WAHOO RIGS

[Mark Ray]

Just curious if you all have had better luck with a skirted ballyhoo rig or a plain double hook trolling artificial such as a Dart or Bost. I'll be targeting them here soon, but I also would like to know for reference in my artwork. Below is a Wahoo piece in progress shown with one of my favs. A Bost Championship dart.

[Bite Me]

It's tough to beat the meat..........in a manner of speaking

[Swami]

Mark:
There's a lot better wahoo fishermen on this board than me for sure but in the "for what it's worth" category, there's really two different styles of fishing for them--the high-speed trolling specifically targeting wahoo, and the catch-all spread with a bait or two set out for 'hoos.

For high-speed trolling, straight artificials are the way to go. No ballyhoo's going to last long at 12 to 18 knots. But in the standard ballyhoo spread at say 6 knots, I like a black and red or black and purple skirt on wire with a ballyhoo on the planer or downrigger. Just depends on how you want to paint it and how the colors work for you from an artistic standpoint.

Nice job by the way!

[Pargon]

One of the many things that I have learned from Archer's Wahoo Bible that has worked for me down here on the Baja is the use of The Dacron Hammer when fishing wahoo. Using 50 yards or so of dacron to eliminate stretch in the line ends up with a lot more hook ups for me. After years of wondering how it was that wahoo were able to grab a Marauder or Rapala and then let go while I was making 8-10 knots I stumbled across the Wahoo Bible and Fred has been helping me catch fish ever since. By either using heavy tackle (80lb. class) or by hanging the rod horizontally (like trolling on the long range boats out of San Diego) and using stretchless line a lot of wahoo come to the boat hooked from the outside in. They have taken the lure in their mouths and with no stretch in the system the lure is pulled through and hooks from the outside. It makes sense, and works. Use a short mono leader,or fluoro,or wire, but then you have dacron from the leader onto the reel.You have to set the drag lighter because the traditional absorption of energy through the rod bending and mono stretching has been eliminated, but the results speak for themselves. Reading any of Fred's books is a good way for me to become a better fishermen even when I can't get on the water. That and the guy is funny. Check 'em out.
David Jones

[Wound Up James]

Mark - For an artist from the Carolina's, my vote would be for a ballyhoo - sea witch/islander combo. Plus I think that there's much more of an art (and a lot more fun) to catch Wahoo at slower speed and w/ bait than dragging big plastics at 15+ knots.

[Mark Ray]

Swami, when I pictured this design(which is not finished yet) I wanted good color in both the hoo and the bait,but I wanted it aggressive as well. For me ,anyway I paint a wahoo it still looks aggressive so pulling a meatless bait at high speed is how I want to go with this artwork. I appreciate everyones input.