i always threw ours from a distance and it had a retrieval system on it that made it come off by pullin on another rope. never did we get close to the rig. thats dangerous.

fair enough but we used a 21 ft fantail fishing the west delta 40's mostly and it was never in the way to have a rig hook on board and we never once had any issues with using it.

I guess its all in the user and what he likes best because this is like the ford vs chevy question, hook users like them best and know how to properly use them and those who don't use them (no matter the reason) will naturally prefer whatever method they use.

I do feel the rope method depends on a lot of things going right especially as you mentioned the float has to come back to you from out of the rig so winds tides and waves must help you in tying up efforts.

with a rig hook im connected and fishing within 15 seconds all from a very safe distance and never get closer then 10 ft from the rig and as mentioned im unhooked just as fast without having to get near the rig.

it seams the only argument raised against using a rig hook is that it can fly loose under tremendous pressure and come back to hit you but I don't fish in 10 foot swells tied to oil rigs and don't think its smart for anyone to do so even with a rope instead of a hook. the hooks I used were all made of aluminum conduit and would bend open and slip off falling in the water within a few feet of the rig long before they would fly back through the air far enough in a manor that it could hit the boat or even someone in it, in fact I cannot recall aver seeing one that wouldn't bend long before "popping off and hitting you" so maybe you guys are talking about some hook I have never seen or you are talking about hooking it high above your heads.

Fixed it for ya


And yea I would assume that the Ipilot would suffice , bring some rope with ya just to have a back up plan.


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Alpha if it's calm enough just use your trolling motor if it's too rough use your anchor. It's not deep out there!

whats the problem with a rig hook?

It's only 15-16 foot deep

I have a rig hook for sale if you want one

Yeah u right. Maybe 15 foot at the deepest.

Rig hooks bounce around in your boat and the fish are seldom feeding on the down current side of the rig. Troll around until you find them and then anchor or stay on troll if it's not too rough.