What is the bait of choice for blue fin?

Thanks in advance

pony

In the Wild they like Squid,but I like to use Cedar plugs,Zukers and a 3'' Drone Spoon with a #6 planer and 50 feet of Flouro leader.BallyHoo work as well but wash out fast on a fast Troll.

I agree with everything Mega says, but I would add, the bluefish eat ballyhoo like popcorn while fishing for bluefins, so if you use them - bring 6 paks and plan on spending a lot of time rigging every time you get a swarm of them

The Hoos wash out too fast on the fast troll like I said,But they do like those Bluefish also.

Mega

I am a little confused.


if you use a # 6 planer and then put 50 feet of leader from the planer to the spoon, your bringing the spoon what, about 20 feet above the planer level.

so how much line do you put out on the planer rod? How deep are you actually fishing?



what does you Bluefin Spread look like?

I usually put the Planer on an 80 lb class set up,I drop it down a 100 feet or so.I use a long leader to get more strikes Tuna get spooked easy.I dont think the spoon raises up higher than the depth of the Planer because the fast troll has so much pull.I think if it raised up like that it would trip the planer.

I had figured that the 50 ft leader was causing the bait to rise up about 10 to 20 feet.

well thank you and hope to see you on the water soon

If you want to troll a ballyhoo fast, try an Iland Hula Hood. It's a chrome hood with a skirt. In Hawai'i they trolled them at over 9 knots, and none of them washed out. We caught 4 of our 5 mahi on them.

I have 6 of them they work pretty well .

where can I get them from?

Connie should have them at Long Bay. I've seen them in mags. It looks like a thimble that goes over the head of the hoo. You can get them without skirts, too, to run naked stuff.

I don't do chrome....yet

They have an offset hole with a bit of a curve,Islander Hoods.You can get them with Hair or without.

Yeah...like a ballyhoo condom!!!

Damn!,That just aint right.....Skinny,LOL.

Great...now we have to practice "safe Hooing"!!!
Tight lines.
Dave

What pound test flourocarbon leader do you recommend on that spoon with planer? Is there a swivel in there somewhere?
Are you using mono leaders for your daisy chains?
What trolling speed?
Thanks

100 lb Flouro,I use a Spro in the Middle and a Ballbearring at both ends.We usually troll 8 to 10 Knots for the BlueFin but I will bump it up to 12 if they arent hammering my baits.Anything over a 100 lbs I use Crimps its too hard to get a good Knot.If the Bluefin are running huge then I would use 150 # Flouro but I dont seem to be lucky enough to have that problem.If you work your Drag and dont throw the screws too hard 100 is plenty.

Thanks. Are you rigging cedar plug and squid daisy chains with flouro or mono?

Tuna have good eye sight. I use Flouro for all of it for Tuna.

OK, I'll do the same.

Mega-Bite,
You have me re-thinking the 50+ rigs I built over the winter. I have always used mono between 80-200 for all my offshore stuff with good results but I think I'm going to have to spend a few bucks and conduct an experiment with half my spread being pulled on floro. Don't get me wrong I'm with you on their eye sight and use it chunkin' but if always thought that if a fish would eat a stupid looking green machine or cedar plug that the sight of the line wouldn't scare too many away. That said, I'm sure it will give you an edge but to be a true believer I'll have to see for myself. BTW- I swear by floro for Cobia and LMB.