How to Use a Sabiki Rig
Due to the make-up of a Sabiki rig, it offers a ton of opportunity and triggers fish to fiercely fight for the food! The features make the Sabiki rig great but it also comes with a different set of skills and you should know how to us it properly before getting started. The main thing to keep in mind when using a Sabiki rig is to not jig or rip too hard or too quickly – in other words, when you feel a bite, don’t jig immediately as you would with a normal hook.
Instead, let more fish fill the other hooks for a few seconds after feeling the first bite. This may be tough because every fishers natural reaction is to rip up instantly as soon as they feel a bite. The harsh ripping motion will cause other fish around the hook to flee and you’ll miss your chance to snag multiple baitfish. Remember: they travel in large groups so if you feel one bite, then you’ll most likely get others a few seconds after.
Fishing with a friend can also be helpful because, as we mentioned above, the Sabiki rig will hook you multiple fish, which means it’s a two-person job to bring those in. Make sure to move carefully and strategically, especially when you’re unhooking your fish. The last thing you want is to injure yourself or the cause unnecessary harm to the fish.
Depending on where you are, adding some extra chum to the hook will help, especially if you’re not getting enough bites. Use small pieces of shrimp or other baitfish – using store bough frozen shrimp and thawing it out works just fine.
This not only increases your changes of hooking a fish, but also increases the size of the fish. Like we mentioned, baitfish travel in large schools and the competition is fierce – if you create an environment that’s more competitive, then you’ll likely get the bigger fish.
What to Look for When Getting a Sabiki Rig
The Sabiki rig provides the best platform for bait fishing and keeping the bait alive as it allows you to catch multiple bait in one cast. You need to maximize the returns by ensuring you get the right one for your specific type of baitfish and the prevailing conditions.
It is designed for light fishing, but since these bait are for larger sport fish, you should be prepared for a few surprises once in a while as you are not the only hunter.
Below are some of the basic items you should consider for your ideal Sabiki rig.
There are various considerations you should balance between:
As you go deeper, lighter colors lose their visibility while darker colors become more distinguishable. Water absorbs the sharpness of bright colors in what is called the scatter effect.
Fish have an evolutionary advantage with vision underwater and can see better than us the deeper we go. The darker colors become more metallic and vibrant to the fish the lower we drop, so they will just as easily attract your target species.
These variances are why flasher rigs will sometimes use contrasting coloring or paired colors to have an advantage in all scenarios.
If you do shallow water casting, you need not worry about these differences as what you see is not much different from what the fish see.
If the hook is too small, it will not snare the fish after the bite, and if it is too large, the fish won’t be able to bite in the first place.
Depending on the type of fish, expert anglers usually carry two close sizes so that if one is not working, they can switch to the other. This doesn’t take away the importance of determining the right hook size before you set out.
Thin lines, hooks, and lures may work for small fish like the bluegill or perch but will not hold up against bigger fish. Once in a while, you attract more than the intended baitfish.
You should examine the composition of the Sabiki rig before you commit. Materials like high carbon steel for the hooks and fluorocarbon filament for the mainline and the branches are sufficient to put your mind at ease. They have both been enhanced to be tough enough for the water and to resist wear and tear.
Consider the test of both the mainline and the branch against the kind of fish you are targeting and the number of hooks on the Sabiki.
The larger the fish and the more the hooks, the stronger the line needs to be. The tensile strength is often indicated on the package as the test.
Rigging and Using a Sabiki Rig
Sabiki rigs come neatly packaged with a swivel barrel on the top of the line for attaching to your main line at the terminal end and a swivel snap at the bottom for attaching a weight or bait cage.
The easiest way to setup your sabiki rod is to follow these steps:
Sabiki rigs are designed to be used “as is” out of the package with no bait. These rigs are extensively tested to attract fish with their elaborate decorative enhancements. If fish are not biting, you can entice fish to your rig by tipping each hook with tiny pieces of cut bait, squid, shrimp or fishbites. Be sure to use very small pieces of bait that dont cover the hook tip or you will prevent the fish from getting hooked.
