Hawaiian Holy Grail

[lawaia]

Many ordinary folks come to visit Hawaii for its scenic beauty and wonderful weather while many fishermen come for the opportunity to catch the big blue marlin of a lifetime. To most local fishermen, the true holy grail is the big yellowfin tuna (ahi). The ahi are so preferred by locals that some have been known to purposely break off a big blue in order to save their on-board ice for the ahi. The ahi are prized for the challenge they present: their elusiveness, the ferocity of their strike, the strength and toughness of their fight, and the great eating they provide. On their pelagic journey, the annual summertime arrival of the ahi to waters surrounding the islands is much anticipated and heralded.

We were fortunate to entice one of these beasts to strike an Archer RuckusRaiser bar pulling a locally made lure armed with a big circle hook. That ahi screamed line off the reel so quickly, even at full strike drag, that the teaser squids on the main leader were turned inside out! Not a problem as we simply turned them right side out after boating the fish. Archer bars and circle hooks do work! This ahi went about 190# and will provide many a delicate and delicious piece of sashimi and other meals.



Aloha and tight lines to all.

[bobdu11]

That right there is a beautiful YFT..congrats...Bob

[skinnys-kid]

Awesome fish!!! I love it when a fish can turn teaser squids inside out! Congrats!

[WAHOONBOX]

I WOULD LIKE TOO CATCH ON OF THOSE TUNERS....


GLAD YOU FOUND THEM1 WHAT IS THE BUMPER FOR?

[Robja]

I WOULD LIKE TOO CATCH ON OF THOSE TUNERS....


GLAD YOU FOUND THEM1 WHAT IS THE BUMPER FOR?

headrest

[IglooMan]

Congrats Courtland on the holiest of all that is holy (piscatorially speaking...) in the Islands!

I WOULD LIKE TOO CATCH ON OF THOSE TUNERS....

Mr Box,
Based on CP's luck so far this year with the big Ahi, it appears a Ruckus Raiser armed with a C-hook might just help in your quest to catch one...


Once the steel wraps around the jaw you can say goodbye to spit/thrown hooks on troll fish!

[lawaia]

I WOULD LIKE TOO CATCH ON OF THOSE TUNERS....


GLAD YOU FOUND THEM1 WHAT IS THE BUMPER FOR?

headrest

Thanks guys; we were super stoked when the 'rigger came slammin' down and the reel started singing that happy tune!

'Box - I wish we had Star Trek transporter thingamajigs so I could beam a big YFT to the end of your line and you could beam a big BFT to the end of mine. Now that would be fun!

Robja - Good one! ...but looks more like a chin rest. Actually, it's a sign of a lazy fisherman - it's tied to the boat (out of the pix) and we just flip 'em in the boat when we pull away from the pier at the ramp, then just flip 'em back overboard when approaching the pier at the end of the day. In between, they serve to hold the fish box lid open while we wrassle the mahi into the box.

Tight lines all, aloha.

[BahamaLure]

I am very impressed with the successful use of a circle hook in the lure, is the hook simply attached to the end of the mono and the lure allowed to slide all the way down or do you put a stopper and place the hook back from the lure head?

I have pondered this for years now but not done any real field work on it, I think it's a great concept. What about a few inches of spectra between the back of the lure head and the hook eye that would allow the hook to roll freely in the fishes mouth until it found the corner?

Alan

[lawaia]

BahamaLure - I just follow the advice offered by Captain Fred Archer in his books regarding rigging the c-hooks. It's pretty straightforward.

For the c-hook to work in a trolling situation it's got to be allowed to move, so the loop swaged into the end of the leader to hold the hook has to be spacious enough to allow that. The point of the hook is positioned just aft of the eye of the lure, as much as possible, when trolling will be done at 'normal' speeds.

Positioning the hook point is pretty easy to do with a hollow squid chasebait since the shank and eye of the hook may be slid into the long head of the squid to place the hook point where desired. Where the hook might end up too far fwd, I simply use a 'spacer' consisting of a length of chafe tubing and a bead ahead of the swaged sleeve forming the leader loop holding the hook. (Stacked beads may also be used to form the spacer instead of the length of chafe tubing.) If using a hardhead lure, then no 'spacer' is required, usually, and the back of the head will limit how far fwd you can place the point of the hook, unless you drill out the back of the lure to accept the swaged sleeve.

No spectra or other fancy rigging required, just a sleeve, some chafe tubing, a bead or egg sinker, and a big old circle hook. .

[BahamaLure]

thanks Lawaia (and Fred) I am very impressed. Congrats on the tuna too