wahoo advice

[ian cameron]

Heading out to Cato Reef in the Coral sea for a week in September. What are your favourite lures and colours for wahoo. What is your recommended rigging procedure.

I've caught wahoo only as an incidental catch before but out there we are targeting them in xxxos size.

[Rust Bucket]

I am not expert by any means but here are my thoughts.

Wahoo King lures are good and durable. I also like to take Ilanders and an 2 or 3 ounce egg sinker and an extra octopus skirt used on offshore lures. Pass the egg sinker in to the head of the skirt. When you rig your leader pass it through the egg sinker and skirt (punch a small hole in the head of the skirt) then pass it up through the Ilander. here is a link to what they look like - you can clearly see in the bottom one the octopus skirt up under the Ilander Wahoo Killer Custom-Rigged Lure at Fisherman's Outfitter.com

This way you can try several different colors and have a very low cost lure that can be replaced as it gets chewed up.

It weighs around 4-10 ounces based on what size Ilander and will work in a lot of different sea conditions - I rig with single strand wire and a double hookset.

[Thumper235]

I personally prefer to high speed troll for hoos at 12 - 15 kts. I use 50# -80# outfits with a 32oz cigar weight attached to the swivel. Then I run a 30' 300# shock leader from the cigar weight to another snap swivel, then attach my lures. As for lures, I like large and dark colors (black/purple black/orange black/green etc.) Islandshark has some nice lures for wahoo, take a look.
I'm sure if you look at the past posts under the Wahoo section you will find plenty more info from many different sources.
Good Luck

[islandshark633]

get yourself a set of these mate!

[Rust Bucket]

Originally Posted by islandshark633

get yourself a set of these mate!

Sweet! I love those colors for wahoo!

[snappernapper]

Hey man I am a high speed wahoo guy myself but when you might not have the equipment available especially on trips to do it there are other more conventional methods around to catch those fish.

When I was in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean the #1 wahoo getter was a 7 or 9 inch yozuri bonita. You can't fail with it! Next up was a large rapala in orange and white...

Let me tell you though that the first time I tried high speed trolling on DG we caught 7 fish really quick! So to specifically go for wahoo you can't beat high speeding. I use Wahookings and they always represent...

I've caught yellowfin tuna to 90lbs and even hooked 2 blues with them when I was over there!

Good luck and please send us pictures!
Ben

[bajakian]

Originally Posted by Rust Bucket

I am not expert by any means but here are my thoughts.

Wahoo King lures are good and durable. I also like to take Ilanders and an 2 or 3 ounce egg sinker and an extra octopus skirt used on offshore lures. Pass the egg sinker in to the head of the skirt. When you rig your leader pass it through the egg sinker and skirt (punch a small hole in the head of the skirt) then pass it up through the Ilander. here is a link to what they look like - you can clearly see in the bottom one the octopus skirt up under the Ilander Wahoo Killer Custom-Rigged Lure at Fisherman's Outfitter.com

This way you can try several different colors and have a very low cost lure that can be replaced as it gets chewed up.

It weighs around 4-10 ounces based on what size Ilander and will work in a lot of different sea conditions - I rig with single strand wire and a double hookset.

I rig the same type setup using Sea Witches.
They are killer baits with a double hook and I usually pull them with a bonita strip. The Sea Witches are even cheaper than the Islanders. good luck.

[flcapt]

You may want to read this thread

Number of rigs, all skirts, all plugs, or mix

[Yellow Dog]

I would go with a Braid Marauder. I am also a fan of dark colors so I would use black and purple. I'm not sure your arrangements as far as the boat you will be on but as previously mentioned, Ilanders in dark colors are great...black and green, black and red, black and plum. They are absolutely deadly when pulled behind a planer. It just depends on the boat you will be on and if they will allow you to fish with planers.

Good Luck!

[ian cameron]

Thanks for all the help folks. Some of the fishing will be from the mothership and some from the dories.

I'd never considered using a skirted lure down deep, how deep or the deeper the better?

[RiskTaker]

Originally Posted by ian cameron

Heading out to Cato Reef in the Coral sea for a week in September. What are your favourite lures and colours for wahoo. What is your recommended rigging procedure.

