What is your WAHOO spread?

[Glenn W]

5 witches/ballyhoo in the color I feel lucky with that day , ie., it varies. its tough to beat the ole blue/white in the early season and cub scout in the fall . A planer bait/ Matanza type/ ballyhoo, and usually an Ilander on the bridge pole for a 7th line. 5.5 to 6.5 kts. It works for me.
The darker colors do seem to be better in low light conditions, so I'll be sure to have a purple/black type or 2 in the mix on cloudy days.

[EMTAE]

Necked Split bill on #9 wire........ Blue/green tracker,Black/red with a strip bait work good also.I like to use the planer rod with the rubber band and paper clip.

[Captain Fred Archer]

I ran wahoo-specific charters down in Cabo and I'm pretty sure that we were the only boat to do that. And we caught 'em, too. And some were real horses. This is the home of the former, 153# and current 184# world records. Lots of wahoo down there year-round and just like anywhere else in the world, there are a lot of different ways to catch them, depending on where they are, time of year, what they are feeding on, etc. We had to learn about and master them all in order to consistently catch plenty of 'hoo, and we did, including some techniques that I see mentioned here and a lot of others that I see that aren't.

Which is why I have written and am just about to publish "Secrets of the Wahoo Fishing Pros", a book dedicated solely to catching wahoo the many different ways that work. Everything is covered, from regular trolling speeds, to fast speeds, to high speed trolling with and without sinkers (I am not a big, heavy sinker fan), to downrigger fishing, to planers using artificial lures, natural, and even live baits.

There is way, way too much in the book to even start posting here, so all I''m going to do is show you what turned out to be my absolute best, all-around wahoo catcher of them all, the WahooBar and show you how we bridle most of our live and many of our dead baits. These WahooBars turn surface and near-surface wahoos inside out, and they catch everything else, too. There's a little, pocket rocket of a WahooBar in the first picture, along with some victims. The second picture shows how the chasebaits on these bars are rigged - all-pro and bulletproof. I am also showing a wahoo-chawed and retired Marauder plug. I used to fish them a lot, but quit using them completely because there are lots of better lures for catching wahoos, ones that don't get out of tune and run all weird and wild on you all of a sudden. Man, I hated trying to re-tune one of those suckers standing in the rear of the cockpit in the hot tropics, bending loops and dropping the plugs back in to see if I'd fixed them and then having to repeat that over and over and often never getting them runing right again. The one that you are looking at is one of the last ones that I fished with and retired after it started running bad and I couldn't fix it.

[Wound Up James]

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Originally Posted by Captain Fred Archer

I ran wahoo-specific charters down in Cabo and I'm pretty sure that we were the only boat to do that. And we caught 'em, too. And some were real horses. This is the home of the former, 153# and current 184# world records. Lots of wahoo down there year-round and just like anywhere else in the world, there are a lot of different ways to catch them, depending on where they are, time of year, what they are feeding on, etc. We had to learn about and master them all in order to consistently catch plenty of 'hoo, and we did, including some techniques that I see mentioned here and a lot of others that I see that a ren't.

Which is why I have written and am just about to publish "Secrets of the Wahoo Fishing Pros", a book dedicated solely to catching wahoo the many different ways that work. Everything is covered, from regular trolling speeds, to fast speeds, to high speed trolling with and without sinkers (I am not a big, heavy sinker fan), to downrigger fishing, to planers using artificial lures, natural, and even live baits.

There is way, way too much in the book to even start posting here, so all I''m going to do is show you what turned out to be my absolute best, all-around wahoo catcher of them all, the WahooBar and show you how we bridle most of our live and many of our dead baits. These WahooBars turn surface and near-surface wahoos inside out, and they catch everything else, too. There's a little, pocket rocket of a WahooBar in the first picture, along with some victims. The second picture shows how the chasebaits on these bars are rigged - all-pro and bulletproof. I am also showing a wahoo-chawed and retired Marauder plug. I used to fish them a lot, but quit using them completely because there are lots of better lures for catching wahoos, ones that don't get out of tune and run all weird and wild on you all of a sudden. Man, I hated trying to re-tune one of those suckers standing in the rear of the cockpit in the hot tropics, bending loops and dropping the plugs back in to see if I'd fixed them and then having to repeat that over and over and often never getting them runing right again. The one that you are looking at is one of the last ones that I fished with and retired after it started running bad and I couldn't fix it.

Look forward to reading the book Fred...

