The Toolbox · Rig Builder
“I love a Palomar knot.” For everything else, pick the fish, the water and your gear, and Rig Builder lays out your main line, your leader and the knots that hold it all together.
Rig Builder needs JavaScript to build your rig. The setup most anglers start with:
Bass on spinning gear: 10 to 15 lb braid, a 6 to 8 lb fluorocarbon leader 6 to 8 feet long, joined with a double uni, and a Palomar knot to the hook.
Trout and panfish: 2 to 6 lb mono tied straight to the lure with an improved clinch.
Pike and pickerel: always a bite leader. Their teeth cut regular line.
How it picks your rig
- Main line. Braid on most setups: it doesn’t stretch, so you feel the bite, and it’s thin for its strength. Mono where stretch helps or simple is better, like catfish rigs and river drifts on spinning gear.
- Leader. A few feet of fluorocarbon between the braid and the lure, because fish see braid in clear water. Lighter and longer in clear water, heavier in stained. In thick cover or muddy water you can often skip it.
- Toothy fish. Pike and pickerel get a short bite leader every time, heavy fluorocarbon in clear water and wire in stained.
- Knots. A double uni to join line to leader, because it’s easy on the water. A Palomar to hooks and jigs, an improved clinch on light trout and panfish line, and a non-slip loop on cranks, jerkbaits, spinners and topwater so they swing free.
- Line stats. Feel, stealth, stretch and toughness are rules of thumb that compare the line types with each other, not lab numbers.
These are the rules of thumb most anglers start from, not the only right answer. Fish your water, and adjust when the fish tell you to.
Throw five on it