Rigging Whole Bait in a Super Mag Meat Head

Adapted from Capt. John King's articles "Fine Tuning Whole Bait – Roll with the Flow" (May 13, 2010) and "Rigging with Red" (April 19, 2009), first published on MichiganSportsman.com. Originals: Fine Tuning Whole Bait · Rigging with Red.

Capt. John's switch: once his Rip Teezers™ artificial herring strips went on sale in 2021, John stopped buying meat strips. Rip Teezers™ (Regular, Glow and XG Extended Glow) fit both Magnum and Super Magnum meat heads with zero tuning, need no brine or thawing, and last for seasons. See Rip Teezers Use and Care.

Capt. John designed the Super Magnum Meat Head so whole herring could go straight from the package to the water with no tuning. Here is how he prepped and rigged bait, ready in under 30 seconds.

Step by step

  1. Thaw right. Thaw the package and break the vacuum seal right away.
  2. Snip the head just behind the gill plate.
  3. Trim fat bait. If the herring is thick, trim the belly to about 3/4–7/8" and angle-cut the shoulders so it slides into the head.
  4. Slide it into the Super Mag head and push a toothpick through the head's holes and the bait. Trim the toothpick ends flush.
  5. Hook placement: set the first treble in the very tail of the bait. Re-peg the rear hole if you need more tension.
  6. Set the bend. At 2.2 mph and slower, give the bait a slight bend so it rolls.
  7. Check it boatside. The bait should roll slowly. If it twirls like a spinner, straighten it and check again.

Which bait goes in which head

  • Magnum meat heads are designed for cut or sliced bait, meat strips and Rip Teezers™. The smaller Orange Label (4" to 5") whole herring also works.
  • Super Magnum meat heads are for all forms of bait: cut or whole bait, meat strips and Rip Teezers™. Green Label (6" to 7") or Red Label (5" to 6") whole herring is the perfect fit, along with prepared strips and homemade hand-cuts. The larger Blue Label (7" to 8") whole herring also works.
  • Rip Teezers™ in either head: Regular, Glow and XG strips all fit with zero tuning. Push the strip all the way into the head and let the hook hang freely near the end.
  • Every 30 lb+ King in John's 1983–2003 charter career hit a 4–5" bait. Bigger bait doesn't mean bigger fish.

See the Magnum vs. Super Magnum Fit Guide for the full chart.

Brine and storage

  • Brine: a handful of Borax and a handful of kosher salt in a large jar of water. It firms bait so it lasts longer.
  • Keep brined bait cold and reuse it on your next trip.
  • Frozen herring is prime for about 3 years and usable for about 4 when kept hard frozen.

The "John J" rig

From May through September, John ran a 12" King Kryptonite flasher with a 3-fly Undertaker meat rig on his deepest rigger. He called the deep rigger with meat "always the most productive."

Shop the setup: Rip Teezers · Meat heads · Glow meat heads · Complete meat rigs

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