Went trolling for Wahoo on the 21st when the downrigger bait got creamed. Screamed line off and even shook it's head. I was driving the boat when my buddy gaffed the 'hoo and when I turned around I noticed it was green not blue! Right size wrong color.
Got him on one of Fred Archer's Poor Boy lures that he explains how to make in the Wahoo Bible
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
Mokee,
That let devil is a little, fish-catchin' machine, ain't it? Keep fishing it as explained in the you-know-what and it's gonna blow your mind with all of the different species and size fish it catches. Remember, like the instructions said, no Tinker Bell tackle with that rascal...you wouldn't believe the size of some of the tooners and other stuff we caught on it!
And it cost you a whole buck and a half? Very nice, eh? Maybe even worth the price of the book, eh?
10-4 Captaint Fred. I've been playing with how much weight I can cram into the little rascalls and how fast they will run w/o skipping out. That day I had some Boys break 12 knots. I've never really done any trolling until recently but that's pretty good ain't it?
I'm gonna do some more tweaking to try and get 15kt on a smooth day.
The book cost less than the lure! The author was generously giving away copies to SFC members a couple of years ago and I was one of the lucky members who got one. Pretty generous fellow that author!
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
Thank you for the thank you, Mokey. Few seem to remember that writing books is one of the ways that I earn a humble living. When I give them away, it is no different than a lure manufacturer or whatever giving away his product for free. I don't see a helluva lot of that here, or anywhere else. I guess that's why some of my staff think that I'm nuts to do it.
I'm glad to see that you put the knowledge to work for you.
That right there is a good reward for someone like me. So thank you back.
When it comes to getting "the Boys" to run fast and stay down, it is more a matter of presentation than it is weight. They run far better off of bent butts than upright rods in gunnels. Another option is to run them low, off of flatline clips. That's really hard with the bigger, heavier lures, but the very light weight "Boys" run like raped apes off of flatline clips with the very little weights that the rigging instructions in the Wahoo Book show.
Sure, sea conditions can have a negative effect on high speed trolling lures of every size and type and comfort levels too, but if you rig and run The Boys right, you'll be surprised at how well they will stay down and run, even in some not-very-nice water.
Some other very good factors are that you can run one or two behind you while running out at fast speeds and this will result into catching some fish that you would have ZERO chance to catch or even realize were there if you weren't trolling. This, in turn, will sometimes turn you on to fish-rich areas far short of where you were planning on going that day. It did that for us many times and saved both the day and a lot of fuel, both very good things for a charter operation.
Yet another benefit shows up when it comes to retrieving high speed lures to check for weeds, etc. The bigger stuff can be a lot of work to do that with, while The Boys crank back in like what they are...little, light lures. My crew wasn't crazy - and that's putting it mildly - about cranking in the big stuff, but had no problem with The Boys. They really liked them from that standpoint. The very same thing applies to my best wahoo catchers of them all, WahooBars.
Finally, a VERY good thing about The Boys is that they cost a pittance to make...a very, very good thing when it comes to lures of all kinds. Spend ten or fifteen bucks total and you'll have a whole bunch of great lures. Nice!
None of this means that I didn't use bigger, heavier high speed wahoo baits, like Ace's beauties and our (also home made) "Poorman" lures at times...especially when bigger baits are what the 'hoos want.
Once again, it's good to hear that The Boy produced for you the first time out, even though it wasn't a wahoo, but a big king. That is indicative of what I keep saying about high speed trolling Boys being a great way to cover water and catch a big number of species other than wahoo. Included on that list are big tunas. If they happen to be around, you better be ready for them, because they bang the crap out of highballing Boys! So again, no Tinker Bell tackle, okay?
Like so many other things, high speed trolling and several different lures that are best for that are a long way from the "be-all and end-all" of wahoo fishing. Internet discussions tend to zero in on one specific thing or two...books cover the whole tamale...and they give it to you fast and easy, with lots of rigging illustrations and pictures.
The Web is great in many ways, but books remain the most thorough and detailed way of passing on in-depth and complete information.
Again, the only book ever written exclusively about wahoo fishing...
Capt. Fred,
Thanks for the great info. I have been clipping my boys down low with the static release clips. Sounds like I need to work on my presentation some more. I think that I might not be running them back far enough. I'll scale back on the weights for some since you say they aren't necessary. My goal is exactly as you said, to have them running well while i'm travelling from place to place.
What are your thoughts about eliminating the trolling sinker from a "Poor Man" set up and adding the weight inside the hollow squid instead? Your book has inspired me to try and make this possible since I HATE trolling sinkers. This last trip I got a 12" hollow squid with 4oz of lead to run well at 10knots(off a bent-butt) with a little moldy bird in front of it(beautiful sight). I just finished rigging another 12" squid with 20oz of lead inside that I plan to test on my next trip. I am doubtful that the bird will work with that much weight so I am going to rig one with a bird and one with another 6" weighted hollow squid out front. This will be connected to a 10' 400# mono wind-on leader for shock resistence and so I can reel the the fish right to the gaff. Is this pure folly I am attempting?
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