I've caught wahoo only as an incidental catch before but out there we are targeting them in xxxos size.

Ian:

You seek Advice? Yeah ok. Don't let this happen to you!


(Photo provided from Darrell Primrose - Ballyhood lures)

I think that if you slow down too much you are more vulnerable to higher order predation. Slow down a little but crank in that fish in low gear. It may be meat wagon fishing style, but the fish usually track straight and you are still fishing. Try those lures that BahamaLure-Alan suggested: they are double hook rigs. (Some don't like double hooks - probably for reasons of cockpit safety only). I actually like the soft body lures because you catch dolphin with them too. But for higher speeds it seems like you need the sleek metal bodies, unless you are using trolling weights. If you do use trolling weights only use the type that has the inline cable. ( I prefer mine as male-female connections: ie. crimped loop and a snap swivel) to crimped loop on mono cord to snap swivel - to crimped loop on lure. It is just a personal preference because I find it easier to send out lures, even at high trolling, when it is configured neatly like this. BTW - the mono shock cord is stored on a Yo-Yo, so you can deploy without having to excessively handle the mono shock line.

I like the darker colors too Red/Black but our personal best size fish has been caught on a Big Ballyhood Blue/silver mylar.

I also thought that the advice that FLCAPT provided with a link to his previous post of last year is right on. You can troll slower if you find it to fit fishing plan. When our speeds meet or exceed 18 kts, I feel we are fishing a llittle too fast. (I certainly need more time put into it to know better for sure). But the feeling right now is that 15 kts. is the sweet spot on the high end. Or maybe it just so happens that we were cruising that fast when we came across a patch of fish. You may catch a few more Cudas if you slow it down a bit more but the Wahoos will still jump all over the lures going at 9 kts.

My "successful" experiences at high speed trolling have been in the Bahamas. In that area/situation there is a massive plate of ocean water piled up on the Bahama banks at high tide. On the falling tide that mass of water is falling off the edges of the Bank into deeper water. That is the time when most agree is the best time to troll for Wahoo. Some "experts" may even fine tune it even further and have a preference on a side (windward/leeward), but I would say that you have 5 hours of good fishing opportunities. I would also say that your greatest probability at consistenly targeting wahoo in this Bahama situation is to stay focused between 200-500 FSW. And if you catch a fish there could be more where that one came from: so if you do not have a pressing waypoint to get to, by all means go back over the same spot. It is noo big deal to turn back and cover that spot 2 more times. Wahoo fishermen in the know do have favorite hotspots but they will not likely give out that knowledge in broadcast fashion, quite possibly on a personal basis over a few boat drinks.

P.S. - If you gaff the fish at the boat, expect it to go bonkers on you with blood everywhere, with sharp teeth and hooks flapping. If you have a top open Tuna door try sliding the fish right out of the water onto the deck, and see if you like the results better. For exceptional sized fish, you may still want to assist the motion with a gaff. It is a fun day on the water when you can catch 4 or more Wahoo with the specialized trolling technique.

P.P.S. - If you can get a skirted bait down 10-20ft., do it: especially in the hot summer months.

[mneptune]

RiskTaker,

That picture is awsome. That would have been a monster wahoo. Also, whatever chopped it must have been a monster as well. I have caught many wahoo but nothing that came close to the size of that beast..

[bajakian]

[quote=RiskTaker;54738]Ian:

You seek Advice? Yeah ok. Don't let this happen to you!


(Photo provided from Darrell Primrose - Ballyhood lures)
QUOTE]


Hey Mike, theres nothing wrong with a little head.

[Yellow Dog]

In the summer months especially, go as deep as the largest planer your rods can handle. Or, better yet, get the largest planer available and use a downrigger. Put the planer down first and then use a paperclip and attach to the downrigger line. Let your line out from your reel the desired distance and then attach to the other end of the paper clip with a rubber band. The paper clip will run down with your main line and when a fish hits it breaks the rubber band and you are fighting the fish. Crank the planer up on the downrigger. This gets your baits the deepest and you don't have to fight the planer too.