WAHOO have on a regular basis been thought of one in all my favourite species of fish to catch. In most areas they aren’t all that frequent, and off the Gold Coast the place I dwell they flip up in erratic numbers yearly. Some seasons we see heaps, nonetheless further sometimes we catch probably half a dozen as by-catch when chasing billfish with lures.
There are specific strategies to give attention to wahoo at certain events of the yr and the subsequent article will make clear just a few of those methods intimately. The attraction of wahoo is a mixture of tempo and marvel. They are a large fish to hook, look magnificent throughout the water and are superb consuming.
I’ve been fortunate to do a wide range of fishing in very distant areas over just a few years. Fishing areas like Cato and Wreck Reef throughout the mid-Nineteen Eighties launched me to wahoo. I’d caught a pair fishing off the Gold Coast and South West Rocks previous to these journeys which fuelled my hunger to catch as many as attainable. Inside the early days a wide range of enterprise anglers referred to wahoo as “Bastard Mackerel” as a result of the silver sheen of scales often stained the fillets, making them unmarketable. After I first went to Cato Island aboard the earlier Seafari skippered by Joe Wilkinson from Bicheno in Tasmania, we stumbled all through a mother lode of big wahoo. On the sides of the cobalt current the place the underside rose up from a lot of of fathoms to the ground there have been prolonged skinny purple fish stacked like logs from the ground proper all the way down to as far as you probably can see into the excellent blue depths. We had six massive skirted lures out the once more that we’d dragged at 6 knots all one of the simplest ways from Mooloolabah catching yellowfin tuna and striped marlin on one of the simplest ways. As we crossed the sting of the continental shelf every lure disappeared in a white foaming boil, drags screamed after which all of the items merely stopped as six limp traces lay throughout the water. They destroyed the lures, bit off the swivels and even chomped on the double knots. Pondering once more to it, just a few of those lures have been distinctive Jo Yee Apollos, a lure that is now collectable and intensely prized. After they do stack up in massive schools, wahoo could also be extraordinarily damaging on type out notably should you’re working monofilament traces. On that first journey we’ve got been extraordinarily beneath gunned for the encounters we had with wahoo, massive dogtooth and large yellowfin tuna and collectively over 10 days at sea we misplaced over 300 lures. Nonetheless, we caught a wide range of massive wahoo as a lot as 38 kilos. The first lessons we learnt was to not troll pricey marlin lures in areas the place wahoo have been thick!
Over subsequent years I spent a wide range of time fishing the atolls of the Coral Sea, and I was on a regular basis fascinated by the behaviour of wahoo. Usually throughout instances the place it was an entire glass out massive numbers of wahoo would swim
barely under the ground and have been for all intents and features asleep.
If you happen to occur to stable a lure at them they’d immediately startle and swim off, nonetheless not usually ate the lure. I study Pacific Islanders lassoing wahoo in these circumstances using a noose hooked as much as a protracted pole. It’s pretty ironic that one in all many quickest fish throughout the ocean will, at events, sleep on the ground having a sunbake. Additional usually, wahoo would appear throughout the wake of the boat as a purple and bronze missile barrelling in on a collision course with a lure. The have an effect on of the strike is type of amazing-wahoo bites are usually not usually refined. When hooked most wahoo thrash spherical on the ground for a second or two with a wide range of wild head shakes sooner than they scream off in a burst of bubbles. In experiments overseas measuring how prolonged it took to remove a given dimension of line from a reel, it was calculated that the first run of an enormous wahoo is timed to 77km/hr. Now that is an especially fast fish!
We moreover discovered very early on the wahoo have a passion for consuming metal jigs. This was a far cheaper chance than just a few of the trolling lures of the day. On Seafari the popular wahoo jigs have been 7 ounce Nat-Nats made by Bill Means. These tended to flutter on the drop and wahoo favored them. We moreover made a wide range of our private jigs by filling up bathtub towel rails manufactured from chromed brass with molten lead and chopping these into temporary lengths. In some strategies we’ve got been pioneers when it obtained right here to jigging for wahoo in Australia, nonetheless this method was already established on the large event boats fishing out of southern California. This all befell successfully sooner than the looks of braided line. It was so environment friendly we used to reckon that for every wahoo that ate a trolled lure, you probably can catch ten on a jig. Since these early days I’ve caught a wide range of wahoo on jigs, nonetheless the draw again of this method is that you simply simply need a concentrated inhabitants of fish to work your magic on. Additional usually, wahoo are pretty scatted roaming the southbound blue oceanic currents. On this state of affairs trolling is relatively extra environment friendly. Nonetheless, should you’re desperate to jig up your first wahoo, fined a jig spherical 200 grams that is chrome or gold and flutters on the drop as a result of it sinks. Don’t use single hooks on Kevlar loops as a result of the fish typically chunk them off. I nonetheless select a powerful treble on triple break up rings rigged on the once more of the lure when concentrating on wahoo. Spherical 40cm of wire may also be essential. These fish have unimaginable eyesight so you’ll need to minimise your seen connections. When the fish are shy I exploit a dimension of nylon coated wire and via an Albright knot join this to the chief. It stops the need for a swivel, is neat and tidy and works very successfully, although you’ll have to re tie the chief between fish as a result of the wire will kink.
