Dubuque Rig

[sandmannd]

With the St. Croix opener coming this weekend and river fishing getting into full swing, I thought I would share a type of rig I've found very useful to me on the river over the last year. This is called the Debuque Rig. Though the name may sound confusing, it really isn't hard to understand. It's basically a modified three way rig.

Now, this is only good to use in MN when on the river as you are using two hooks and thus considered two lines. In other parts of the country where you can use two or more lines (lucky guys) you can use this on any body of water.

What you do is tie a three way swivel onto your line. Take about a 2'-3' section of line and tie to the bottom of the three way. To that tie on a jig. Now with river fishing, I a lot of times use a 3/8 oz due to current. Once the current lessons (later in summer) you can downsize the jig. Just use a big enough jig to keep as vertical as you can get. Now, on the third side of the three way I decide how I'm going to fish it. I mostly use 3'-5' of line for this. What I tie on there are either a regular lindy rig for fatheads or leeches. Sometimes a single bead is added. You can tie on a spinner or crawler harness if you want. Pretty much the sky is the limit. If you want you can even tie on a floating Rapala. On the jig I usually use plastics but a minnow or bait of your choice is fine as well.

To fish this, you fish it very similar to fishing a jig stick. I won't snap the jig but rather do slight lifts to the jig. Maybe a few small jigs here and there or just pull it forward and let it fall back. Change it up and see what works for you.

The thing I love about this type of rig is that you can see if they are smacking on plastics or prefer live bait. Are they hitting on a jig or on a lindy, spinner, rap, etc. The other great thing is if you have more than two in the boat, each using two lines, it can get pretty crowded. Putting both your hooks on one line in this fashion really cuts down on tangles with other fisherman in your boat. It ups your hook rate as well as you are focusing on one rod.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Here's a pic of what it looks like with just a single hook and bead. Probably my favorite way of using it.

[UplandObsession]

Old posting but I will say that rig did wonders for me this spring.  It's nice when you're the only boat constantly pulling in fish.

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