Rigging Crickets & Grasshoppers

Surface feeding fish such as bass, estuary perch, trout, Atlantic salmon, jungle perch, archer fish and even carp will take a cricket or grasshopper that has just landed on the water and is struggling to escape. Other native fish species, including silver and golden perch, and Murray cod, are also known to like a feed of crickets and grasshoppers.

In the three figures shown you will see that the hook is placed so that the cricket or grasshopper remains alive. In saying this, the cricket or grasshopper can also be extremely effective when rigged behind a set of cowbells or Ford Fenders on a lead line or downrigger.

Crickets and grasshoppers are also extremely effective when rigged below a float and allowed to drift down a stream or river. They can also be fished unweighted or with a very small piece of spit shot.

A number of years ago I was fishing down at Khancoban on the Swampy Plains River with a guide. As we were walking along the bank, where the grass was long, Mike was up ahead making so much noise while dragging his legs through the grass. What he was doing was a form of what I would call burleying, as he was making the grasshoppers jump into the water. It was just a matter putting on a fly that resembled a grasshopper and you were on.

Technique 1

Many anglers will use bobby corks during the night, to suspend a bait up off the bottom. To help illuminate the bobby cork you could drill a small hole in the top and then insert a glow light stick into the hole. This will make the float much easier to see at night.

You could also try using the larger A-Just-A Bubble Float and inserting a small glow light stick inside the plastic float. These light sticks do last a fair amount of time, and if you put them in the freezer when you get home it will stop the chemical reaction and you will be able to get a few more time out of it the next time you go fishing.

Technique 2

Try rigging a live bait underneath a bobby cork and allow it to float over a weed bed. The bobby cork needs to be large enough to stop the live bait from getting down into the weeds, so a running rig would be the best as you can adjust the depth as required.

If you are after a new rod and reel outfit to try these techniques, check out the suggestions below. If you are into float fishing, make sure you check out the innovative A-Just-A Bubble Float on the tackletactics.com.au website.

Suggested Combos

Okuma Barbarian spin rods - BN-S-702NT, X-Light, 7'0" Nibble Tip, 2-4kg rod, matched with an Okuma JAW reel, JAW-30, spooled with 6lb Platypus Pulse Mono or 6lb Platypus Pulse X4 Braid, for either out of a boat or off the shore.

Okuma Barbarian spin rods - BN-S-1162NT, Med/Light, 11'6" Nibble Tip, 2-6kg rod, matched with an Okuma Epixor XT reel in a 20, 30 or 40 size and spooled with 6lb Platypus Pulse Mono or 6lb Pulse X4 Braid.

Okuma LRF Gen2 spin rods - LRF2-S-742L, Light, 7'4", 2-5kg is great for when you are getting those very sensitive bites. Match this with either an Okuma Epixor XT 20, 30 or 40 size reel.

Check out the Okuma Ceymar baitcast combo if you prefer to fish with baitcast tackle.