Some taking the p155 with wire cutters.

That'd be the first fish I've seen with wire cutters Steve, mind you, the barracuda today certainly had a fair set on him.

skirt isnt touched!

Wahoo probably but would have been a bloody big un.

Neels

thats what u get for using cheap $hit adz lol.... buy some decent wire mate!

did u catchem any pish???

I had that happen twice on the lighter wire just from wear and tear, that's why I upgraded to the heavier stuff. That's 300lb 49 strand stainless. Weird spot to break too.

are you sure you even had a hook on it. would have been a nice fish that took the hook

big leather jacket?

It was definately snipped, can just see remnants of wire scrap at the end where the hooks gone.  Spewn!

or a huge nor west blowie

oh can tell its richter skirts, but what brand is the head?

(a little late I know) is that the wire has failed under fatigue? All the trolling with the hooking swinging around would cause metal fatigue after a while, could also explain how there was no skirt damage..........no fish with metal biting teeth are that "precise".

The other giveaway for fatigue is that it snapped just behind the crimp where it would have little flex.

It was fresh, first time the lure had been in the water and I'd only just crimped them all up with lucky Tim a few weeks before, unless the wire was weak.  My thoughts are it was a stinkn basil the barra cuda or wahoo or something.

granted you lost the fish but at least you still got the lure to try again, something out there seems to like it.

I recall seeing this when it was originally posted.  Perhaps impossible to answer with any certainty.  I have a number of similar 185lb steel trace set ups and having inspected these I would be surprised if it is as a result of metal fatigue.  Whilst obviously flexible it flexes throughout its length rather than at a point.  If foul play is ruled out then it must be fishy.  Barracuda, wahoo and mackeral would all be potential candidates.  Do you get any makos up there?

One thing I do note is that you have used aluminium crimps on wire.  I don't think that is recommended.  Suggest you use copper sleeves.  Perhaps an electrolysis reaction between the aluminium and the stainless steel is the culprit?

can't believe it was a fish - the fact that the skirt is intact is the biggest giveaway IMO.

A logical conclusion Huggy and one that is difficult to dismiss.  But was the wire trace inside the skirt at the time?  Had the lure tumbled and was not swimming correctly as a result?  That style of lure head generally has a vigorious action.  Who knows?

Incidentally Adam what type of crimpers were you using?  If they were the kind that have side cutters right next to the crimping jaws I would lean further towards an accidental snip as the cause.

From the picture it is difficult to see the tow point of the lure i.e. is the shackle in that position within the skirt when normally trolled or is it further forward or backward?  In other words when originally rigged was the hook inside / partly inside or outside of the skirt?

If you had used a twin hook Pakula style rig we probably wouldn't be having this discussion.

is at the end or just a whisker beyond the end of the skirt. The lure as you probably well know is designed such that the water pressure from trolling will keep the lure over the hook, only allowing the lure to fly free and run up the line when the marlin breaches. If it was swimming poorly / incorrectly it would have been checked earlier by ads no doubt.

Such, a toothy critter that can snip its way through a wire trace will invariably take some skirt with it, it simply would not be precise enough to snip away the trace within the skirt - unfathomable. And that not how they attack a lure regardless.

There has been a failure in that trace, be it fatigue, incidental snip or whatever.

difficult to catch fish without a hook ads!!  Although I have done it, it is rare LOL!

Huggy I do not agree with your statement that "the hook (if sitting correctly) is at the end or just a whisker beyond the end of the skirt."  You can put a hook wherever you like, however to be IGFA compliant, and I'm sure that is what you meant, the location of a hook within a skirted lure must have some part of the hook within the skirt.  This may only be the eye of the hook.  Rather than a whisker beyond the end of the skirt I think it's a whisker within.

With respect to the lure moving up and down the leader it is indeed considered by some anglers advantageous to allow the lure to move up the leader.   Some anglers will floss the lure-side of the leader crimp in such a way as to jam / trap the lure head in that position under water pressure alone (the lure being forced backwards thru the water) not necessarily the aerial acrobatics of the fish.

Adam hasn't responded yet to some of my questions however I agree that if the hook was located within the skirt and the lure was not entangled in some way that I am unable to explain logically the reason why there is no damage to the skirt.

Having said that I have again had a good look (magnified) the original picture.  Thru my old eyes it appears that the tag end (to the RHS of the crimp) of the ss wire is cut clean squarely at 90 degrees to the wire.  To the left of the crimp however the severe appears to be acutely angled and is that a single strand thread of wire pointed towards the tail of the lure?  If it was a crimping mishap I would have expected more of a square cut rather than offset.  Jmo.

the connection shackle is well within the skirt

but not relevant.  Where was the severed trace, inside or outside of the skirt?  It is unclear from the pic. 

I have seen how adam sets his lures. the break is inside the skirt.

The barb of the hook is set just inside the skirt, that is slid up the line as allrounder has said to show what has happened.  All I can say is, it had a brand new hook/trace on it going into the water, a stinkn basil snipped my black skirt but left the hook and we got him in.  I've had plenty of toothy critters stay connected without touching the skirt before.  I'm 90% sure that it was a fish and not tackle failure.

one way to settle this guys.....send it CSI....i'm sure grissom will be able to tell us exactly what happened!!!!!