How to Rig a Live Shrimp (and Mistakes to Avoid)
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
Live shrimp is a massively popular bait. Almost everything in the ocean eats them and they catch fish year-round. Rig up your shrimp incorrectly, though, and you might be stuck on catfish while trout, snook, redfish, and flounder run the other way.
In this video, I’ll show you how to rig and hook a live shrimp properly, along with some mistakes to avoid. These will help make sure your shrimp stays alive and looks natural in the water.
Be sure and leave a comment below with any question you have or shrimp rigging tips you’d like to share!
How to Rig a Live Shrimp
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Key Takeaways
Avoid using too big of a hook so your shrimp doesn’t get weighed down. When in doubt, go smaller. Fish tend to inhale live shrimp, making for a high hookup ration, even with small hooks.
When rigging a live shrimp through the head…
- Run your hook under the horn and between the dark spots to avoid the organs.
- It’s best for rigging under a cork of freelining in current.
When rigging a live shrimp through the tail…
- You can hook though the tail sideways or from the bottom through the top.
- It’s best for casting or freelining in areas with no current.
When rigging shrimp on a jighead…
- Start by pinching the tail off.
- Run the hook from the bottom through the top or thread the shrimp up the jighead similar to how you rig a soft plastic.
- It’s best for cast or dropping near structure.
Never hook a live shrimp in the middle. It will fall over on its side, be inactive, and look unnatural.
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Great video with lots of relevant information.
Thanks Joseph!
Tony,we are going down to the Oak Hill area next week. We usually catch Redfish,Mangroves,and Snook in that area. Shrimp is our bait of choice but is there another bait that would be more effective this time of year?Also,do you have a recent fishing report for that area?
I mainly use lures out there or cut mullet for big reds. We just had a hurricane come through so not 100% sure of how it is out there right now. I know water levels are pretty high and some ramps are closed. I’ll be making a trip out there this week!
Great video with a lot of tips on different ways to rig the shrimp, thanks Tony!
You’re welcome Leo!
Cool video. I stick to cutting up the shrimp to make them last. Lots of pinfish competition.
Thank you for the great feedback Judson!
Love the underwater footage! That’s very helpful. Would you rig head or tail for a Carolina rig?
I Rig through the tail on a carolina or fish finder rig. If there is no current you can keep the tail fan on, but if there is strong current I would pinch the tail fan off so the shrimp doesnt spin.
Well you know me Tony in that i don’t use any kind of bait but I do know that it is very important like you mentioned that if one wants to keep the shrimp alive while fishing with it to never run the hook point through the dark part located in the head because that is the shrimps brain and obviously if you do it will kill the shrimp immediatly I found that out long ago when i did use live shrimp when I first began foshing inshore saltwater now because I found out how effective plastic shrimp can very if used properly I don’t touch live ones anymore to messy to costly and a real pain to keep alive more then a few hours especially in the hot months anyways everybody fishes differently and the way I do it is all with lures and not the stinky messy hassel given real deal thanks for the info though anyway and all you do
You’re welcome Steven!
Thanks Tony very informative I “was making mistakes “ Thanks for another great lesson
You’re welcome Terry!