The tandem rig stripers can’t defeat

Craig Holt

February 01 at 7:00 am  | Mobile Reader | Print 

Craig Holt

Maynard Edwards’ tandem bucktail rig for stripers uses two barrel swivels instead of a standard 3-way swivel.

A favorite trolling rig of guide Maynard Edwards is a tandem pair of bucktails, but while most anglers use 3-way swivels, he avoids them like the plague, saying they can contribute to broken leaders and lost fish.

"If you’re using a 3-way swivel and hook two stripers at the same time, a lot of times fish will jerk in opposite directions," Edwards said. "Because stripers are strong — but the swivel is stronger — sometimes that pressure will break a leader, and you’ll lose a fish."

To solve the problem, Edwards uses two swivels for his tandem bucktail rigs, not one 3-way swivel.

His main trolling line passes through one open end of a swivel, then goes through a bead, then Edwards ties a second swivel to that line.

In essence, the top swivel sits on top of a bead that sits on top of the second swivel

Then he ties two sections of 16-pound test leader to each swivel. He ties 3 ½ feet of leader to the swivel attached to the end of his main line and two feet to the end of the first swivel. He ties his two bucktails, usually lemon-lime Striper Snipers, to the ends of each leader. He attaches a 1-ounce bucktail to the end of the main-line leader and a 3/8-ounce bucktail to the leader that sits above the bead.

"The leader tied to the first swivel makes the difference," Edwards said. "If you hook two stripers at the same time and one surges, the first-swivel leader simply slides up the line. It doesn’t pull against a solid 3-way swivel or against another fish. The main line might bow a little, but there’s no direct pressure of two stripers pulling against one another like you have with a three-way swivel. And that means leaders won’t break and you won’t lose fish."

Since he started using this tandem-lure rig, Edwards said he hasn’t lost a striper because of a broken line during double hook-ups.