Here are the rigs that I use when I am out on the bay .
They are all very simple and make it easy to organise yourself
when the boat is getting tossed around or the fish are running hot.

 I  only use BALL BEARING SWIVELS
 on my setups because they are of the best quality and super tough . The reason for this is that all my rigs are interchangeable  . I can use the snapper rig when needed and if it gets quiet i can then set
 up the rod for drifting on flathead .

For example , if you have spent the morning going after snapper and have
no luck , you can then switch to the flathead rig on the same rods . I know it sonds like a bit of overkill but if you consider that Snapper rods are now fairly light tipped and you may sometimes get flathead of up to 3 kilos . How may people honestly catch alot of SNAPPER over 3 kilos , most are from 500gms  to 1 or 2 kilos .

The only exception to this is
on my WHITING rods , i keep them rigged up only one way with no snap-swivel conecting the main line
to the leader . Being able to intercange rigs from rod to rod means less clutter
 in the boat and less time setting things up . All this equals more time fishing and more fish caught .


Flathead Drift Rig 
This is really simple with a twisted dropper and long shanked hook on the top about 30-50cms from a snap swivel , a mister twister lead head lure sits on the bottom .
On the top hook I use Octopus or Squid as it is very long lasting and it can be used a few times over .
The lure on the bottom acts as a sinker as well and seems to only get hits from bigger fish . If your drift gets to fast just put a bigger lure on to get it down ,or thread a sinker on bove the swivel.
The best colour i have used is a black bodied lure with any colour head you like . This really works good near
flathead drift rig

Snapper Rigs 
snapper rig



These are my SNAPPER , GUMMY and other toothed  shark rigs . Typically I use a running keeper hook setup while SNAPPER fishing . But every now and then I will use a ganged hook rig as well , just in case a toothed type shark hits the bait . You can use a wire trace with the keeper hook rig but is a little hard to bait up .

 I use about 50cms of leader to the hooks and is connected to the main line by a swivel and snap swivel .These can be either weighted or floater rigs as the picture shows. One tip is to put a bead between the 2 hooks so that if the top one is taken it does not rub on the bottom hooks knot and cut through the line.

This is a rig that can be used when drifting for snapper .The length of the dropper can be made as long or short as you like . Just remember the longer they are the more likely you will get a tangle.

Depending on the speed of the drift your boat is in you can raise the rig off the bottom presenting your baits at  varied depths .

This method enables you to cover a huge amount of water giving you the best chance of finding some fish .When you get on to a fish you can then drop the anchor and fish with the more standard setup as in the above diagram .

 You would pobably think that using a snap swivel to join the
two different types of rigs ( flathead and snapper ) on the same rod is asking for failure , but like all thinks in life you get what you pay for . If you bay cheap swivels and snap swivels for your rigs you will get cheap performance .

I have taken on an Eagle Ray for more than 30 minutes (released) with these swivels without failure . Usually it will be poorly maintianed line that fails such as getting frayed or being to old or a poorly tied knot .

Whiting rig


Here is my WHITING rig . If you look closely you will see that this is almost identical to the flathead rig , but this is tied strait to the main line .

This can be used in drifting or anchored . A red bead or tubing is placed above the hooks to act as an attractor , although I seem to recall that the colour red is one of the first to dissapear in water .
 I have taken just as many fish with or without these attractors on the line .
whiting rig