of the way before you crimp the second hook in place. Slide the crimp sleeve onto the free end of the cable followed by the second hook. Be sure to run the cable through the eye of the hook so it will face in the opposite direction of the first hook.

Bring the end of the cable back into the sleeve to form another loop.

Slide the lure back down into place and adjust the position of the trailing hook. You want the eye of the second hook to sit inside the ends of the skirt as shown, with the point of the hook exposed.

Once you get the hook into the correct position, trim any extra cable that may be coming out of the sleeve.

Crimp the sleeve for the trailing hook. It's unnecessary to use chafe tubing on the trailing hook loop.

IGFA rules dictate how close the hooks can be to one another. Be aware that the eye of the second hook cannot meet with the bend of the first hook. It is always a good idea to check your hook sets to ensure that they will be legal to fish with in tournament situations.

There are two common variations of the double hook rig. In the top example, the trailing hook is crimped directly to the loop in the leader. In the bottom example, the trailing hook is crimped into the eye of the first hook.

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