Can someone post a pic of one and how do u use it. I heard about them but never seen one before.

i used to get on the bow while my dad was on the controls and i would throw it onto the horizontal rig supports. once you manage to get it on, you just put it in reverse till you have enough slack out then tie it off. the aluminum thing is a rig hook and the other is a gaf.

Learn to use a rope. It is a lot safer. Secure one end of a line to a cleat. Leave about 8-10 feet in the boat. Make about 4 or 5 loops on your hand. Grab the loops equally in both hands. 2 in each hand should do. Make sure the other side of the line also has about 8-10 feet of slack. Toss both loops over your targeted upright object on the rig and secure the other end of the line to the boat at a desired length. When ready to leave just undo one cleated end and pull back on boat. Very safe.

If there is a horizontal pipe you want to tie to just throw one end over it and with a gaff or another object bring the bitter end back in and tie off.

I have seen many people get hurt badly using rig hooks. I personally hate them. Very dangerous.

stay away from rig hooks. get a plastic bottle filled with water or a rubber buoy and tie to the end of your rope and throw it over the pipe and it will drift back to you. I just use my ipilot on spot lock though

They new 50ft power pole works great too ;)

That's true. I Forgot I have an I pilot with anchor lock.

how good will the ipilot work with a strong current and some rollers?

Rollers I say not good.

It should be fine with strong current. I think it will be fine. I've been in south west pass on anchor lock with a very strong out going tide, one of the markers was rocking back and forth bad! Boat never moved. But it was on 10 as far as speed though in order to hold the boat in place.

A good idea would be to have a life preserver on when out in the front of your boat like in the picture.

it is dangerous, i just found that photo on the internet. i actually would put one on till i got it hooked, but i was young too. never wanted to fall out and get knocked out or whatever. i honestly wouldnt wear one now lol:smokin:

Ive been out in some reasonably rough stuff before with some good current. The way I look at it, if its too rough for me to hold with my trolling motor I probably dont need to be out there. Mine has a 60" shaft btw

yea i was thinking that too. it seemed we never went out on a calm day when i was younger.

I've seen guys use a combo of rope and bungee cable to help with shock absorption.
I agree to stay away from the rig hook. It's a PIA to have on boat, and can cause damage if it unhooks and come back at boat.

My spot lock held in some nasty stuff between the causeway.

unless conditions are flat calm, a rope tossed over and retrieved by gaf is a lot more dangerous then using a rig hook and will lead to the inevitable bow contact with the rig. maybe if you have a 10 ft long gaf pole it might work better but even then you are still just as close as if you used a rig hook and the rig hook is done in seconds where the rope makes you spend a lot more time in dangerous proximity to the rig structure.

I have seen people trying to use this rope over the pipe method and every time even in gentle swells they hit the rig in some form or manor trying to get the rope over and retrieve it with a gaf. I even towed one guy in who lost the front 8" of the bow point and cracked his bow keel almost down to the waterline from getting under the pipe when the boat got too close and the wave lifted the boat up and "crunch" no more bow point.

a rig hook allows you to keep the boat at a safe distance several feet AWAY from the rig and is IMHO the safest way to connect to rigs.

I do agree you shouldn't be using rig hooks in rough seas but if its rough enough to jerk the rig hook off of the rig then you shouldn't be tied up to the rig anyway because whatever you tie the rope off to will just as easily be torn off your boat and hit you as it flies off

Not so fast my friend

Throwing the rope with a float on the end is very safe
U can throw the rope from 10 ft away and the current can push the float back to the boat.
Or u can have an extending rope grabber to get the rope back to the boat

Never ever should u put ur boat in a position that a swell could cause damage.... That's just stupid.

Keep distance and be safe.

On a 20-24 ft bay boat a rig hook is taking up to much space.
That's the main reason I never carried one.

After going out on true offshore boats and using the hook and using the rope I still believe that the rope method is much safer and easier.

You don't have to be Greg Maddox to throw the rope/float accurately to the rig.

Safest way is to use a throwable rig hook over a horizontal pipe. you can stay 10 - 15' from the rig a throw it. Don't have a picture of it here but it is an aluminum hook attached to an anchor rope. It has a smaller line attached to the top of the hook. when you're ready to unhook you give slack to the anchor line a pull the smaller line. it rolls the hook off. West Marine has them.

^^ what Capt. Hoop said but would definitely go with "another object" rather than the gaff. Friend of mine put a gaff through his hand trying to tie up in rough seas. Get an extension pole from west marine.

^^^^^ this

OK so if I got to tiger shoals. I'll be fine with just my ipilot. I've never been there are Fished at any rig.

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.