Check your states regulations on rigs with multiple baited hooks. In Florida, a sabiki or “trotline” that is baited with live bait must have circle hooks when used in the Gulf of Mexico.
You can also increase your catch rate by disbursing fish chum. Fill a chum dispenser or chum bag with your preferred fish chum and let the chum drift into the area where the sabiki rig will be used. Sardines and herring respond well to chum. Fish chum is usually warranted when the fish arent biting, you are offshore in deep water or you want to bring in more bait. You can also add a sabiki chum cage filled with chum to the end of your sabiki to lure in bait fish to the rig.
The tiny hooks on a sabiki rig can be quite a challenge to get under control, they tend to stick into everything they get close to and tangle. The simplest way to reign in a sabiki for storage is to follow these steps:
Once your sabiki is properly secured to the rod it is ready for your next bait catching adventure. If you plan to use it on another day, rinse it with clean water and dry by either placing the rod in the sun or patting down with a towel.
With so many styles and brands of sabiki rigs, how does one figure out what to buy?
Sabiki rigs come in freshwater, ice fishing, and saltwater versions. The primary consideration is hook size. The hook size and line weight determine what size bait or fish you will catch – the larger the hook, the larger the fish. Sabiki rigs are used primarily for catching bait fish, but they can be used to catch sport fish. See section below for details.
Price usually indicates quality; you get what you pay for! Hook size and line weight influence the price for each unit, which range from $1 to $15. A $1 rig is usually a single-use product that may or may not reach the water once unpackaged if it tangles. Lower quality rigs also have hooks that can be easily bent or bit off by fish. High quality rigs, especially those with larger hooks, dont tangle and can last quite a long time if properly cared for.
Where Will You Be Bait Catching? This makes a big difference in your choice of rig. Deeper offshore waters require longer lines and bigger hooks for bigger fish. Shallow inshore waters should have shorter main lines and smaller hooks. The size of your sabiki rig is based on the waters you will be in and the bait fish normally inhabiting these waters.
When deciding on the size of your rig to purchase, first decide on the hook size, then the line weight. The decorations to consider all depend on the water conditions and fish you are targeting.
Once you have decided on the rig size you would like to purchase, you have to decide what features you would like. There are literally thousands of styles to choose from, which can be quite overwhelming. By learning the standard features, you can narrow down your choices considerably.
TIP! Always have more than one sabiki rig package with you at all times. If you purchase inexpensive rigs that cost only a few dollars, then you will most likely only get one use out of each one. You never know what fish will go for your sabiki, one large fish can shred your rig in seconds.
Hook Sizes Hook sizes determine the size of the fish you will catch. Hook size numbers mean different sizes depending on the brand you use. Japanese sabiki rigs made by Hayabusa have hook sizes ranging from 3 to 22 where the larger the number, the larger the hook. American sabiki manufacturers hook sizes range from 16 to 6/0 where the larger the number below zero, the smaller the hook. This is quite confusing so we created the below chart to help you out. When you are online shopping for sabiki rigs it gets even more confusing as there is usually no information given on product ads as to the hook size rating of JP or US.
NOTE: We use JP hook sizes on this webpage because we carry and prefer to use the high quality Japanese sabikis.
Your first consideration in selecting a sabiki rig is hook size. Hayabusa USA has put together a 
Sabiki Size Chart by Target Fish to help anglers determine the size of hook based on target species. We will sum it up here:
Number of Hooks Sabiki rigs are sold in packages of 2 to 8 hooks, one on each branch line. Large rigs have fewer hooks making them ideal for catching game fish. Some states have regulations on the number of hooks allowed per rig, so check your states gear rules before purchasing a rig.
Hook Styles The most common sabiki hooks are super sharp J or octopus hooks. Hooks are made of high carbon steel with a gold or silver (nickel) shinny surface. Rigs styled to mimic live bait like shrimp will have colored hooks that blend in with the hooks dressings. Some anglers will cut off the barb on the hooks or bend them down to make removal of fish easier.
