# Saturday Spur and back



## panhandlephinsphan (Aug 25, 2008)

I have been waiting all winter to finally get out and give my Bly Riggers some action. We headed out Saturday around 4 am out of Gulf Breeze with my son and a friend of mine. All three of us are named Dave so I guess that was the requirement for being part of the trip! 

it was not 1-2 coming out of the pass but as the sun came up and we got further out it smoothed out until it was relatively smooth all day until we got back to a few miles outside of the pass.

Dropped in 3 high speed hoo lures as the sun started coming up. trolled those at about 22 knots untl the nipple. Had a hoo hit us just before the nipple but I was experimenting with my terminal tackle configuration and it cost is our only shot at a fish for the day. TIP: don't use plastic thimbles on your terminal tackle for high speed trolling. They might split and cause your line to snap under the extreme pressure. 

The high speed lures DID finally stay in the water now that I added the 48 oz torpedo weight to the setup.

Trolled from nipple to spur towards elbow and back to nipple. no hits. very little activity- did not see baitfish, very few flying fish, weed lines were not well formed, wore myself and Dave out clearing lines- an hour straight it seemed at one point.  Water temps still low. Hiltons showed a finger of warmer water and they were accurate. Found blue water near spur, temps were 73-74 until then, but made it up to 78 between spur and elbow for a brief period. 

Slow day for fishing but the boat ran great, we learned a few things, and had a great time. 

Already looking forward to next trip!

Panhandlephinsphan


----------



## Cap'n Davey (Mar 26, 2014)

Well, from one Dave to three Daves, congrats on getting offshore. That alone is an achievement. Things will heat uip shortly!


----------



## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)

Thank you for the report. I hate that you lost a hoo due to tackle failure. I have plastic thimbles on my shock leaders, but will go home tonight and swap those out asap. Tight lines!


----------



## panhandlephinsphan (Aug 25, 2008)

Maybe I was just using the wrong plastic thimbles but all 3 failed. I bet if I had a shock line they would be just fine. I forgot that part! NUBEE move for sure. 

Pan


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

SS thimbles are the best way to go.


----------



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

You can skip the thimbles altogether and just use the slide on green plastic coated metal chaffe tubes if you want to.

With that said i have shock leaders rigged both ways and have never had one fail ever ?

Its possible you used the wrong size or possibly the loop wasnt pulled super tight to the crimp? very stange ?

I also use 400# mono shock leader 

what size where you using ?

A tip I can lend toward High Speed trolling with huge weights and heavy lures is at speed : have your drag set one click from line coming out the reel while under speed even slightly loosing a inch or two every once in a while. Thast the most important aspect of this type of trolling. When a wahoo hits at the speed your trolling it causes tremendous pressures on the line : so the lightest drag setting you can have allows the fish to get hooked and run without tearing your gear up. as soon as you hook up you can adjust the drag as the boat slows and then reel him up under speed so he cant shake off. They can shake off easy as the lure and speed makes a big hole when they get hooked so be careful.

I have caught stacks of whaoo trolling 12 to 18 knots in the gulf and this is how we do it. 

48 oz trolling sinker : 25 ft of 400# mono shock cord: 30 ounce lure rigged to 3 ft of super heavy pound metal cable: double 14/0 SS J hooks. Place two at 100 to 150 yards back : In our Viking the best speed seems to be 14 knots but 9 works just fine too, Your boat is faster so you can pull at a higher pace.


Good Luck Out There .


----------



## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

Agree. I don't use the plastic thimbles for anything. Chafe tubing


----------



## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)

Do your crews use this style tubing?
http://www.meltontackle.com/products/chafe-tubing-coils.html


----------



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Kenton said:


> Do your crews use this style tubing?
> http://www.meltontackle.com/products/chafe-tubing-coils.html


I use that stlye for wahoo jigging under paddys or logs to i can get the mono action and stretch , but be protected from bites .

i use this




made by jinki


----------



## panhandlephinsphan (Aug 25, 2008)

Thanks for the tips. Making adjustments to my setup and will report back after my next trip out with results.

Pan


----------



## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

I use this stuff from J&M

http://www.jmtackle.com/tackle/terminal-rigging/anti-chafe-tubing.html


----------



## Cap'n Davey (Mar 26, 2014)

Captain Woody Woods said:


> I use this stuff from J&M
> 
> http://www.jmtackle.com/tackle/terminal-rigging/anti-chafe-tubing.html


Me too.


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Glad you're having fun. First high speed rig I put out, I lost a 48 oz trolling weight and a real pretty Chaos lure. I had the drag set too high and when the fish hit, the rod bowed way over and the #80 monofilament snapped with a pistol crack. I kind of stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds thinking to myself that I thought I had set the drag light enough but obviously not. I also try not to troll above 20 KT because of all the stresses involved on gear and especially the fish. If you don't stay tight on the fish, the hook most likely will fall out of the gaping wound the hook up caused, the faster you go the worse it is.


----------



## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

I pull up to 26 knots regularly with 80 wides. Seems to be nothing but bigger (60+) fish that hit at that speed anyway


----------