[Wound Up James]

8-9 knots a mix of ballyhoo behind seawitchs and islanders and artifical lures.
Most of our artificals are witches, islanders, jet heads and Big T straight runners w/ 7"-8" rubber skirts. We use 9/0 - 10/0 hooks - Mustad 7691S for the plastics and 7690DT for the baits. 2 30-w's w/ 60lb top shots attached via rubber bands to the down riggers (12lb lead balls) and 50's w/ 80lb topshots for the 2 riggers and bridge rod. 6 - 8oz trolling weights on the rigger rods and at least 20 lbs of drag on everything....it's all about Penatration !!!
Wahoo Rigs.JPG
We also do a lot of live bait fishing w/ ocean robins - a member of the scad family (a speedo in the Key's).and frigate mackeral (bullet tuna).we idle at 2-4 knots, use 6/0-7/0 hooks, #8- #10 wire and Tiagra 16's...The opposite of trolling, this fishery is Light drag...A lot of bites....plenty of misses..great visuals and some real quality fish...
Talley's 82 lb. Wahoo - 2.JPG
Chumming (chunking) for tunas is also a big fishery here in Bermuda. It's not uncommon to see dozens of 'hoo's in the slick in a days fishing.. We scale down even lighter w/ our tackle here. I prefer spinning rods and use 40 - 60 wire. Fresh bloody bait works the best. the gills and guts of a mackeral (little tunny/bonita) , a fresh chunk of the same or a live bait...95% of your wahoo bites in the chum will be in sight....and nothing like having a few of them in the slick at the same time...competition always increases the chance of a bite....
22 hoos 25 feb 08. s.JPG

[WAHOONBOX]

DANG JAMES....

YOU SURE GOT MY ATTENTION..........

I LOVE YOUR CHOICE OF BAITS ABOVE ! .........AM I TO ASSUME YOU ARE ADDING BALLYHOOS TO THESE RIGS?

HEY WOUND UP...I NOTICE YOU ARE USING COFFEE COLORED WIRE.......

I HAVE DONE SOME EXTENSIVE "EXPERIMENTATION " OVER THE YEARS USING COFFEE COLORED OR BRITE WIRE.......

HANDS DOWN BRIGHT WIRE PRODUCED MORE FISH IN OUR CAROLINA WATERS....I FEEL IT IS LESS VISIBLE AND DOES NOT SILHOUETTE LIKE COFFEE..........I PUT ON MY SNORKEL AND WENT IN THE POOL AND LOOKED UP FOR A LOOKSEE ....THE COFFEE WAS SO VISIBLE AND THE BRITE JUST BLENDED IN WITH THE WATER REFLECTION

THE STEALTH FACTOR OF THE BRITE WIRE ALSO GAVE US MORE TUNA , MAHI ANDS SAILDOG BITES ON THE WIRE AS WELL


GREAT STORY AND PHOTOS YOU HAVE SHARED WITH US JAMES!


AND FRED.....I LIKE THE BAIT KEEPER IN YOUR PICTURE AND THE COOL TOOL TO APPLY IT!

[Wound Up James]

Originally Posted by WAHOONBOX

DANG JAMES....

YOU SURE GOT MY ATTENTION..........

I LOVE YOUR CHOICE OF BAITS ABOVE ! .........AM I TO ASSUME YOU ARE ADDING BALLYHOOS TO THESE RIGS?

HEY WOUND UP...I NOTICE YOU ARE USING COFFEE COLORED WIRE.......

I HAVE DONE SOME EXTENSIVE "EXPERIMENTATION " OVER THE YEARS USING COFFEE COLORED OR BRITE WIRE.......

HANDS DOWN BRIGHT WIRE PRODUCED MORE FISH IN OUR CAROLINA WATERS....I FEEL IT IS LESS VISIBLE AND DOES NOT SILHOUETTE LIKE COFFEE..........I PUT ON MY SNORKEL AND WENT IN THE POOL AND LOOKED UP FOR A LOOKSEE ....THE COFFEE WAS SO VISIBLE AND THE BRITE JUST BLENDED IN WITH THE WATER REFLECTION

THE STEALTH FACTOR OF THE BRITE WIRE ALSO GAVE US MORE TUNA , MAHI ANDS SAILDOG BITES ON THE WIRE AS WELL


GREAT STORY AND PHOTOS YOU HAVE SHARED WITH US JAMES!


AND FRED.....I LIKE THE BAIT KEEPER IN YOUR PICTURE AND THE COOL TOOL TO APPLY IT!

Is the brite wire stainless ? The rigs there on the towel are all artificials..
In the 70's and early 80's and when I fished the Outer Banks in the mid 90's, it was all galvanized wire...I used both galvanized and coffee coloured stainless after returning from NC and did not notice a difference....Very keen to hear more about the brite wire......

[Glenn W]

Originally Posted by Wound Up James

Is the brite wire stainless ? The rigs there on the towel are all artificials..
In the 70's and early 80's and when I fished the Outer Banks in the mid 90's, it was all galvanized wire...I used both galvanized and coffee coloured stainless after returning from NC and did not notice a difference....Very keen to hear more about the brite wire......

