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SEVEN CASTS
Coastal Companionby Seven Casts · Coastal Virginia
Sheet 22 of 28

beginner rig

Bottom presentation

Free-line rig

The most minimal live-bait presentation possible: hook the bait and let it swim completely freely, often drifted back in a chum slick or near visible fish activity, with no weight at all limiting its movement

Water
bayinletoffshore
Free-line rig schematicTop to bottom: main line, hook, bait.

Schematic, not to scale. Hover, tap, or tab through the parts; the drawing isolates each one.

Terms usedMain lineHook sizes

Components

As listed in the rig record, top to bottom.

  1. Main line or leader tied directly to a hook
  2. Live bait, hooked to swim naturally
  3. No added weight at all

Setup

Hook
A circle or octopus hook sized to the bait, hooked to preserve as much natural swimming action as possible.
Weight
Genuinely none — this is the defining feature of a free-line rig versus a live-bait rig with a light supplemental weight. The bait's own weight and swimming action carry it.

How to fish it

The most minimal live-bait presentation possible: hook the bait and let it swim completely freely, often drifted back in a chum slick or near visible fish activity, with no weight at all limiting its movement.

When to use it

  • Calm water and light current where a bait can swim on its own
  • Visible fish — cobia along the Bay mouth, striped bass under bait
  • A chum slick or a bait school the fish are already working

Common mistakes

  • Trying this in current too strong for the technique — with zero added weight, a free-lined bait can get swept out of the strike zone fast in strong current, where a live-bait rig with slight added weight would hold position better

Variations

Natural-bait rigs: the same idea, adjusted

Rigs drawn from the same schematic family — heavier, lighter, or with one part changed for a different fish or water.

All bottom rigs

Where to use it

Water this rig is documented for

Spots marked “species match” document a fish this rig is for and the way it is fished — a place to try it, not a report that it has been fished there.

All fishing spots