Line Material Sabiki rigs are made using either fluorocarbon or monofilament fishing line. Some rigs can have a combination of the 2 types, main line one type and branches another. Below is a summary of the features of each type of fishing line.
Line Weight The line weight is expressed in pound test. The main line will always be a heaver test than the branches. Main lines are from 5 lbs to 40lb and the branch lines from 3 lbs to 30lbs. The thicker the line is (the higher test number), the larger the fish it can handle and the less it will tangle. With multiple fish on the line, if the line cannot handle the weight when its full of fish, the whole rig can snap off under the weight of your catch.
Main Line Length The length of the main line is usually between 55″ and 112″. Select a length that is appropriate to the depth of the waters you will be bait catching.
Branch Line Length The branch line is attached to the main line with spacing between each branch. The branches extend out from the main line from 1″ to 6″.
Branch Line Distance Between Branches The branch lines are spaced evenly along the main line based on the number of branches included. The distance between branches can be between 1″ to 18″ which is dictated by the main line length. The longer the rig, the more distance between the branches.
Color The basic colors are white, red, pink and green. A good starter sabiki is a mix of red or pink and green when you arent sure which fish are out there. When a rig dressed with multiple contrasting colors is used, it increases the chance of luring in different species. Your color choices may or may not work every time out. One day a color will bring in fish every drop; another day nothing! Weather conditions and environmental variable change constantly, so a color that worked for a certain species today may not work tomorrow. It is best to have on hand a few different colors to find out what is working best on that day.
Certain bait fish have been known to prefer certain colors: Red and Pink – Sardines, pilchards, cigar minnows Green (chartreuse) – Threadfin
Colors lose their intensity the deeper your rig drops due to low light conditions. In the video below you can see how lighter colors are more visible than darker colors in deeper water. This is the reason larger sabiki rigs have mostly lighter colors like pink, green and silver. Although there are contrasting reports that darker colors work better in deep water, murky water and rough waters. The science behind fish being attracted to certain colors is murky due to the enormous array of factors involved.
Decoration Styles Sabiki rigs come in many styles that are used to attract different fish. The style you choose should imitate the food your target bait fish normally feeds on. Most styles are shiny to reflect light and with small shiny hooks, each dressed hook will shimmer in the water resembling plankton, minnows, shrimp or other food sources attracting fish. Styles can be one or more of the following that also come in an array of colors: 
View the Hayabusa sabiki hook style Features.
Since the sabiki rig was originally developed in Japan, there are traditional Japanese names used to describe some styles of rigs. We searched high and low to find out what the following three names mean and found nothing! After a lot of web surfing we have determined this is what they might mean by using the Japanese translation of the words; we may be wrong, but we think we are close: Hage = bald, Japanese name for “the fish” Aurora = dawn, day break, sunrise – multiple shimmering colors like the northern lights Kawa = leatherery skin
So if a rig is described as Hage Aurora, then it has a smooth surface with a spectrum of colors. If we are incorrect on our assumptions, please contact us.
Special Features There are special series of sabikis available that mimic live bait or target certain species. These special rigs contain the correct hook sizes, number of hooks, line weight and decorations to serve the designated purpose. There are also rigs made to be legal for a certain area for example the Hayabusa Chesapeake sabiki is legal in Chesapeake Bay and is designed to catch spot and perch. Other sabikis target snapper, google-eyes, blue runners or other species. The real series mimic shrimp and minnows.Another style worth mentioning is the “jigging sabiki” which combines a dressed jig with a sabiki.
Swivels and Snaps Avoid chrome swivels and snap swivels; they are usually used in low cost rigs. The shiny chrome color attracts mackerel and barracudas which will bite off your line in an instant.
Price Sabiki rig prices are determined by the product features and line material. The larger the rig (line weight & hook size), the larger the price. Price is also determined by the brand and country of origin. Better quality sabikis by top notch manufacturers, like Hayabusa, will work better, catch more bait, and last more than one trip if properly cared for.
FAQ
What is the best size sabiki rig for mackerel?
How do you catch mackerel with sabiki?
What hooks are best for mackerel?
How effective are sabiki rigs?