cable for assist hook?

[SERprise]

I was wondering if anyone has used cable for their assist hooks? I am fishing areas with a lot of wahoo and barracuda and don't to get bit off. Will the kevlar line hold up to these toothy critters or should I use cable. If so what size ss cable is best? Thanks!

-Eric

[SERprise]

Also should I use a wire leader as well?

[gman]

In my experience any wire or leader affects the bite, but thats just my opinion. We have been successful landing wahoo on kevlar it all depends on where the fish is hooked, corner of teh mouth it ends up on the deck bleeding

[SERprise]

I was thinking on using 175# ss cable on the assist hook then throwing some shrink tube over it. Have you lost any jigs due to hoos or cudas biting the leader? I can't afford to loose to many jigs. I don't make enough mula for this sport lol.

[SERprise]

I forgot to mention the big dogtooth tunas which I will actually be targeting as one of the many toothy critters

[jig42na]

I've used braided cable on several trips to NC. THe reason was the same as yours. I hate Barracuda after they shread a brand new assist cord. So my buds and I made some.

Heres what happens:

First you need to make the crimps perfect LOL. I lost 3 AJs from pulled crimps on 3 crimped wires in a row. I tie excellent knots and take pride but suck at crimping apparently. My one friend fished 2 braided wire assist hooks in an entire day with no troubles, landed countless AJs, cudas, albacore, etc.

Second you want to make very small loops where you crimp to the hook and solid ring. At first we stiff rigged crimped to the hook but then it would get stuck in weird positions, so let the hook and ring be able to swing freely but don't make a huge loop.

Third you can heat shrink tube it but it is not neccessary. I did it thinking that it would help my hands if I needed to grab the wire after a toothy critter shreaded it some.

Use braided cable 300-500lbs. DO NOT use solid wire as it is junk after one fish.

Putting on a wire leader before the jig tied to mono will yield in very less bites.

Personally it is faster to make cable assist hooks, same price to make both, but the cord is by far my favorite. I only use cable when it is absolutely needed in the fall with the cudas. All my missed wahoos to date have been in the mono, not in the cord, and I had one jig cut in half and the cord survived.

I hope this helps you out. We will try to experiment more with it on Tunas and other fish, but I have hard time with as I never want to miss tuna bites. The cable didn't seem to affect AJ bites, but they just want to eat anyway.

[fishduck]

How about using the Owner Power Flex assist cord? It is assist cord with a small cable in the center. I have not tried it. That's what it was designed for toothy criters. Anglers Pro Shop carries it.
If anybody tries it let us know what you think of it.


Good Luck,
Fishduck

[SERprise]

I've used braided cable on several trips to NC. THe reason was the same as yours. I hate Barracuda after they shread a brand new assist cord. So my buds and I made some.

Heres what happens:

First you need to make the crimps perfect LOL. I lost 3 AJs from pulled crimps on 3 crimped wires in a row. I tie excellent knots and take pride but suck at crimping apparently. My one friend fished 2 braided wire assist hooks in an entire day with no troubles, landed countless AJs, cudas, albacore, etc.

Second you want to make very small loops where you crimp to the hook and solid ring. At first we stiff rigged crimped to the hook but then it would get stuck in weird positions, so let the hook and ring be able to swing freely but don't make a huge loop.

Third you can heat shrink tube it but it is not neccessary. I did it thinking that it would help my hands if I needed to grab the wire after a toothy critter shreaded it some.

Use braided cable 300-500lbs. DO NOT use solid wire as it is junk after one fish.

Putting on a wire leader before the jig tied to mono will yield in very less bites.

Personally it is faster to make cable assist hooks, same price to make both, but the cord is by far my favorite. I only use cable when it is absolutely needed in the fall with the cudas. All my missed wahoos to date have been in the mono, not in the cord, and I had one jig cut in half and the cord survived.

I hope this helps you out. We will try to experiment more with it on Tunas and other fish, but I have hard time with as I never want to miss tuna bites. The cable didn't seem to affect AJ bites, but they just want to eat anyway.

Thanks that did help. I made a 200# cable assist hook on one and reg cord on another to try both. I am going to start with flour/mono leaders first and if I get bit off I am going to a thin ss cable leader probably around 90#. I will post results if there are any.

[SERprise]

anyone else with experience in this?