Capt. Mike Wittich said he didn’t originate his rig; instead, it was shown to him by a friend of a friend whose friend originated it.
But, basically, its 3 feet of 40-pound-test monofilament leader tied to a barrel swivel on one end and a small treble hook on the other.
About 6 inches below the swivel, he attaches a weighted hard-plastic Cajun cork, and about 8 inches or so above the hook he clamps on a split shot.
Then, to attract predatory fish to his bait, he threads two small red beads to his line before he ties on the treble hook.
And he fishes the rig on a Shimano Chronarch baitcasting reel.
Me, I quit fishing with corks on baitcasters long ago. I realized, after uncountable bird nests that spinning reels were perfect for cork rigs, and bait-casters were good for everything else.
But Wittich said he fishes this rig all the time for specks and reds and never bird-nests, even when casting into the wind.
So I tried it, and I liked it. The heavy plastic cork gives you plenty of weight for making long casts and, yes, I caught fish on it. And, no, I didn’t bird-nest.
At least not that day.
