# Ballyhoo Rigs



## Magic236 (Oct 1, 2007)

On Ballyhoo rigs, I'm not sure the best way to connect the hook to a mono leader. When I use a snell or similar knotit winds up being alot of junk to get through a skinny hoo. If I simply form a loop and add chafe protection it's alot of junk too.Don't send me to the various sitesunless you know they show the mono to hook connection as everyone I've looked atassumesIknow the answer to myquestion. Here are a few pics.

Two 'hoo rigs one 9/0 w/mono loop and chafing and one w/ 8/0 hook and somewhat of a snell

Thanks










PIC 2










Here's the loop










Here's the modified, quick, or cheating snell I don't know ifthis knot has a name but it works.


----------



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

WHat lb leader?


----------



## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

anything over 130# test needs to be crimped. maybe youre using long sleeves? i have never had a problem hiding the crimp underneath a ballyhoo's chin. 







HOWEVER, we recently had some prototype wahoo lures sent to us that were snelled with 300# leader. figuring surely the guy wouldnt have snelled them if he didnt know what he was doing, we left them on there. worked fine.


----------



## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

Jim, I would never use the snell because of the angle it forms, but your other rig is pretty similar to what I used to use before the circle hook only rule went into effect for tourneys.



The difference is that I use the clear and very soft chafe tube - its actually micro fuel line - and cinch it as tight as you can get it to the point that there is zero slack in the look and the rubber tubing is acually compressed. This makes the hook/line semi stiff. The other difference is that when using copper wire, I anchor it on the mono above the swage where the pin comes out in front of the hook.


----------



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

I damn sure wouldn't want my wahoo lures snelled with mono. Way to east for a fish to cut the snell


----------



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

Those springs work ok if youve got a big lure like that blackhole in front. If you are pulling naked baits or just a little moldcraft in front those springs are no good IMO. I rig all my ballyhoo with copper wire


----------



## Magic236 (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks guys for the info. I'm going w/ the loop and will consider springs. I'm on a 23 center console so I'm not worried about tournaments. OK Here's another question. Granted this rig did not get packed up properly after its last use, but it's happened to me before. It is the Phyllis Diller or Sanjaha (sp) affect on Islanders. What suggestions do you guys have to avoid this and to repair it. This is worse than a bad hair day.


----------



## bluffman2 (Nov 22, 2007)

after it gets wet itll work just fine....no need to groom it...


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I like that soft clear tubing hal talked about as well for select or horse ballyhoo but honestly most of the time I troll with hoosI use a pinless rig and no chafe tubing; the leader is just crimped directly to the hook with no thimbles or tubing. This of course could have a downside in a long fight with a big fish but to this date I've never lost a fish to it (knock on wood). You do have to check your leaders thoroughly after each fish or trip to make sure there is no line rub through the loop but the baits swim so much better and that chafe gear seems to snag on the throats a lot more. Behind the skirts the springs are fine but I hate snagging my fingers on that pin.


----------



## Bryan Bennett (Dec 29, 2007)

I am not trying to be argumentative, but quite seriously when you are using a Jobu hook as you are in a ballyhoo, the part of the rigging with the most girth is the eye of that Jobu hook. Therefore using a little bit of chaffe tubing doesn't hurt a thing, especially if you cinch it down flush as Xanadu recommends. One helpful thing I was shown is to use copper double sleeves in ballyhoo rigs; they swage down to a slimmer profile than an oval aluminum will. I agree with the other posts regarding small dusters and such; they fit better and run better over a medium or small 'hoo when rigged with copper wire instead of a spring. If you can get someone to show you how to wrap a ballyhoo with copper without using a nose pin, your rigging will become very slim and your bait will run better in general. This is especially true when fishing smalls for yellowfin; the less hardware the better. However, I am not big on the snelling idea. A simple uni-knot works fine, though, in mono 130 and less. Here again, though, you need to know how to rig without the nose-pin. Good luck.

Edit: Oh, yeah, a bowl of warm water and some Woolite is good to soak tangled Ilanders in; softens em right up and lets you come out the hair.


----------



## Magic236 (Oct 1, 2007)

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=smalltxt vAlign=top><SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl14_lblFullMessage>"I am not trying to be argumentative" I didn't take it that way...... Thanks for your input. I went to the SOBU hooksas they are very sharp and hold their points which cuts out one more thing I have to deal with. I still have mixed emotions using them though and may go back to more traditional Mustads, etc. I agree, I don't like pinstherefore IdoubtI'll consider springs.I grew up using single strand, it is taking time for me to transition meto mono with baits.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


----------



## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

> *Magic236 (4/29/2009)*<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=smalltxt vAlign=top><SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl14_lblFullMessage>"I am not trying to be argumentative" I didn't take it that way...... Thanks for your input. I went to the SOBU hooksas they are very sharp and hold their points which cuts out one more thing I have to deal with. I still have mixed emotions using them though and may go back to more traditional Mustads, etc. I agree, I don't like pinstherefore IdoubtI'll consider springs.I grew up using single strand, it is taking time for me to transition meto mono with baits.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>




Well, you guys are a little too nice and I may be being a little argumentative, but if you think a Jobu is sharp out of the box, you're fishing dull hooks. One of the reasons I don't like them is as soon as I sharpen them they rust. THey used to sell those special titanium or teflon impregnated ones that didn't, but not anymore. The Jobu hook tends to me to be too fat in the wire and the coating doesn't help.



Anyway, if you wanna see sharp, you need to check out a typical hookset of mine. Yes, I've been accused in the past of being obsessive, but I swear I can get a Hayes hook as sharp as a hypodermic needle in about 45 seconds.



FYI, The Hayes Hook is the finest big game hook in the world for big game fishing.


----------



## eddy2419 (Oct 28, 2007)

I too use 300# mono, crimp and spring. I didn't see any weights in the pictures. Do you use them?


----------



## gwhite33 (Jul 23, 2008)

We ususaly use springs i cant ever figure out the whire tecneque and plus is faster to rig them with the springs.


----------



## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *gwhite33 (5/6/2009)*We ususaly use springs i cant ever figure out the whire tecneque and plus is faster to rig them with the springs.




disagree......but to each is own.


----------

