How To Make A Sabiki Rig For Catching Bait [Quickest & Easiest Method]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
It’s DIY Sabiki Rig Time!
The sabiki rig is the most popular of all assemblies for quickly catching quality baitfish by hook and line.
It’s been around forever, and it is so easy that even your young kids can enjoy it.
What’s a Sabiki rig?
A Sabiki rigs consist of a series of small hooks that are attached to a single line with a weight on the end and they can be extremely effective in catching many good baitfish in a short time span (sometimes 5+ at a time).
Here’s a quick list of common baitfish that gets caught on sabiki rigs:
- Threadfin
- Cigar Minnows
- Pinfish
- Grunts
- Croakers
- Greenbacks
- Whitebait
- Pigfish
- Squirlfish
But the major drawback of sabiki rigs is that they are very hazardous on the boat given that the many small hooks are prone to catching any clothing or skin that happens to get too close.
Also, they can be quite expensive and often get just one day of use due to how difficult they are to store.
Fortunately, these rigs are very easy to make with just the basic ingredients shown below:
What you need to make a DIY Sabiki Rig:
- Small, gold hooks (we use size 8 Mustad hooks)
- Monofilament line (10 lb test works great)
- Weight (1/4th oz to 3/4th oz depending on depth)
- [Optional] Berkley Gulp or Squid
On top of the money savings you get from making your own sabiki rigs, you also are able to quickly construct them whenever needed and quickly take them apart when done so that you can recycle hooks across many rigs without having to keep them on your rod (which often leads to lots of frustration due to all of the hooks flying around).
Note: The other solution is to buy a “Sabiki Rod” which is a hollow tube that hides the hooks when not in use (often costing $50 or more).
How To Make A Sabiki Rig
The steps and equipment for making a sabiki rod are so basic that it allows for any angler to be able to make one with little effort.
Because this rig can be completed with just some small hooks, monofilament line, a weight, and the use of 1 knot (the Surgeon’s knot shown at the 2:26 mark in the video below).
Click on the box below to see exactly how to tie a sabiki rig from start to finish:
Note: You’ll also learn a trick that will ensure you catch a bunch of bait (even more than traditional store-bought rigs).
Conclusion
Given how easy sabiki rigs are to tie and can be extremely effective in quickly catching top quality bait, I recommend that everyone has some small gold hooks, weights, and a spool of light mono leader in their tackle box.
With the ingredients on hand, it’ll ensure that you’ll be able to catch bait when the need arises without having to worry about having to deal with a store-bought rig.
Best of all, it only requires knowing just one basic knot (Surgeon’s knot) for all of its connections.
What do you think?
Was this helpful?
Any other ideas on how you make your own Sabiki rigs?
Let me know in the comments.
Fish On!
P.S. – If you think your angler friends or fishing networks would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!
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Was looking how to tie Sabiki instead of buying (to save $). Great video on how to. Thanks!
I have a bunch of 30 # braid. Any reason not to use it for a sabiki rig surf fishing for baitfish? Thanks and great video!
☆ Thank you Luke!
Ever since I first saw this video, I’ve been saving my beat-up old Gulps in a bit of juice. This weekend I made it to the beach with a hand-tied sabiki rig (#8 hooks) tipped with chartreuse mullet scraps. I caught 5 whiting in 3 casts into the surf. Not exactly the bait fish I was looking for, but at least I was in the right ball park. Next trip I’m going to try some bigger scraps on a #1 high-low rig to see what else I can bring in.
We don’t catch sand fleas very easily in this area, so curious if anyone has had luck with the Gulp Sand Flea shape for Pompano. Or would cut up tidbits be just as effective?
I think the Gulp waxies came out since this video. Curious what the best deal is on Gulp material, for someone only interested in chopping it up into little bits anyways. Really need it measured in price per pound, rather than the more confusing package lure counts or guessing how much is in a pint or a 2 fluid oz jar.
I take that back about the Waxies. Seems they’ve been around at least 10 years.
In freshwater I’ve tried the Gulp Maggots a few times, but always have better luck with the tiny neon yellow split tail grub bodies for sunfish and bass. I don’t think the maggot material and juice is the same as they use for the waxies. Would be nice to have one artificial bait that works reliably in salt and sweet water so I don’t have to buy bait on the way out.
Made it out of 20# flouro but all else the same. Great how to video ????
Glad to see that you enjoyed this sabiki rig making video!
Can I use Size 10 Brass Bait Holder Hooks with 15 lb. pound test fishing line. Also, using #BB size Removable Slip Shot Sinkers right next to every make shift fishing loops with Brass Snap Safety Swivels. The fishing loops will not come undone. To make the home made Sabiki Rig without putting on the little plastic flags. Can I use any frozen fishing bait from Mackerel to Squid.
Thanks for making this video. I lost 2 store bought sabikis today out at the skyway north fishing up greenbacks. 1 was a marathon which was only 2$ at Walmart but I needed another one on an emergency but at the pier bait shop. Was not expecting to pay 6$ for it! With this new found knowledge I’ll be making my own! Thanks for the video! Tight lines brotha!
Yes, great video for catching live bait fish, you guys ROCK!
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment David! Glad to see that you enjoyed this sabiki rig making video.
You guys Rock…great video Luke.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment, Gary! Tight Lines!
Excellent video. You took the time to provide all the detailed information so it is easy to make one myself. One variation to the tiny Gulp bait. I buy an inexpensive package of scent strips and cut them in 1/4″ squares to use these pieces. Unlike the Gulp bait that can dry up and reduce it’s effectiveness, the scent piece is very durable lasting a long time for very little expense.
Hey Bruce, thanks for making time to leave the nice comment and for adding the great tip about the scent strips… sounds like it’s a great replacement of the Gulp chunks. Tight Lines!