Here's a quick and easy way for inexperienced anglers to bridle live baits. Buy a few buttons from a craft or fabric store. Tie a knot at the end of a short length (depends on bait size) of 50- to 130-pound dental floss or braided line, and run the free end through one of the button's eyes. Run that end back down through a second eye, and tie knots in both ends of the line - forming a floss/line loop. When you're ready to rig, run a 1¼8-inch-diameter rigging needle down through the bait's upper lip and out the mouth. Don't pass the needle through the lower jaw. Hook the floss loop onto the needle's notch, and pull it back up through the lip so the button lodges against the roof of the bait's mouth. Attach the hook to the loop. The bait stays lively because it can keep its mouth open and let water pass over its gills.
Mike Leech
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
