help with wire leaders

[Capt.LaRon30]

Box,

Do all of your ballyhoo rigs that you pull for wahoo have the hook stiff rigged?

I was also wondering your or anyone's opinion on using stainless malin-49 cable instead of the #9 piano wire for trolling a ballyhoo wahoo rig around 6-8 knots. I understand the piano wire (which i use now) is thinner in diameter .022 where the 110lb cable is .031. With them both being the same in color and with the small diameter difference do you think the cable would produce the same results without having to deal with the occasional kink in your wire to your favorite rig that day?

[Baywolf]

No one here is wrong. No one here is 100% right. There is a few things here that matter. The tighter you do a hay wire twist the weaker it makes the wire, does it matter when you are only using 25 lbs of drag max with 150 lb wire and 80 lb main line. That's for you to decide. Do you need an 18' leader on your 26' boat? Depends on your crew and wire man. How many times have you had a fish on, getting him in and all the sudden....... the line goes slack and you don't get back even the swivel. One of 2 things happened is the skirt slipped up to the swivel and another fish hit the lure, or #2 another fish saw the splash of the swivel and hit that. I have tried the short 6" cable shot on my planer rod and crimped a 4' 200lb mono shot, double barrel crimp, cable in one side and mono in the other and never fail, 60 lb wahoo! How many times have you been out there.......... anyone and seen the line not dragging right, bring it in and it's cut off at the swivel? That's the reason for the 18' leader, keep it out of the water. As for stiff rigs, when the bite was fair this spring I did Half and Half, didn't seem to make a difference THAT DAY! I spoke to a mate that was hired to do a study, circles VS J's. Rigged the Circles the same as J's and the hook up ratio was the same or better with C's.

Let me ask you this....... How do you like your pasta? Wire is wire, it bends and flexes and kinda goes with the flow. Pick up some 150 seven strand and compare it with the wire. Dia is not much different, it's like comparing mono to floro except for vis. , USUALLY Wahoos don't care.

Like MARTY said here, we don't know what might bite, we are always looking for HER........ SO make it Right, Keep it tight, everything will be all right!

[TEXAS325]

Great stuff! I love it. Thanks for all of the good info. Never had the opportunity to fish for Wahoo, but I can't wait!

[Capt.LaRon30]

No one here is wrong. No one here is 100% right. There is a few things here that matter. The tighter you do a hay wire twist the weaker it makes the wire, does it matter when you are only using 25 lbs of drag max with 150 lb wire and 80 lb main line. That's for you to decide. Do you need an 18' leader on your 26' boat? Depends on your crew and wire man. How many times have you had a fish on, getting him in and all the sudden....... the line goes slack and you don't get back even the swivel. One of 2 things happened is the skirt slipped up to the swivel and another fish hit the lure, or #2 another fish saw the splash of the swivel and hit that. I have tried the short 6" cable shot on my planer rod and crimped a 4' 200lb mono shot, double barrel crimp, cable in one side and mono in the other and never fail, 60 lb wahoo! How many times have you been out there.......... anyone and seen the line not dragging right, bring it in and it's cut off at the swivel? That's the reason for the 18' leader, keep it out of the water. As for stiff rigs, when the bite was fair this spring I did Half and Half, didn't seem to make a difference THAT DAY! I spoke to a mate that was hired to do a study, circles VS J's. Rigged the Circles the same as J's and the hook up ratio was the same or better with C's.

Let me ask you this....... How do you like your pasta? Wire is wire, it bends and flexes and kinda goes with the flow. Pick up some 150 seven strand and compare it with the wire. Dia is not much different, it's like comparing mono to floro except for vis. , USUALLY Wahoos don't care.

Like MARTY said here, we don't know what might bite, we are always looking for HER........ SO make it Right, Keep it tight, everything will be all right!

Thanks for your input to my question, its appreciated however wire is not wire in my book or experience. Wire kinks and cable doesnt, wire must be twisted and not crimped and it is easily visually larger in diameter. I have read many who believe the fish can see the leader and many whom believe that is a myth, crimps are weaker than a twist or knot etc. Maybe I did not put my questioin out there that well. I was looking for answers from someone that has pulled wire and cable with a ballyhoo on there wahoo rig. And there experience and or opinion on doing so. Its easily obvious by reading on here that wire is favorite of most, im just curious if anyone has tried the cable and why or why not ( in there opinion) the wire is better. Is the occasional kink a non issue, smaller diameter more stealth, stronger, easier to use, cheaper? What is the big reason wire is the obvious choice of most.

[controlled chaos]

This thread is awesome!!! Thanks for all the great pointers and different methods here guys! I am always looking for a few different ways to rig wire.