I believe I can comment on the bright wire. There is no doubt in my mind as well that bright wire will outfish the coffee color in clear gulf stream water.
Here's the deal on the bright wire: Yes, it is available in stainless from Malin marketed as "Hard wire". Bright stainless is hard as hell to find, but Capt. Harry's carries it. Virtually no Hatteras or MHC charter boats use the brite stainless though-- they use good ole untreated piano wire.
Oh, we could talk about the virtues and shortcomings of stainless till the cows come home--- like the fact that stainless is not as strong as untreated piano wire, or the fact that Malin makes their stainless wire softer than "regular" stainless, which makes it difficult to twist (helicopter) off the tag ends of your haywire twists--- but in reality, there is only one reason why the NC charter boats use untreated piano wire, and that is because it is cheaper than an orthodox jew at a pig picking. You can get a spool of wire for next to nothing, whereas the stainless has a fairly hefty price tag--- throw that mess away after each fish.
I believe regular piano wire would rust in the Mohave desert if not cared for (yes there are methods to store it to prevent rusting), so for weekend warriors this option is often not the best choice and the extra cost of the bright stainless is a better alternative. If I were fishing every day ( or more than I do), there is no doubt that regular pano wire is a better alternative to stainless. For us weekend warriors, and those that have a short toothy critter season, bright stainless is probablly the better choice.

[SeaMent]

2 San Sal Candy, 1 on each short rigger, 1 Crooked Island Candy on the center rigger, Bimini Bullets on the flats, all on cable doin it about 8-12 knots dependin on the seas, layin out some serious smoke trails and if the "HOOS" are around they always come callin

[Captain Fred Archer]

I'm the last person in the world to reject anyone else's experience or even intelligent opinions based on fish and they ways that they are and I haven't used bright wire a great deal - more than just a little, mind you, but I've used the coffee colored stuff a lot more, mainly because that is what I have always used and it was available. I sure wish I wasn't too ill to get down to my beloved Cabo ever again, one reason being that I'd like to do a lot more comparisons on this coffee colored versus bright thing now that it has come up.

All that I can say is that when I did use the bright stuff, it was mixed in with wahoo stuff on coffee colored wire and I didn't notice any difference in bite rates - something that I paid great attention to and recorded in my daily logs. I will say that we had great success at all trolling speeds with the coffee colored wire. And while there were no other boats trolling bright wire, virtually every other charterboat down there was trolling mono leaders, lighter ones for the most part. (Yes, crazy! A guy on my dock lost SEVEN Black Bart lures IN ONE WEEK once and didn't land a single wahoo out of all of those bites! That added up to a small fortune at Cabo lure prices.) So what I had to compare our success at getting bit to was the other guys on my dock and at least as far as mono, which I think most of us would agree is the least visible leader material of all was concerned, we stood head and shoulders above the wahoo totals for all of the boats on the dock on a very regular basis. And believe me, if anyone missed a wahoo on a given day, we all heard about it, whether they lost a lure or not. Wahoo are quite likely THE most prestigious fish among the crews down there, where marlin, tuna, and dorado are (or were) a dime dozen. So, based on that, I kinda think that the bright/coffee colored thing might not be as important as it seems.

In the past I did a lot of diving and watching lures running over me and I will tell you this...that scene is radically different than looking up from the bottom of a swimming pool, Box. When it comes to surface and near surface lures, I couldn't see leader in the wake turbulence, no matter how heavy it was or what kind. And the short corner, wahoo sweet spots? No way could I see leader! We have also video'd deeper running lures and noticed that leader materials of all kinds virtually disappear in the darker environs of not-so-deep water. My best bud, Captain AJ Brandon is a hard core diver and we have shot some new underwater videos of lures running that are going to blow peoples' minds when they see them. Stand by for that (we are video production neophytes, so it will be a while).

I sure agree with "It's all about penetration" when it comes to wahoo fishing, James! Well said. I can tell that you have been around a lot of wahoo and it's good to see that you aren't just locked onto one or two ways of catching them. There are a helluva lot of ways to "skin a wahoo"! Good stuff! And that includes the chunking thing, which if anybody doubts, I have an underwater video around here somewhere that shows wahoos coming up a chunk line, leisurely sucking down chunks like goldfish eating bread. I suspect that a lot of night canyon chunking "shark bite offs" are, instead, wahoos. No wire, no wahoo.

A couple of things that you do are different for me. First, I fished bigger tackle because I fished where wahoo pushing 200# swam (see the picture of the unweighed one below), plus blue and black marlin were likely on the wahoo stuff during a big chunk of the year. 50 Wides backed with 80# Dac and short, 80# topshots during the big marlin off season and 80's or 130's when the big girls were in town. Another difference is that 8-9 knots is planer, not downrigger speed for me and I use 15# Salt Slicers off the downriggers. None of that is a big deal and we both catch fish doing it our ways. All good.

Wahoo are justifiably famous for going deep during the middle of the day and sharp wahoo hunters know that they often feed on squid when they do that. And if you don't want to mess around with them stinky squids, there's the answer to that too, down at the bottom - all from the new wahoo book. (AND DON'T FORGET THOSE WAHOOBARS...THEY ARE BIG TIME WAHOO SLAYERS, ARE INEXPENSIVE AND ARE LIGHT AND SWEET AND EASY TO HANDLE AND TROLL! AS MY CREW USED TO SAY, "NO TE VALLA SIN ELLOS" ("DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM")