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I just bought some new billy bait skirted trolling lures, aprox 8 inches long. I am going to rig with a single 7/0 or 8/0 hook. I will be mainly trolling for wahoo,dolphin and tuna. Would it be better to rig with stainless cable or heavy mono, what is the reason for making a 10-15 foot leader versus a 3-4 foot leader. I usually just troll plugs with 2-3 feet of 90-130lb braided wire, so I'm not sure how to rig these lures. How far from the back of the skirt should the hook sit.
1. Tuna have excellent eyesight and can be very line shy at times, requiring mono or flouro leaders. Wahoo, on the other hand, have a maw full of razor sharp teeth requiring single-strand wire (usually #9). Mahi are not usually line shy, so you could go with either. As a general rule of thumb, Wahoo like 'em dark and fast (lures that is) while tuna may like the green/yellow one day, black/purple the next, and blue/white the day after. Also, wahoo will hit the deeper trolled lures and not usualy the surface lures.
2. I rig all of my skirts so the bend of the hook is flush with the ends of the skirt. Some like the hook completely hidden, others like the bend outside the skirt. I think it's the Ford vs Chevy arguement. I use tri-beads as spacers to place the hook at the correct location in the skirt.
3. Minimum length of leader should equal the length of the fish you are targeting. This way the leader rubs on the fish during the fight, not the swivel/snap or main line. The maximim length of the leader, in my opinion, should be determined by the cockpit size of the boat. Just because charter captain "Joe" uses 15' leaders doesn't mean you should. His cockpit may be 2X yours! Since you cannot reel the snap or swivel into the reel, your leader should be equal to the approx distance you can step back away from the corner (transom-gunwale) when the fish is at the boat. In other words, when the fish is brought alongside, you will be standing at the far corner of the cockpit from where the fish is. In my boat that is about 9'.
Wahoo = #9 wire haywire twist one end to 150# SPRO swivel, other end to 8/0 Gamakatsu Siwash hook. Total length approx 9 feet.
Tuna = 150# Momoi leader offshore loop to 150# SPRO swivel, other end to 8/0 Gamakatsu Siwash hook (no offshore loop-double crimped with green spring line chaff guard). Total length approx 9 feet.
Much of what your asking for depends on you set up. Are you fishing with a wind on leader, if so your leaders can be shorter. I fish with a wind on, and my marlin, wahoo, and tuna lures are all tied with 5-6 foot leaders. IF not, you need to make an adjustment and increase the length of the leaders. The wind on leaders enable you to crank the fish closer to the boat...it's also safer, no one has to hand the leader until the very end, if at all. 15 feet of leader on the deck can be deadly if it gets wrapped around you ankle, or wrist, a big fish can take you over the side, and it's all down hill from there This a good time just to sit back and decide on what which way you want to set up your trolling outfitts, then you'll know how to rig the lures. In either case Mustad 7731 that fit over the head of lure will be the correct size for marlin and wahoo, try Mustads 7691 or 7692's for tuna. E-mail me if you have other questions.
__________________ Capt. Mike Fisher
Stock Reduction Sale Ongoing
I decided to rig with braided cable because most of the time I'm trolling it's in search of wahoo. I made the leader's 4' long so they will be easy to handle. I placed the hook tip just outside of the skirt, used a 7/0 mustad. These will be connected to 80lb mono mainline by a snap swivel.
I USE 480 LB OF S.S CABLE ON LEADER FOR THEM ONO. 10/0 OR 11/0 ZERO DEGREE DOUBLE HOOK RIG. THEN AGAIN, THE LURES I USE ARE 12-16 INCHES.
WE SET OUR CABLE LEADERS AT 3 FT. WHEN A WAHOO HITS A LURE, THE LURES TEND TO SLIDE UP THE LEADER. A 20-30 LB WAHOO IS ABOUT 4 FT IN LENGTH. IF THE LURE SLIDES UP, IT WILL BE AGAINST HOOKED ONO'S BODY. IF YOUR LEADER IS LONGER, THE LURE WILL EXTEND THE LENGTH OF FISH AND BE LUNCH FOR THEM OTHER WAHOO IN THE PACK.
__________________
Original Glitter Head and Weight Design...Over 710K in Wahoo Tournament Winnings...08-09 Bahamas Wahoo Series Champions
Anthony
Ace Fishing Lures
I think the length of the leader should be what the person most likely to be handeling the fish on your boat feels most comfortable with.
On our boat that would be me and I like to take control of the fish from the guy with rod with the fish still a little ways out there. So on my rigs the leaders are a bit over 10 feet, more like 12~15. That works our pretty well anyway because at that point the angler really can't see where the fish is anymore anyway.
We have a small chair and so if the swivel is at the tip and the rod held way up, like it should be the first 6 feet just get to the side of the boat, where I am, the next 6 feet are ate up with about 3 feet to reach the water and 3 feet for me to take one good wrap and the rest to make up for the fish being a bit away from the boat and leadable but able to move. This length, and longer too, have one other real big advantage on outboard boats. You can use the gaff to keep the line away from the engine if the leader is up and the fish is very close to the boat.
The mainstay of our box of lures are small Ilanders in a bunch of colors on 150 or 200 pound Jinkai, rigged with bait springs (anyone can rig one) and pins ahead of quarter oz. chin weights and 7732 hooks (9/O). Prefer stainless. We carry about an equal number of Hatteras Lure's "Outlaws" which are reverse tied mylar with more flash than Las Vegas. The hook points fall just behind the skirt, we rig with medium Ballhyoo most of the time. Small baits go naked.
All my leaders are 25' and are fluorocarbon unless I am using some wire. I use 25' because I like to get the swivel and the main line away from the bait, no bubbles and its out of site. I also have all my rigs other than Marlin and Blue Fin rigs made up as wind on's. I use a Spro swivel usualy 80 or 130 lb test with 80-150 lb test fluorocarbon. When the Tuna are shy and not eating well if your fishing with anything over 100 lb test your not going to get the bites someone else will with 80 lb. Yes 80lb leader is more than enough to pull a YFT OR even a Wahoo. (if the wahoo gets hooked in the right place that is)
Hope this helps.
__________________ John McGinty
Hydra Sports 26
O-SEA-D
Tom...can you post a photo of your rigs with chin weights....in other words...teach me how to do it......and how many in the spread do you run weighted?? Thanks Greg
RIGGING TROLLING LURES 
This a good time just to sit back and decide on what which way you want to set up your trolling outfitts, then you'll know how to rig the lures. In either case Mustad 7731 that fit over the head of lure will be the correct size for marlin and wahoo, try Mustads 7691 or 7692's for tuna. E-mail me if you have other questions.
