Here are the rigs that I use when I am out on the bay . They are all very simple and make it easy to organise yourself when the boat is getting tossed around or the fish are running hot.  I try to only use BALL BEARING SWIVELS where possible  on my setups because they are of the best quality and super tough . The reason for this is that all my rigs are interchangeable  . I can use the snapper rig when needed and if it gets quiet i can then set  up the rod for drifting on flathead . For example , if you have spent the morning going after snapper and have no luck , you can then switch to the flathead rig on the same rods . I know it sonds like a bit of overkill but if you consider that Snapper rods are now fairly light tipped and you may sometimes get flathead of up to 3 kilos . How may people honestly catch alot of SNAPPER over 3 kilos , most are from 500gms  to 1 or 2 kilos . The only exception to this is on my WHITING rods , i keep them rigged up only one way with no snap-swivel conecting the main line to the leader . Being able to intercange rigs from rod to rod means less clutter  in the boat and less time setting things up . All this equals more time fishing and more fish caught . Baitfeeder rig comming soon .

This is really simple with a twisted dropper and long shanked hook on the top about 30-50cms from a snap swivel , a mister twister lead head lure sits on the bottom . On the top hook I use Octopus or Squid as it is very long lasting and it can be used a few times over . The lure on the bottom acts as a sinker as well and seems to only get hits from bigger fish . If your drift gets to fast just put a bigger lure on to get it down ,or thread a sinker on bove the swivel. The best colour i have used is a black bodied lure with any colour head you like . This really works good near Point Cook .

These are my SNAPPER , GUMMY and other toothed  shark rigs . Typically I use a running keeper hook setup while SNAPPER fishing . But every now and then I will use a ganged hook rig as well , just in case a toothed type shark hits the bait . You can use a wire trace with the keeper hook rig but is a little hard to bait up .  I use about 50cms of leader to the hooks and is connected to the main line by a swivel and snap swivel .These can be either weighted or floater rigs as the picture shows. One tip is to put a bead between the 2 hooks so that if the top one is taken it does not rub on the bottom hooks knot and cut through the line.

Here i have 2 variations of the running sinker rig . The one on the left is a fixed style and you can only change thesize of the sinker by cutting your line . The one on the left is a quick change clip settup (easyrig).The plastic body slides up and down the line and you can change the sinker size by undoing the clip . This means the sinkers used must be of the type that have a ring at the top or a swivel  in it . You can also use a ball sinker with a piece of line threaded through it and tied off to make a loop , this can then be put on the clip much the same as the more expensive  bomb type .

This is a rig that can be used when drifting for snapper .The length of the dropper can be made as long or short as you like . Just remember the longer they are the more likely you will get a tangle. Depending on the speed of the drift your boat is in you can raise the rig off the bottom presenting your baits at  varied depths . This method enables you to cover a huge amount of water giving you the best chance of finding some fish .When you get on to a fish you can then drop the anchor and fish with the more standard setup as in the above diagram .

This rig is an adjustable height float rig . Tie on a sinker ,thread a float down ,slip on a swivel with a leader attached and then whack on a float stopper . With this type of rig you can set the depth you want the bait to be at . When you see fish at around 2 mtrs above the bottom you can set the stopper 2 mtrs above the sinker and when lowered the float will push the swivel up to the pre set depth ,taking the bait with it . It is very usefull when trying to get away from starfish on the bottom . If the bait is a bit heavy you can loop the line around a bit of styrene foam to lift it up to the level of the swivel again ,when a fish hits the bait the foam will be flicked off . A bit of tuning is needed to get this one right ,the size of the float is the main concern ,too big and the rig won't sink ,to light and it goes to far down .

Silver Whiting .......

This shows what the above rig can help guard against . The dreaded SEA LICE ,this bait was on the bottom for a matter of minutes and it came up looking very second hand .A few people have asked me if this picture is real ,yep it sure is . The night this happened we lost an anchor and the wind was about 25knots .

Here is my WHITING rig . If you look closely you will see that this is almost identical to the flathead rig , but this is tied strait to the main line . This can be used in drifting or anchored . A red bead or tubing is placed above the hooks to act as an attractor , although I seem to recall that the colour red is one of the first to dissapear in water .  I have taken just as many fish with or without these attractors on the line .