Bait rigging (sliding or not, stinger hook or not)

I've tried sliding rigs with beads and barrel sinkers and fixed leader rigs with stinger trebles. Scored on teh stigner trebl fiexd rigs bit time, but nada to date on slidng rigs. Tird both fronzen squids and live bait with each.

Granted fishing day and locale variability and lack of skill on my part plays a key role here, but what is the consenus on rigs, slidign or fixed, stingers or not, treble or single stinger? I did almost lose my 7-pound Vermillion at Bean Hollow because the stinger treble was loose and snagged in my net preventing me from netting it cleanly--I just ended up dragging it aboard trailing the net. Good thing it was tired and my fault for panicing and doing a head-first netting :smt003d

Netting should always be done head first.  Stinger is a personal choice,  I'll only use one on large baits, in excess of 5 inches. They tend to do more damage to smaller releaseable fish and most short strikes are small fish.

Netting should always be done head first.

Yes. I know and I usually do but I saw the free hanging treble stinger on the Vermillion and thought about scopping it up from behind to avoid exactly what happened--a big tangle. If I decided to release the fish it would have undergone a long visit in the air as I tried untangling the whole mess. As it was I kept it. But as you point out, the stinger directly does more fish damage and it also prolongs their visit in the air for the C&R fish as well. I'll drop the treble stinger. Neither the Lings nor that Vermillion were on the stinger--all were solidly hooked by the primary hook. The stinger jsut got the little ones includingthe Kingfish I used for Ling bait. Better to letthem stay healthly unless I am targeting them with lures or a double shrimp fly rig.

marmot, twice this year I went to capitola and rustled up 30+ anchovies, put them in a tube and started fishing.

A single lightweight 1/0 owner mutu circle hook was pretty fun.

yes, I had a couple anchovies bitten in half and it might have been a halibut.

but overall, if you have a ton of anchovies and want to be able to release easily, try a single
circle hook through the nose of the anchovy.

best,

J