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Random Quote: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you get rid of him on the weekend.
MOLD CRAFT
I have just got 4 lures on ebay 2 wide range 1 soft nob 1 supper chugger all about 12 inches any tips on fishing and rigging them for Marlin.
I would rig them on either 200 or 250 pound Jinkai or line like it. 12-15 feet should be plenty. I like to put two crimps on the hook end about an inch apart just to be safe.
Huh? If you are rigging them for Marlin you need a MINIMUM of 400lb. A marlin's bill will rub through 200 like it was nothing. You need to decide if you want single or double hook rigs, offset or not, etc.
If you want to do it simply w/out cable, heat shrink, etc., get some 400, 600 nor 800 lb mono and a good crimper. Get a 3x hook and some beads. Use enough beads so the hook clears the majority of the skirt.
Double crimp yes, but double crimp one right behind the other. Contrary to popular belief, the ONLY to get a 100% crimp is to double crimp. I use a big bench crimper and have tried and tried. Everything gets double crimped when I make rigs for big fish, including line shy bluefin tunas.
Just wondering how big of marlin are you talking about. Or if you have ever used 250 pound line or are just assuming they would cut thorugh. The 275 Blue Marlin I got 3 weeks ago was caught on 150 pound.
I have caught hundreds of blue marlin, my biggest was 892 lbs, and work as a mate in the biggest marlin tournaments in the world. I caught 6 of them in the last two weeks in the Bahamas in the Treasure Cay tournament and the Bahamas Bilfish Championship. The biggest one was about 550lbs and was caught on 400. I was scared - Sorry, I will learn to watch my language -less the leader would wear through; actually poured the coals on the drag to try to beat the fish quickly. That did not work, and conequently I had the leader 5 times before finally getting her under control. It was a good release but the leader was really chafed and would not have made it another 30 minutes.
I am not trying to be disrespectful so please don't take it the wrong way........ if you caught one on 150 you were lucky. I'd bet that you will get 2 out of 10 fish over 200 lbs to the leader using 150. The bills of the fish are like 60 grit and it does not take long to wear through.
Having said that, some lures will not work w/ anything over 400, Todd's Lures is one of those. I have pulled them at 20 knots on 400 and they work perfectly. Rig one w/ 800 and it immediately becomes a piece of sheisse. Marlin are not like tunas, they are pretty dumb and are not leader shy. You should generally use as big of leader as possible that will still let the lure work like it is supposed to.
Again, not trying to bash you....if you caught one on 150 that is great, congratulations. All I am saying is that, as a general rule, heavier is always better w/ mono leaders for blue marlin!
Tom Bare;
I totally agree with everything you said. Also be sure you have at least 8 feet of mono, maybe longer. That tail can also do a job on the leader when sounding or just running out. We have had them fray the double line, and that was with at least 8 feet of 400 # leader on the lure.
I agree with Tom - why take a chance of losing a fish with a lighter leader? Without seeing the baits themselves, I recommend a few feet of strong cable, 2 12/0 hooks in the 180 position - double crimpled with heat shrink tubing - and 10 feet of 400 lb. leader. If you decide to use 2 hooks in the 180 position, the trailing hook should barely extend past the end of the skirt by maybe and inch or so. Capt. Bart Miller has some interesting theories on hooks - try this link:
You are correct.. I should have been clearer. My leaders are connected to 400lb windons through the use of SPRO wind on swivels. No snaps anymore, just crimp the leader directly to the wind on via the spro. The wind on is connected to the bimini via a cats paw and that's it.... Kind of a pain to switch lures but the benefits of that new swivel outweigh the drawbacks. Lures, not naturals.
Thnks for all the info fellers, its hard getting it in UK even getting basic stuff like hooks is a nightmare not meny marlin here if I send to USA I get ripped of on inport tax. What are SPRO swivels
Sharky can you save anything by buying from campbellsprotackle in Aus. Just thought the duties might be more lenient from a less rebellious colony? Their prices still are reasonably attractive here evven with the dollar's decline.
I have finnished rigging my Mold Craft lures used 12/0 sea demon hooks,2.5mm wire hook links matched the the feet shrink to the lure [green to green black to black] 400# mono trace 8ft long clip to 20ft w/on leader. from 18/7/04 I'll drag them round Lanzarote for 2 weeks thanks for all the tips.
Lure rigging tips 
