Sockeye

How To Tie the Rasticle Sockeye Rig

The Rasticle was invented by Bill Herzog, and underwent several revisions before he shared it with the world.  Once he had it perfected he has spoken about it at length on the Northwest Wild Country radio show.

He uses it for sockeye, and a smaller version for kokanee.  I’ve used it and some days it is responsible for the majority of the fish.

It is very effective, but does take some work to tie up.

Materials

This lure has quite the materials list:

Assembly

Cut a few feet of the power pro.  You don’t need this much, but a longer amount is easier to work with.

Tie the first hook on using an egg loop knot.

Tie the second hook on using an egg loop knot.  Space it about ¾ of an inch from the top of the first hook to the bottom of the second hook.  Cut the line as close to the wraps on the hook as you can.

Put the top hook in a fly vise, and lay down a base of the pink thread.

Cut 3 or 4 strands of each kind of flash.  Tie these onto the hook.  The order doesn’t matter.

Secure the thread with a whip finish or some half hitches.

Cut the flash, so it is even with the top of the bottom hook.

Remove from the fly vice.  With a small paintbrush, paint the two knots so they are pink.

Cut a couple feet of the leader material and tie it to the top hook using the improved clinch knot.

Slide on 3 or 4 of the pink glow beads, then slide on the smile blade.

How To Fish It

Tie a loop in the leader the entire length from top to bottom is 14 inches.  Place this behind a dodger and troll slow.

Analysis

This lure has many things which sockeye like.

  • A stiff leader to transmit action
  • A spinner blade
  • Florescent pink colors
  • Little bit of glow in the dark
  • Some flash to give movement and shine

If using glow, make sure you have a good way to charge it, and charge it regularly.

You can modify it in different ways, using different kinds of spinners blades, different sizes of beads and hooks, or even different colors.  Whatever you think will work well in the conditions you fish.

Click here to learn more about fishing for sockeye.

Thoughts?

Have you used the classic rasticle?  Does it work well for you?  What are your favorite variants?

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