Tips on Rigging billfish lures.
Now the demersal ban is on Im starting to gear up for my first serious billfish season off the trench here and going to Exmouth for a week in March during Gamex (not competing)
Ive got a heap of 8inch soft grassys, 9.5 inch junior oscars and 10 inch soft oscars, Pakula sprockets etc and 11, 12 13 and 14 inch other pakula's, barts
I bought the richter win ons along with the full Richter hook, wire and leader rigs you get in the packets that go with the lures and was going to rig them up how Mr Richter intended them to be done. I had a look at the Pakula website whish is awesome with heaps of info and he rigs his very differently with no wind on just a long 300lb leader going from the swivel at the mainline double down to a swivel which is placed under the lure head/skirt then long wire down to hook running a lead keel weight held by a lacky band.
I know theres plenty of guys who have caught billfish on this site so how do you guys prefer to rig your lures? any suggestions would be great
dodgy
Posts: 4580
Date Joined: 01/02/10
I find Richter rigs way over
I find Richter rigs way over the top in their sizing for the lures they were intended for. I run much lighter wire bite rigs and lighter hooks.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Scaly Man Fish
Posts: 212
Date Joined: 30/12/08
for sale
Hey beeroclock I have some billfish lures fully rigged for sale going cheap , PM me if your intersted
beeroclock
Posts: 746
Date Joined: 22/08/12
Thanks Coley but ive probably got too many now
the Mrs thinks ive got some wierd "lure problem" that i might have to seek professional help for
deforce
Posts: 57
Date Joined: 17/11/13
i am interested
please pm me
Jc85
Posts: 95
Date Joined: 18/07/11
lures
what do you have coley
ELECTRICIAN 0488 772 759
seaswirl
Posts: 268
Date Joined: 29/08/10
keel weight
We had a quadruple hook up on stiped marlin last summer in the trench ...we landed 3 because there was only 3 of us on board. All solidly hooked on the Pakula Keel weight setup. Been fishing for marlin for 15 years and this is my favorite.
beeroclock
Posts: 746
Date Joined: 22/08/12
Im sure ive read a few times that striped marlin are the
hardest to set the hook into - looks like I better change to the keel weight rig - by the way what lures were you using and what size were they cheers
Brucesta
Posts: 1721
Date Joined: 29/05/09
I've seen how Peter does his
I've seen how Peter does his lures, keeping the rig really light and allowing it to all swing free to give the best action and then I've seen some really stiff and heavy rigs to the back of the lure, both have worked so I can't help there, I like Peters theory on the 1m leader length then to the double/snap swivel arrangement, as he points out after the bill there is nothing sharp on a marlin to wreck your line so it could be seen as waste. Instill run 4m of wind on anyway but I have come back in size from say 200/150lb on 15kg to now run 100/80lb wind ons with slimmer gear in the snap swivel department.
i agree the Richter rigs have some large gauge hooks for the lures but I still get good hook up rates with them, I took the Pakula idea and loosened the rigs up around the pivot points last comp via removing the heat shrink and I'm seeing how that hoes now. Best of luck out there
Las Vegas - Rolling the dice and trying your luck. 1M+ Barra summer target. 100kg Black Marlin winter target
Lastchance
Posts: 1273
Date Joined: 02/02/09
I did like his demo you
I did like his demo you helped with (short lift) that was interesting. The short leader idea is fine as long as the fish is the size you anticipated, gets mouth hooked and doesn't get tail wrapped. He does contradict himself to a degree when he states that a lure needs to be rigged lightly enough to enable it to move any way it is designed to, then says that all lures should track straight, not deviate off a line as it makes it easier to get a hook up if it isn't moving.
Either way, he's a fisherman who makes his money from his products.
What I did find interesting is how he said he wouldn't have been as successful if he had of started in WA as the fish are so unpredictable.
Anyways, I fully agree with the previous comments regarding the richter hooks, they are a bit OTT for the application.
In terms of what works and what doesn't, all I can say is use a rubber hook locator on the back of head of the lure, use a shackle on the end of the leader (behind the lure head) so you can change hooks easily or remove them to use the lure as a teaser, use wire from there to your hooks and use some heat shrink at the hook end. A fully swinging hook (Again in my experience) has a terrible hook up rate compared to a hook that is semi fixed - either with the use of heat shrink or on the lesser end a tight crimp.
BUT, you need to attract the fish to the lure before they will bite!
If everyone uses a certain brand of lure, then more fish will be caught on that brand (bit like if most people have etecs, than most stories will be about etecs) Only a handful of fisherman use the 'expensive lures' but still catch fish. Charter operators make their money off the bottom line so why would they risk big bucks by using expensive lures - it's because they work. Other wise they would use/be sponsored by the cheaper brands.
do yourself a favour and check out some of the brands used by the operators that are working in the areas that you intend to fish in. You will be amazed how far they will go to assist!
Daisy
terboz123
Posts: 1358
Date Joined: 13/04/11
Ritcher hooks are not
Ritcher hooks are not quality IMO, to wide a gauge ..personally for little lures SL12s and Owner Jobus do ok....make sure you sharpen all hooks..
the trench, while i have never hooked a bill out there, i would not be running anything smaller then 10- 12 inch....your chasing big blues and blacks out there and the fishing is so spread out, you want as much in your favour to bring them into your spread IMO.
this is my preference whether its right or wrong, we will just see.... Slant face lures stiffed rig with a single, i have always found the slantys run better like this, where cup face lures we will run a semi stiffed double. IMO the hooks need to be at 180 & 0 degrees rather then just going in circular motions.... our hooks ups increased dramatically doing this.....
each to their own though and do what works best for you. Learn to pitch dead baits on circile hooks or skip dead baits in exmouth if you want sails. hook up ratios goes way up, then mooved on the switching blacks.....
cheers
a hard days fishing still beats work
PGFC member
GCGFC memberseaswirl
Posts: 268
Date Joined: 29/08/10
marlin
If you want to talk or possibly join us some time pm me your number. ...Russ
Seaquest
Posts: 1132
Date Joined: 22/10/09
I find the Richter/Shogun
I find the Richter/Shogun hooks ok, you just have to file the barb down a fair bit.
I like the Mustad 7691Z but they are hard to come by now. These hooks are really easy to get super sharp.
I can't see how people rate the Jobus they seem to go blunt very quickly in my experience.
dodgy
Posts: 4580
Date Joined: 01/02/10
My biggest issue with jobu's
My biggest issue with jobu's is that the odd shaped barb they have seems to wear away on the fishes jaw and open a hole and a change in direction will lose a fish. Has happened a few times at later stages of a couple of fights now.
Saying that I am still a big believer in taking barbs down quite a bit from standard. Particularly with light tackle bills. Touch up every morning and after inspection after every fish is a must as well.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?