Livebaiting the Seaway in 2011

I have decided to try a bit of livebaiting the seaway after a long absence so I thought I'd take a look at the rig I use and see if it can be improved.

The old rig consists of a standard 2 hook rig(Gamakatsu Octopus Black 3/0 - 7/0) on a metre long 30-50lb trace this is tied to a swivel then I place a 5mm bead on the upside of the swivel then its tied to a 5 m long shock leader of 40lb then tied onto 50lb braid.  Next part is a sinker(1-4 oz) on a 1.5m long trace of 12lb mono tied to a clip.  This clip is then attached above the bead.

First up I'm adding a high quality clip (shogun size 3 rated to 80lb) just below the bead, this will enable me to change traces easily as the traces are already premade.  So if the trace gets abraded or the bottom hook gets cut off I'll just unclip it and add a new trace in about 10 seconds.   Secondly related to the problem of getting cut off which is quite common due to the large tailor that frequent the area, I'll be adding a short wire trace between the first and second hook, this will be a limited trial to see if it has any effect on the hookup and retention rate.  If it scares off the big jews then I may discontinue its use.

I'll be using two outfits.  first one is a heavy outfit designed for use with 40cm+ livebaits and targeting sharks. Reel is a Daiwa Sealine LD50H loaded with 500m of 50lb Bionic Braid, Rod is a Shimano Backbone Rod rated to 20kg.  Second outfit is a 7" Team Daiwa Advantage Medium Heavy rod rated to 8kg with 300m 20lb Bionic Braid, this one will be for small live baits, herring, small pike and small mullet.