WIRE SIZE ON WAHOO JIGS
- Thread starter No Cal Lou
- Start date
Isn't losing jigs half the fun? That way we have to buy or make new bombs, and buy the newest hottest jigs on the market. What would we do with ourselves when we are not fishing?
For me, losing a jig is only "fun" after I catch a wahoo using the next jig I tie on.
For me the best part about fishing artificial lures for wahoo are the unusual ways I have lost (or, more rarely, caught) the fish. Those are the best memories! My very last lost jig still makes me shake my head...the ring through the nose of the jig opened up. I lost the Raider (and obviously the wahoo, which was pulling like an absolute beast). I got the ring back, though, deformed but still perfectly and securely attached to my line by my Trilene knot. I still have that leader set aside somewhere as a souvenir, knot, ring, and all.
And yes, I did catch two or three more wahoo on the next jig I tied on, which makes the bent ring a funny story. That reminds me...I really kind of need to go fishing again soon!
all true. always a weak link isn't there? on the infamous "chips ahoy" bomb, I attached a 8/0 Jobu hook (no way of failing) to the torpedo eye with a power clip. After my bud winched in a hoo being chased by a shark in seconds flat, the hook came out dangling from the clip, which was bent at a 45. So I'll be rethinking those clips (65# rating I think).
“My very last lost jig still makes me shake my head...the ring through the nose of the jig opened up. I lost the Raider (and obviously the wahoo, which was pulling like an absolute beast). I got the ring back, though, deformed but still perfectly and securely attached to my line by my Trilene knot.”
I had the same thing happen to several Raiders three or four years ago and I saw a handful of other similar failures. I reached out to the tackle shop where I purchased the jigs and they contacted the Raider rep.
As was explained to me, there was a batch of Raider jigs that had bad welds on the rings. I reached out to the Raider rep directly and asked about replacements. Instead of apologizing and sending replacements, he wanted date of purchase, receipts, and wanted me to send him the jigs back. I don’t know about most fisherman, but I don’t keep receipts for most of my small tackle purchases. And the last part was impossible as I live in Georgia and all of my gear is in California.
I wrote it off as below average customer service and haven’t purchased another Raider since...
I had the same thing happen to several Raiders three or four years ago and I saw a handful of other similar failures. I reached out to the tackle shop where I purchased the jigs and they contacted the Raider rep.
As was explained to me, there was a batch of Raider jigs that had bad welds on the rings. I reached out to the Raider rep directly and asked about replacements. Instead of apologizing and sending replacements, he wanted date of purchase, receipts, and wanted me to send him the jigs back. I don’t know about most fisherman, but I don’t keep receipts for most of my small tackle purchases. And the last part was impossible as I live in Georgia and all of my gear is in California.
I wrote it off as below average customer service and haven’t purchased another Raider since...
Sure, you can do that. Something about the shorter one, the tight one, getting bit through while the loose one saves you.
backlashjack
Scallywag
- May 14, 2007
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I've had them slurp down a bomb on 130 and got snipped clean. Same thing with 200, but brought in the skin with frayed, shredded leader. Im partial to tge heavier line now, but not afraid of tying straight to 50 (unless its my last Capt jimmy bomb).
All my cut offs are on the sink. 150# seems to be the sweet spot for me.
69 pound wire works great. Mono and Fluorocarbon, regardless of its pound test,
only work when you have a perfect hook set. A Wahoo can chew through 200 pound test mono or fluoro like it’s soft butter. You want to get one on the deck? Use wire.
only work when you have a perfect hook set. A Wahoo can chew through 200 pound test mono or fluoro like it’s soft butter. You want to get one on the deck? Use wire.
Ummmmm... Bullshit. Seriously, you are giving bad advice here.
CAN a wahoo bite through 200lb fluoro? Of course. In the quickest of snips...as long as the line is taut. That's why we don't use heavy fluoro to fish live bait for wahoo. That brings the line too close to the fish's jaws. I use Knot-2-Kinky nickel-titanium wire for that.
For jigs I've been using heavy fluoro for many years...at least 8, on at least 11 trips where we fished for wahoo. And yes, I catch my share. How is this, you ask? Easy to understand when you think about it.
Fishing a jig you hook the wahoo at the other end of the jig away from the line. Then, if you keep the line tight, you also keep the line out of harm's way. As long as the fish can't get the line between it's scissor jaws, it can't cut it. The worst that can happen is that it will slash at the line it can reach, scratching and scoring it. But it won't cut it.
What about when the fish hits the jig on the sink...at the wrong end of the jig? That happens to me a lot on every trip I take. The line isn't taut, so again all the fish does is scratch up the fluoro. That's a pain in the butt because usually when the line gets scratched up, the fish can see the line and stops hitting the jig. You have to cut off the scuffed up part of the leader and retie. Worse, if you're not paying attention, you may spend a half an hour or longer, casting and not getting bit, just because you haven't noticed that your leader is scuffed up. This also happens to me every trip...more than once.
But, and this is the key: both of the following statements are 100% true.
1. When there are wahoo to be caught, I always catch my fair share, some on bait, but plenty on jigs. Anyone who has fished with me has seen that.
2. In all of the days on the water since I switched to heavy fluoro leader for fishing jigs for wahoo, I have never lost a single jig. Not one.
I know anglers like Soda Pop use 130lb fluoro, and he's gotten bitten off many times. I use 200lb fluoro, and I never have. He also gets more bites than I do, but I get bit plenty. I keep my hooks sharp, and I catch quite a few of those bites.
When you say this:
You don't know what you're talking about.
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I‘ve seen several of these bad ring connections on the Raiders. These were all silver soldered and were probably overheated—or were brazed with dirty rings. If anyone has a brazed ring that looks suspect, a simple twist test will manifest the weakness. Any brazed or welded connection will have far less shear strength than tensile strength. So, if you take a couple pairs of pliers on either side of the joint, and twist, the connection will snap like a dry twig with moderate pressure. If the ring starts to distort, the connection is integral and will never fail with a direct/straight pull.
