# rubber band trick?



## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

anyone use or heard of the rubber band trick for marlin? where you attach a rubber band to your line and then attach it down low to a cleat or the rod to get lines lower and supposedly it makes your lure go dead in the water long enough after a strike to entice a marlin or sail to eat it.... 

going to give it a try tomorrow. but ive only heard of it and can't find info about it or if there is a certain way to connect the rubber band. I was just going to loop knot it over my line and run it down to a double snap swivel at the leash ring on the reel clamp. seems easy enough but not sure if it would break on the initial strike.


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Poor man's flatline clip; I've done this plenty of times on smaller boats. Just make sure you use the appropriate sized rubber band.


----------



## samoajoe (Dec 28, 2010)

Loop around the line and rubber band around the reel handle is pretty simple.


----------



## fishboy (Oct 6, 2007)

#64 rubber band? Is that right


----------



## BlueWaterWarrior (May 28, 2015)

Take your rubber band and wrap it up the line about 8 to 10 times. Then wrap it down the line, over the wraps you just made, about 5 or six times. (Almost like doing an Albright knot but with a little more (longer angle-more than 45 degrees) angle going up and even more coming down. Put the end of the band that you wrapped through the end that you were holding and tighten by pulling perpendicular to the main line. If done right, it will look like the loop is in the middle of these wraps when you tighten it. 

I've never tried attaching to the reel handle ,because I have always dealt with Blue Marlin, Black Marlin bites, I'd be afraid of getting a tip wrap with that kind of angle and the result would be an immediate 'zing-pow' with my favorite lure in the mouth of a marlin going south. 

Best make a mono tag line with a snap swivel at the end, loop one end onto a cleat and have the snap swivel end over the transom. We only use rubber bands on the 'Gin pole'-center rigger anymore because we use 'Roller Trollers' on the outriggers. I've fished with a lot of guys who use tag lines and every other combination and the most popular set up, nowadays, is to use Hollow core, Dacron loops that make it easier to adjust for distance when conditions change. 

For now, I would suggest the rubber band and in your spare time, made yourself a few Dacron loops. It takes a little while, they have to be sized (diameter of hollow core dacron) based on your main line and they have to be put on the main line before you crimp your snap swivel on. 

If you want to talk about it, anymore, send me a PM and we can discuss and I will clarify anything that is a little muddy.

Congrats on the Blue. That was a nice looking fish and you did a good job dealing with it from an 'unconventional' billfishing boat.

P.S. Don't worry, it will definitely break when a Marlin grabs the lure but you can put a release clip where we are talking about a snap swivel if you have one.


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

The flat line clips are one version or another of something like this. The monolilament loop can be put around a cleat aft of the rod and the line connected to the release clip. If there is no cleat available, you can connect the duolock snap to the reel tether ring. For the rubber band most people just loop a large rubber band over the reel handle, pass in front of the line and then back over the reel handle. Trolling large lures at higher speeds may require more than one rubber band. 

Neither of these methods to the best of my knowledge will make a lure or bait go dead in the water giving the bill fish time to eat it. Their purpose is to get the flat lines low to the water so the lures run better. Every time you set a rod for trolling always make sure the line isn't tip wrapped and you will never have a problem with the line coming out of the release or rubber band.

It was mentioned about serving loops onto your mainline to connect to line releases but keep in mind that anglers who do this always use the same rods in the same positions of the the spread, on the same boat and usually have a few loops to accommodate the various sea states fished in. The calmer it is the closer in the spread by wave count and the rougher it is the farther back the spread by wave count. The only way I have ever seen the rigging loops served onto the mainline was always done with the spread deployed to take into account the boat wake and sea conditions which would be hard to calculate while spooling up a reel.


----------

