Wahoo rig ideas

[Caveman Sportfishing]

I have some 3-4 lb cigar weights to rig for wahoo rather than planner rig and wonder if any one has some suggestions on rigging these. We use them last year but lost too many lures using just mono. We do not high speed troll for wahoo has we fish for yellowfin, bluefin and dolphin at the same time but found slow trolling works fine but need to stop losing our lures to wahoo bite offs. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as we are trying to increase our wahoo catching skills but tuna is our main target.
Thank you in advance for any help
Capt John Sowerby HOOKED UP in Cape May, NJ

[parker2320]

theres a newthing called wahoo sheild or something like that it slips on over your mono you could put afoot or befor the the lure they have it at melton i think


tight lines --austin

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Take a tip from the Sniper set up...Make a bridle...attach the weight via snaps, similar to the planer snaps BOX reccomends. I would go smaller though for the inline...of course the bridle will have to be shorter than the bridle for a planer but the same principle will work. This way you can remove the weight at the transom and keep on cranking the line into the reel. Advantages I see to this are...1) you can get the dangerous weight off the line so there is no chance of it flying back out of the cockpit on a final surge from a large fish. 2)Stealth- you can still keep the weight far ahead of the bait- no reason you can't still run 130' of leader to the bait from the bridle. 3) you can change the size of the weight easily.


The main thing I dislike about the inlines are the inherent dangers of long leaders in the cockpit floor with that piece of lead attatched still. If a big fish makes a hard run that lead coming off the boat deck back into the air is a deadly weapon. It will also break an ankle if stepped on in a tossing boat.

O-SEA-D has a great post on toothproofing rigs with a piece of wire extended from the pin. I will try to find it.

HOLWACHAGOT

[Bert Rodgers]

Take a tip from the Sniper set up...Make a bridle...attach the weight via snaps, similar to the planer snaps BOX reccomends. I would go smaller though for the inline...of course the bridle will have to be shorter than the bridle for a planer but the same principle will work. This way you can remove the weight at the transom and keep on cranking the line into the reel. Advantages I see to this are...1) you can get the dangerous weight off the line so there is no chance of it flying back out of the cockpit on a final surge from a large fish. 2)Stealth- you can still keep the weight far ahead of the bait- no reason you can't still run 130' of leader to the bait from the bridle. 3) you can change the size of the weight easily.


The main thing I dislike about the inlines are the inherent dangers of long leaders in the cockpit floor with that piece of lead attatched still. If a big fish makes a hard run that lead coming off the boat deck back into the air is a deadly weapon. It will also break an ankle if stepped on in a tossing boat.

O-SEA-D has a great post on toothproofing rigs with a piece of wire extended from the pin. I will try to find it.

HOLWACHAGOT

I have been thinking about trying a bridal/inline set up for BFTs. With all the talk about the PIA caused by wwwwwwwwwwfb, getting it down with a 36 oz inline may work well to avoid the cut off situation.

Bert

[clt_capt]

I used to run trolling leads on a wire line outfit. The lead ALWAYS scared me, but I have also considered running a sniper-type bridle setup for a trolling lead - should work great.

BTW: John's tip is here 2007 Offshore Rigging Tip #1

There are a couple of other similar rigs we run - Instead of simply making a loop of wire, we will actually wrap the wire around the hook and through the eye - then a haywire twist and pin. We simply run the mono or fluoro through the hook eye like normal and crimp. It does stiffen up the rig, and have never had an issue getting the hoos to swim right

We also sometimes use a short wire trace (8 to 10") from the hook to a small spro then crimp the mono or fluoro to that. Never been bitten off on that - even by kings.

[O-SEA-D]

Here is what I do when I use a trolling weight for Wahoo's;

First off I use the weights from Capt Harry's down in FL. They have the Stainless cable molded into the center of the weight with a loop on one end and a Snap swivel on the other end.

Then I put a large hollow Squid shell over the weight to give it a little better presentation.

I have premade leaders made up that I keep on hand line spool.
They are made of 100 lb test mono. They are 30-50 feet long. The lead end has a loop that attaches to the back of the trolling weight snap swivel. The other end of the mono leader has a small 100lb snap swivel. I attach my normal #8 wire leader to that.

Main problem with this system is that there is a lot of leader to handline in. I have never had a problem doing it, but it can be dangerous and may cost you the fish or something more important.

Only way around that as far as I know is to make a bridle for the weight like the guys above said.

[striper swiper]

I use a dark mylar jet 4-60z then ad 2 8-10oz eggs under the skirt with a 7691 with willow leaf on a spro use this while running out when you cut the throttles be ready The rod shuold be hung by the harness lugs or the rig should be on a short bent butt to keep the line as close to the water as possible Some use the rodriggers (I'm sketchy on this) but I prefer to have someone hold the rod angled low to keep the bait in the water at 25-28 mph It does produce as well or better than most other techniques for hoo here in the northeast

[HOLWACHAGOT]

I use a dark mylar jet 4-60z then ad 2 8-10oz eggs under the skirt with a 7691 with willow leaf on a spro use this while running out when you cut the throttles be ready The rod shuold be hung by the harness lugs or the rig should be on a short bent butt to keep the line as close to the water as possible Some use the rodriggers (I'm sketchy on this) but I prefer to have someone hold the rod angled low to keep the bait in the water at 25-28 mph It does produce as well or better than most other techniques for hoo here in the northeast

25-28 mph is cooking baby! Ain't much that won't plane off at those speeds. I bet the strike rips the lips off the rascals sometimes.

HOLWACHAGOT for sure!

[WahooKing]

This is how we Wahoo fish...

http://wahooking.com/articles.html

Our technique/system is becoming very popular all over the World....The results are stunning....All Bahamian Wahoo tournaments are using the high speed system.

I've never had a problem with the leads like some mention....We fish out of the rod holders with 80lb outfits-short stubby rods...Once you reel up to the lead, the lead stays at rods tip...We work the fish with the boat and not the rods tip....We wire the fish in...Once we get to the hand lining part, the Wahoo swim with the boat...they swim in straight lines and come up very easy....We pull all fish through the doors ungaffed...An ungaffed Wahoo will remain motionless on the deck of a boat.

This tournament winning 101 lb Wahoo was sent to me by Capt. Billy Thomas aboard Savanna Lynn..he hit 3 dailies in the Bacardi tournament....Capt. Billy is the hottest Wahoo Capt. to hit the Bahamian circuit.