Wahoo reply successfully to heavy skirted lures trolled at extreme tempo. There is a shallow reef sophisticated positioned south east of the Tweed Bar usually known as 9 Mile Reef, and this area attracts a wide range of wahoo when the current runs laborious extreme of it in summer season season and autumn. The first baitfish throughout the area are small tuna and prolonged toms. A domestically made lure referred to as a Hex Head is very widespread on this are for chasing wahoo. These lures embody a heavy hexagonal fashioned head with a pair of skirts connected and can be found pre rigged on 49 strand cable wire with stainless-steel hooks. When trolled at a tempo of 12 to fifteen knots these lures produce
a lot of of wahoo on the 9 Mile each season. The strikes are blistering and it pays to utilize not lower than 15 kilo type out when extreme tempo trolling. The widespread wahoo we catch off the Gold Coast is spherical 12 to fifteen kilos nonetheless we typically get fish twice that weight, notably on the broader grounds when chasing blue marlin. Whereas extreme tempo trolling using heavy skirted lures is widespread on the 9 Mile Reef, it moreover works successfully in any areas the place wahoo are feeding over reef and it is a good trying approach. Bibless minnows that work at tempo may even be used in conjunction with the heavy skirts, nonetheless in actuality not too many lures work on the optimum tempo of 12 to fifteen knots. Extreme tempo trolling works best very early throughout the morning from first mild until an hour after daybreak. It is a very thrilling method to fish.
Possibly the deadliest strategy of all for concentrating on massive wahoo is to troll small dwell tuna in areas the place wahoo are looking. I’ve a area of pre made rigs using 49 strand wire. The doorway hook is pinned by the upper jaw of the tuna and the rear hook is place merely behind the middle of the fish, merely pinned by the pores and pores and skin. We have now now these rigs hooked on and capable of go, and usually start our session trolling a pair of tiny pink squids out the once more whereas spinning small metal lures for tuna. Small mackerel tuna, striped tuna, frigate mackerel and bonito are all acceptable to utilize as dwell baits. Don’t be afraid to position out pretty massive baits, even a ten kilo wahoo will assault a two kilo tuna. After we catch a tuna we put it straight once more out, as these extraordinarily oxygenated fish obtained’t maintain alive in a dwell bait tank (besides you have particularly designed “tuna tubes”). We troll the tuna at a sluggish strolling tempo, whereas persevering with to spin for a second bait. When a wahoo or massive mackerel is throughout the area the tuna develop to be terribly skittish, and it is not uncommon to have wahoo leap extreme into the air sooner than landing on the hapless bait. I on a regular basis fish these baits in strike drag on the reel. If you happen to occur to overlook the hit, stop the boat and free spool the street. Usually the wahoo will come once more and eat the top of the tuna as a result of it sinks. The one draw again of this method is that moreover this can be very environment friendly on sharks, and since we’re using wire they have to be fought once more to the boat and launched.Trolling laborious bodied minnow lures is one different environment friendly approach for wahoo. Once I’m concentrating on black marlin I often troll a Halco 190 Laser Skilled from the prolonged nook place positioned amongst the skirted lures. I exploit this lure because it’s deadly on wahoo and retains them successfully away from my invaluable skirted lures. Surprisingly, over time I’ve caught pretty just some marlin on the Halco as successfully. An excellent unfold of laborious bodied minnows is a reliable approach to give attention to wahoo spherical bommies and current upwellings. Usually the fish could also be terribly boat shy and lures positioned spherical 80 to 100 metres once more often get basically essentially the most bites. There are some good diving minnows out there available on the market that work successfully. Producers comparable to Halco, Zerek, Samaki and Nomad all produce some good deep diving troll lures. I carry a combination of lures and vary them in accordance with circumstances. When there is a chance of big wahoo I like massive lures.
In additional moderen events a wide range of anglers have been concentrating on wahoo, yellowfin and mackerel by casting massive stick baits. This works successfully if wahoo are feeding on the ground and the hits could also be explosive. I’ve seen wahoo soar correct over the boat chasing a stick bait merely lifted out of the water. A protracted sweeping retrieve seems to work successfully nonetheless be very cautious as these crazy fish can shoot out of nowhere and are extraordinarily dangerous. The mouth of a wahoo is a lethal chopping machine.
When you hook a superb wahoo let it run. Don’t improve the drag or try and stop it. The first run expends a wide range of vitality and wahoo make your ratchet scream like few totally different fish. After the first run is over you will sometimes start to get some administration over the fish. It will usually take just some further runs and in addition you’ll actually really feel a wide range of head shakes. As a result of the fish will get nearer maintain the boat in gear going forwards, put your gloves on and put together to chief the fish. I maintain most of the wahoo I catch, and so they might be a hard fish to launch. I gaff the fish throughout the head and lift it aboard onto a clear deck. It is vitally essential dispatch the fish shortly with a membership between the eyes as wahoo are dangerous if not managed. After just some images I scrub the fish down with a tough brush to remove the tiny scales, wash it with the deck wash and put it on ice. From the strike to the plate wahoo are the complete gamefish and I on a regular basis get excited after I see that purple and bronze banded missile of a fish on the boat.