Page 15 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

Tailor time: new and old tailor rigs
* from P14
want to leave preparation to the last moment when your mate says “let’s go chase some tailor”. With the wind up in recent weeks, and not being able to travel too far, I’ve got plenty of rigs ready for my boys and I.
Alvey sidecast cast and retrieve rig
or causes heavy drag in the water. In terms of trace, this rig has a short 23-25cm trace to the first black swivel (not shiny silver or the tailor can bite it) in size 8. I then run a 70-75cm trace to the next swivel, though depending on your casting prowess and even height you might want to go down to about
I love chasing tailor on lures, but I’m still happy to target them on bait, particularly because at times you need to soak a bait and wait for the fish to come to you after dark.
Let’s start with the traditional Alvey sidecast rig. This rig has been around for decades and for good reason. It has been long publicised on the Alvey website and used by the legendary Jack Alvey, who was a renowned surf casting champion.
I am particularly looking forward to chasing them on bait due to being able to downsize my gear with the new titanium Alvey Stealth reel and matching Stealth rod, which should be in stores very soon.
The only thing that has changed is the style of line and hooks available these days. At the pointy end, the rig consists of three ganged 4/0 hooks. I choose to use off-the-shelf Tru- Turn gang hooks linked together by swivels.
60cm to make it easier to cast with. Next is a 6-10 ball sinker (de- pending on surf conditions) between the swivels, with a soft green bead above the bottom swivel to cush- ion the knot from the heavy sinker
This combo means you can fish several hundred grams lighter, which I’m sure my back will ap- preciate! If you have a dodgy back, consider giving this combo a try.
tance but also keeping in touch with the bait and therefore the fish as you keep the line moving and tight. Long trace rig
So what are my preferred tailor rigs? I have a few, with each hav- ing its own purpose. Like so many things, one size does not fit all and likewise one tailor rig might not necessarily suit all conditions.
I’m terms of line, I use 30-40lb fluorocarbon as my leader material. I’ve recently gone to 40lb simply because the new Platypus Stealth FC leader is so thin for its strength that you can afford to go up in size without having line that is too bulky
For those times when the tailor are not schooled up and you need to wait for a few fish to arrive into your gutter, it pays to let your bait sit.
These are awesome for a couple of reasons. One, the swivels make ganging up a pilchard a breeze. Two, their bent cam shaft design means that with any pressure or weight the cam will turn upwards, hooking the fish much more easily.
when casting.
This is a great rig for not only dis-
When doing so, you want it pre- sented as naturally as possible and that is the advantage of a long trace
* continued P16
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Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020 – Page 15