NC Ballyhoo master's

[Holy Smoke]

I am a ok bait rigger and always have a few cases of Ballyhoo in my freezer,
but being a small boat guy and not living on the coast bait prep causes me more stress than anything else about a fishing trip. I think a correctly rigged Ballyhoo is a great bait, and have 25 pre made rigs at the ready....usally leave with 2 -3 dozen baits ready to roll.

But.......

Latley, I have been having dreams of Black Bart lures, jet heads, tuna clones, cedar plugs, soft heads ,Zucker feathers, hell even a green machine has found its way into my thinking process.....The Horror

So the question is?

Two boats fishing side by side in NC waters is the Ballyhoo boat going to produce more bites than the lure boat. assuming everything is running correctly.

[HOLWACHAGOT]

I would put my money on a boat with six or seven Ballyhoo rigged behind sparsely tied seawitches all the same color tight to the transom anyday of the year in Cackalacky. Might even get crazy and run a naked or two on the shortriggers. Except Blue Marlin fishing.
Holwachagot

[gradywhite273]

IMO, and then is from reading in this board, ive only fished onced down there, unless the lures say SCH, or they are squidnation squids, stick with the ballyhoo. Though when the boat comes back up this year, we are going to pull back the throttles alittle around MHC and us thru OBX and throw out some hispeed wahoo lures.

[deadbaiter]

I am a ok bait rigger and always have a few cases of Ballyhoo in my freezer,
but being a small boat guy and not living on the coast bait prep causes me more stress than anything else about a fishing trip. I think a correctly rigged Ballyhoo is a great bait, and have 25 pre made rigs at the ready....usally leave with 2 -3 dozen baits ready to roll.

But.......

Latley, I have been having dreams of Black Bart lures, jet heads, tuna clones, cedar plugs, soft heads ,Zucker feathers, hell even a green machine has found its way into my thinking process.....The Horror

So the question is?

Two boats fishing side by side in NC waters is the Ballyhoo boat going to produce more bites than the lure boat. assuming everything is running correctly.

If your trying to put meat in the boat, stick with the hoos, if you are only targeting blue marlin, go with the plugs, you'll still catch the occasional meat fish but not like you will pulling hoos.

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

Stick with the hoos for meatfish and sails or white ones. Blue Marlin 50/50 on lures or hoos and macks with the new circle hook rule i would probably lean more torwards lures now though for blues.

[Russell A. Jost]

A properly rigged hoo will out fish plastic every day of the week when meat fishing. blue marlin anther story.

[clt_capt]

She keeps telling me that it is all about the wiggle and not about the size...

I think the same holds true for fishing - most of what is in range for you is gonna hit a ballyhoo with a sea witch before it hits big plastic...

Take WAHOONBOX's rigging class - You'll be able to rig'em no problem.

[SeaBiscuit]

Excellent question and a very fair one for the small boat guy. Ballyhoo is my number 1 anxiety as well when it comes to blue water fishing. I believe that the most effective way to catch from a small boat is to fish in the manner of the Key West light tackle boats. That means be read for anything, any place. In order to do that one cannot be fully committed to a way of fishing as demanding and time consuming as trolling dead bait.
Here's a few examples of my thinking:
When the tuners are snapping, trolled cedar plugs will catch their share
When the wahoos are snapping diving plugs & spoons deep will catch their share
When the mahis are snapping, running & gunning, chunking & trolling "easy" baits like dolphin wienies will catch their share
Working a light line while jigging or bottomfishing often accounts for some good fish
Jigging or bottomfishing itself has saved many a day
Paying attention while running by the cans in the spring and having a live bait or large bucktail ready to go can put a cobia or two in the box. There ain't a thing wrong with cobia!
Same when seeing something floating offshore. A couple of passes trolling excellent balyhoo by is NOT the same as chunking and jigging the place.
Who has ever brought in a full trolling spread to go after that slob triple tail they saw floating by?
Keeping the FURUNO on bottom lock will occasionally pay off big time. Structure and bait does not only hold bottom fish!
Boats attract fish especially when drifting or at anchor. Being ready when you see them come around will make all the difference in the world!

I love Carolina balyhoo fishing and appreciate the tradition, art and effectiveness of it. I love watching the pros do it and succeed with it day in and day out. I would never be able to duplicate their experience with that technique, nor would I ever be able to present as effective a spread out of a small boat. So what I do is go fishing with them when I can and enjoy the hell out of it.

When I take my little boat out, I try to be ready for any thing and committed to nothing. Opportunity fishing is my passion.

SeaBiscuit

[reelfisher]

A spread of seawitch's and add a bar into the mix or a planer rod and this is the most effective spread you can have. Not that lures won't catch fish, they just can't keep up day in and day out.

[Nauti Natured]

Awesome topic, Smoke. I have been curious as well. Sure would be easier if they you run after the artificials the way they do the ballys! I dont know ... some of those new scented rubber ballyhoos look pretty tasty. Might have to give em a try.