wahoo jigging

[Tunanorth]

Don't know if I am too late for bighuka, but as a veteran west-coast long-ranger I have caught a LOT of wahoo on casting jigs over the past 30-plus years.
As pressure has increased, the fish here are very reluctant to hit on wire any more, even 6 inches is too much.
Although I love our western iron like Tady, Sumo, and Salas, the trick for the last 5 years has been to go to a long and skinny "Japanese-style" jig tied on stright mono.
I have settled on the 5 ounce Williamson Benthos, which is over 12 inches long, but not so heavy that my aging arms can't crank at full speed.
I remove the assist hook, and add a tail hook, either a 3/0 Owner ST66 Treble or a 7/0 Owner Jobu Single.
Cast as far as you can, then let the jig sink at least 120-150 feet.
Then crank at absolute warp speed, don't use any "jigging" action.
When you get a bite DO NOT SET THE HOOK, just keep "grinding" until the fish turns and runs.
As a Penn Pro-Staffer, I use a Penn Torque TRQ300 with a 100 yard topshot of 50 pound mono, which has the combination of blazing speed [6.3 to 1 gear ratio] and excellent cranking power [double-wide gears] needed to make this method work.
The 50 mono is necessary to get the drag tight enough for the hook to penetrate, 60 mono would be even better but does not cast nearly as well as the 50.
On long range trips where the tuna are not biting that well, it is common to get Mexican limits [15] on 30 to 75-pound wahoo using this method, but when the tuna are biting, not much effort goes toward the wahoo.

[bighuka]

thanks man, i leave tomorrow and will give that a shot. I'm gonna have to stay in the same area often due to high winds, and will try everything on the west facing dropoff i plan on fishing with the howling east wind....

[SeaBiscuit]

As a Penn Pro-Staffer, I use a Penn Torque TRQ300 with a 100 yard topshot of 50 pound mono, which has the combination of blazing speed [6.3 to 1 gear ratio] and excellent cranking power [double-wide gears] needed to make this method work.
The 50 mono is necessary to get the drag tight enough for the hook to penetrate, 60 mono would be even better but does not cast nearly as well as the 50.

Very good advice here.
One question: why the long mono topshot? Wouldn't a mono shock leader do the job as well?
SeaBiscuit

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Very good advice here.
One question: why the long mono topshot? Wouldn't a mono shock leader do the job as well?
SeaBiscuit

You don't want that splice passing through your guides in the middle of a cast. They want distance.

Mike

[SeaBiscuit]

You don't want that splice passing through your guides in the middle of a cast. They want distance.

Mike

OK thanks Mike. Why not a short mono leader then? Braid casts well enough, doesn't it?

[Captain Michael Buffington]

and it takes a little longer to clear the inevitable backlash. The mono just works better for that. When you have 18 people all slinging jigs I would rather them use a mono topshot. remember these are all conventional reels. No coffee grinders...

Mike

[Tunanorth]

Generally I use a 125-yard topshot of 50 mono over 300 yards of 65 braid on my Torque TRQ300. That allows me to make a good cast, let the jig sink down 150 feet, and still have mono on the reel.
All of what has been mentioned is relevant, a backlash in braid can be very unpleasant, not to mention that firing off a cast with dry line after a few hours of fruitless trolling can burn the heck out of you.
Also, the inevitable tangles associated with party boat fishing are much easier to deal with on mono.
Basically you only want the braid in the water when you have hooked a large fish and it is running.
BTW, my favorite rod for this work is a 700H.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Generally I use a 125-yard topshot of 50 mono over 300 yards of 65 braid on my Torque TRQ300. That allows me to make a good cast, let the jig sink down 150 feet, and still have mono on the reel.
All of what has been mentioned is relevant, a backlash in braid can be very unpleasant, not to mention that firing off a cast with dry line after a few hours of fruitless trolling can burn the heck out of you.
Also, the inevitable tangles associated with party boat fishing are much easier to deal with on mono.
Basically you only want the braid in the water when you have hooked a large fish and it is running.
BTW, my favorite rod for this work is a 700H.

like live bait fishing or really anything else I love a short topshot. 25 yard skien of fluoro to start and getting shorter until its 5 feet or so and then start over. The casting jigs at hoos is definitely an exception.

Mike

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