Other wires to experiment with are coated, stranded, and knottable wires like Cortland's Toothy Critter, the Surflon Micro lineup from American Fishing Wire, and leader wire from TyGer. The coating makes the wire a bit more kink and curl resistant, but potentially more visible than an uncoated wire of the same break strength.

Many manufactures offer color choices in wire materials. Toothy Critter is available in green, American Fishing Wire offers red Bleeding Leader Wire, and multiple color choices are available from TyGer. We haven't experimented with colored wire on our rigs, but it seems logical that at times it may be beneficial, while at other times a subtler approach is better.

It's easy to learn to tie your own rigs. Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle's Rigger X-Treme is a good way to transport pretied rigs. There are also waterproof storage jars on the inside that can hold your spare components.

To tie stranded wire, slip the end of the wire through the eye of a hook or swivel, leaving about a 2-inch tag end. Clip a hemostat to the end of the tag end and hold the hook in one hand and the leader in the other with the hemostats dangling. Swing the hemostats around the mainwire making tight coils for about an inch, then trim the tag end.

Tie single-strand wire by slipping the wire through the eye of the swivel or hook, leaving a 3- to 4-inch tag end. With your fingers, make seven loose wraps around the main wire. These wraps serve as a cushion. Then bend the wire at a right angle to the main wire and finish with a tight haywire of 5 to 8 wraps. In all cases, make more wraps with lighter wire and cut down the number of wraps with heavier wire. Trim the tag end close to the wraps by bending the wire back and forth so it breaks clean. Or use a small wire cutter to cut it clean.

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Manufactured Rigs