As anglers we have a tendency to forget that all of us at some stage or another during our years of angling, we also had to learn the basics. Things like joining two lines together, making a simple rig like the Rietvlei Strop, learn how to add just the right amount of water to our mielibomb so that it does not turn into a slushy mess, or that it falls form your bomb holder when you cast.

Why is it that we as anglers tend to forget the fundamentals of angling. It is as if we have forgotten that if we do not teach those around us what we know, if we do not share the knowledge we gained, particularly pertaining to South African fishing waters and conditions, future generations will look back and frown upon us for being so selfish, for believing that we have sole right and exclusivity to this wealth of knowledge, for not wanting to share with them.

Well fortunately for them and all of us the internet has become a popular means of sharing knowledge and even experience. It has become easy to reach not just all angling corners of South Africa but it has enabled us to share what we as anglers do here, with the rest of the world.

With all of that I decided to do an article on two of the most basic and surely most recognised Fishing Rigs in South Africa. In this article I will attempt to share with the beginner angler how to make a Rietvlei Strop and a Rietvlei Gly Strop. Both of these rigs can be used at over 90% of conventional fishing venues in South Africa with huge success.

Rietvlei Strop/Rig

For starters there is one clear distinction between the two rigs. The normal Rietvlei rig's top hook-link is fixed to the swivel at the top, whereas with the Rietvlei Gly Strop the top hook-link can glide between the top swivel and the mieliebomb.


The Spares

For the standard rig you will require the following

2 x Barrel Swivels
2 x Hooks (This is personal preference but the age old tradition has gone of huge hooks and anglers have adopted the principle of small baits and even smaller hooks) My personal preference are Musatd 9555's Size 6 or 8
1 x Weight/Bomb holder (My preference is the M2 Mushroom weight)
2 x Glass or plastic bead (±2-3mm in diameter) I prefer black or dark brown to keep it natural
2 x Pieces of mono filament line (6Lb) 20-30cm
1 x Piece of mono filament line(14-16Lb) 20-30cm

Step 1

Lets start at the middle section, this is after all the core of the rig.

â–º Start by tying a swivel to the 16lb mono line. We use a thicker line here for two reasons. The first being that when you cast your line out this section will carry the full weight of you mieliebomb, lead and force of the cast. If you make this to thin you will only end up breaking the line at the swivel and see the bottom section of your rig fly off without your line going along. Secondly, and this is very important, we want the hook-link line thinner than the section that houses the weight/lead so that if you have a line break with a fish attached to it, it is more likely to break on the 6lb hook-link ensuring the fish does not end up dragging a piece of lead with it.

â–º My preferred knot for this is the Improved Clinch Knot

â–º Now slide the bead in place over the knot. Make sure the bead fits over the knot and does not stop against it. The bead is there to protect the weight from damaging the knot.

â–º Slide the weight in place. Now place the second bead on top of the weight. Remember it will perform the same task as the bottom bead so it MUST slide over the knot you are about to make.

â–º Now it is time to decide how long the line on the rig will be. If you are going to fish a dam that you know has a lot of loose mud or grass on the bottom make the lines a bit longer. This will help that the weight of the mieliebomb and your lead does not drag the bait in under the mud. I found that 5-8cm just about always worked well for me.

â–º Tie this end to the second swivel and double check that the bead slides over the knot.

Step 2

The hook-links is up next and then we are done.

â–º Using the Improved Clinch Knot again tie the hook to the end of the 6lb line. A very important note here is to never make use of a hook-link that has a higher braking strain than your main line. Always try to go a lb or two lighter. We do this for a similar reason as the weight, but the reason being is in the event of a line break when you have a fish hooked or you might get stuck on debris in the dam, the hook-link is more likely to break than your main line this way we do not end up with the fish swimming around with all the main line dragging after it, or if you get snagged and break, the hook-link stays behind with your main line safely on your reel saving you lots of money and keeping our dams clear of 1000's of meters of fishing line left by inconsiderate anglers.

