# wahoo/dolphin trolling setup



## 26pursuit

What is the best setup( reels and lb test, lb test of leader and how long of a leader)to have if im goning to be trolling around the edge for wahoo and dolphin?


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## Water Spout II

What type of gear do you have. For lighter trolling I pull TLD 25's with 40 lb test on them. For bigger stuff, I pull 30 wides with 80 lb test of them with a topshot of 130.


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## Magic236

30-50# tackle is sufficient. If you are going to use baits and troll 7-8 kts 30# is sufficient. At higher trolling speeds with weights and plugs for Wahoo, you will need at least 50# to have enough drag to hold the lure in position. As a rule of thumb, the leader should be the length of your intended adversary.


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## gwhite33

nothing bigger then 50# class tackle i ususaly fish a 4 foot leader of 150 to 200lb mono on ballyhoo,islanders,soft lures,ext and on hard lures bonita and such 5ft leader of 200 to 250 mono


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## Travis Gill

If your trolling the edge I would fish 6ft of 86lb single strand wire on everything casue you get alot of wahoo and mackeral bites in there.


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## matttheboatman

I'm always targeting wahoo and dolphin whenever I'm trolling. My recommended spread is a set of ballyhoo/Ilander combos. I like blue and white, some use pink and white or black and red.My trick for catching the toothy critters without running off the other palegics is to rig my ballyhoo with 90lb 7 stran wire INSIDE the ballyhoo. I connect the wire to hook on the back end and a swivel to the front end. I then run a mono leader through the Ilander and attach to the swivel. I use as light of a leader as I think I can get away with - 80lb - 150lb depending on the size of the fish - usually start 20' long (so I can cut and re-rig quickly after catching a fish). 

Single stran wire that comes in the pre-rigged ballyhoo will work fine for everything but a head-shaker such as a white or blue marlin or sailfish. Chances are he will kink the wire and you'll loose the fish. 

If you use my wire-inside-rig be sure to lash the front swivel to the eye socket and around the gills with your copper rigging wire SO THAT THE LINE PULLS ON THE BALLYHOO NOT THE HOOK. Otherwise, the lure will spin instead of swim. 

For wahoo, figure a way to get your lure down deep. A simple way would be to attach a 1 - 3lb cigar weight and send the line waaay out. This will take 50lb tackle to hold together at speads above 7 knots. If you're trollingover 10knots, forget this rig - you will need much heavier tackle. For lighter tackle, use a planer and attach the ilander to the line and send it down to the planer - you can get away with about 25lb tackle up to 10 knots. 

I like having a couple lures down and a few up. Work the edge and find debris. Good luck.

Capt. Matt


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## 26pursuit

thanks everyone for the help


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## amberj

Do you have to use large # mono leaders or can you use steel for the leaders?? I have heard both and was just curious. I wasnt sure if it made that much difference for mahi, and wahoo??


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## specslayer

on all the lures i run i have just like travis said 6ft of 86lb single strand and have caught both mahi and wahoo on these rigs


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