â–ºFirst we are going to tie the top hook-link. Measure the length from the bottom of the top swivel to around the centre of your lead. This is the length where we now tie the line to the top swivel, leaving your hook dangling right smack bam in the middle of your lead. This way when you baited up your bait will be nice right next to your groundfeed when you cast in the dam

â–ºThe bottom hook you follow the same steps as for the top hook-link, the only difference here is that I make my hook-link for the bottom exactly the same length as my piece of mono between the top and bottom swivels. It boils down to personal preference and what works for you.


And that is it. Congratulations you have just tied your very first "Rietvlei Strop"

Rietvlei Gly Strop

3 x Barrel Swivels
2 x Hooks (This is personal preference but the age old tradition has gone of huge hooks and anglers have adopted the principle of small baits and even smaller hooks) My personal preference are Musatd 9555's Size 6 or 8
1 x Weight/Bomb holder (My preference is the M2 Mushroom weight)
3 x Glass or plastic bead (±2-3mm in diameter) I prefer black or dark brown to keep it natural
2 x Pieces of mono filament line (6Lb) 20-30cm
1 x Piece of mono filament line(14-16Lb) 20-30cm

Tying this rig is fairly similar to the standard Rietvlei Strop

Step 1


â–º Start by tying a swivel to the 16lb mono line. We use a thicker line here for two reasons. The first being that when you cast your line out this section will carry the full weight of you mieliebomb, lead and force of the cast. If you make this to thin you will only end up breaking the line at the swivel and see the bottom section of your rig fly off without your line going along. Secondly, and this is very important, we want the hook-link line thinner than the section that houses the weight/lead so that if you have a line break with a fish attached to it, it is more likely to break on the 6lb hook-link ensuring the fish does not end up dragging a piece of lead with it.

â–º My preferred knot for this is the Improved Clinch Knot

â–º Now slide the bead in place over the knot. Make sure the bead fits over the knot and does not stop against it. The bead is there to protect the weight from damaging the knot.

â–º Slide the weight in place. Now place the second bead on top of the weight. Then slide the second swivel onto the line followed by the third bead.

â–ºTie the line to the third swivel once again by making use of the Improved Clinch Knot. As with the normal Rietvlei Strop the length of the line will be determined by the composition of the lake bed and partly personal preference. You should now have a swivel that can slide freely up and down along the 16lb line with ease. I make use of a line length of at least 8cm here to promote the working of the slide effect


Step2

Now you only have the hook-links to finish up with for your very first Rietvlei Gly Strop


â–º For the first hook-link tie a hook to the 6lb line following the principles as mentioned under the Rietvlei Strop. The other end of the line will now be tied to the remaining eye of the barrel swivel, the length after the knot should leave your hook dangling just under the weight when the swivel rests on the top of the lead. This way once you baited up, the groundfeed will cause the line to bend outwards a bit pulling the hook to hang next to the groundfeed.

â–º Tie the 2nd hook onto the last pieces of line. The other end to be tied to the swivel beneath the weight. I prefer a shorter hook-link here, around 4cm, to keep both hooks close to each other

And that is it. Congratulations you have just tied your very first "Rietvlei Gly Strop"

TIPS

â–º Tidy rigs / stroppe are not only kind on the eye. Long piece of line left sticking out of the knot will hamper the rig mechanics.

â–º A well presented strop always makes the angler feel more confident

â–º Adding a coloured bead on the hook-link could produce unexpected results(Please note however you are not allowed to have beads on your hook-links when angling at club, provincial or national levels)

â–º Make your rigs before you go fishing. Storing them in medicen bottles is neat and prevent the lines from tangling

â–º Use a sharp nail clipper to cut the line. It leaves a smooth cut and you can get nice and close to knot

â–º Change the weight size to a M0 for close range fishing and a M4 when you want to go that extra couple of meters

â–º Replace the weight with a sputnik if there are a lot of snags on the lake bottom. A sputnik will lift the line to the water surface when you retrieve the line preventing it from getting stuck

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