Need help for new Addiction...

[tmack9200]

First time poster here, several people told me that I should come check out this site, because it filled with fishing addicts like myself I fished salt for many years from shore, finally in 2007 I purchased a new Keywest CC, its only 18' but she thinks she's a 50 footer After catching countless False Albacore this Fall, I became bored and on Oct 15 I decided to try out Stellwagon for my first time, I've caught BFT before, but it was chunking on a charter with heavy gear and the biggest was maybe 35 pounds, it was also vey long ago.

So I launch outta Green Harbor and make the run across hoping to get a shot at one of these on spinning gear. We were greeted by lots of Blitzing fish, many casts into them with no hook ups, at the time we were trying crippled herring and white 9 inch hogies, not even a sniff. Heard sluggo's was the bait, but didn't have white, tried other colors but nothing.

This went on for a bit until I finally put on a Hudini shad" white pearl" first cast...fish on....then off very quickly...This happened to me three times and my buddy 3 times, it was like they were hitting it short, I know it was rigged wrong since I din't want to use the hooks they came with, I used a Mustad Big Gun sz 10/0 Ultra Point, again first time, not prepared as much as I will be next time... These fish loved the hudini's, I finally hooked one for 30 seconds or so and Wow...instint addiction..

So I'm looking for rigging help, I want to double hook the hudini, but looking for ideas, the second hook seems to be very obvious..any suggestions on hooks and rigging of them?

I will also buy white sluggos, do you guys double hook those?

What other baits should I have in the bag?

I have 2 Penn Torque's on Torque jigging rods running butterfly jigs and also some internationals for slow trolling sluggos, just bought a Diawa Saltist 6000 for my spinning rod, goal before years end is to catch one of these fish...

My last question is tying braid to mono for casting, I hear alot about wind on leaders, I tied a albright, 15 wraps each way and glued and had no problems casting at all, is the concern with other knots strength??? ALso how to tie a wind on video doesn't work at the top of the thread, any other videos on this knot?


Thanks for any help that comes my way, I look forward to sharing reports and info with everyone here....

[Taz575]

Hi Tmack!! Nice to see you found this forum, too! Various jigs and poppers are working well, as well as dead mackeral and herring trolled down deeper. Some of the larger BFT hang towards the bottom until they see something they like. I am using a Albierto (I think) knot for my leaders. Nice slim, small knot, I will be doing some drag testing now that I have some of my gear back!

PametFisher here does some serious windons for casting that JFM loves...I gotta order up some one of these days!!

Look back thru some of the more recent posts here and in the jigging/popping forum. They have a ton of info about what to use, how to rig it, etc.

I have next Tues into Weds off, so I am free Weds if you want to go up and try it again! I have 2 jigging rods, plus 2 trolling setups, and maybe a 3rd rod for trolling as well if I can finish it!

[pametfisher]

First time poster here, several people told me that I should come check out this site, because it filled with fishing addicts like myself I fished salt for many years from shore, finally in 2007 I purchased a new Keywest CC, its only 18' but she thinks she's a 50 footer After catching countless False Albacore this Fall, I became bored and on Oct 15 I decided to try out Stellwagon for my first time, I've caught BFT before, but it was chunking on a charter with heavy gear and the biggest was maybe 35 pounds, it was also vey long ago. ...

(Since your aim is to find, hook-up and land a fish in Cape Cod Bay in the last few weeks of fishing, let me begin by saying many are now using 100# leaders, 10' or so in length. You should really consider that. Also, most use 80# braid if it's solid-weave, or 60# braid if it's hollow-weave with a wind-on leader. And welcome to Bluefin Tuna-fishers Anonymous, we're all addicted here.)

There are many good ways to connect braid to mono. A simple Uni to Uni will work, as will: Triple Surgeon's, Albright, etc. These knots all reduce the strength of the lines they connect by about 40%. As long as you take that into account in setting your drag, they function fine. The other approach you can take is to upsize your line by 40-50% to take a knots weakening effect into account.

The next thing to consider is durability. Most knots wear while you cast them. We don't see the effect of this too much on smaller species but Bluefin tuna and other large, fast fish show you where your weak points are, usually resulting in a lost fish.

As leader sizes get bigger, the knots in the mono/fluoro at the braid connections regularly damage guides on casting setups. If you cast and knock out a ring and hook a fish, the chances of breaking the braid are high. There is a knot called Slim Beauty which is about 10% stronger than the knots I mentioned in the first paragraph. It was good and slim for 50# leaders and below but above 80# it starts to bulk up, more like a Chubby Beauty .

Perhaps the best functional knot is the P.R. knot. It is strong (nearly 100%), very slim and casts well. It takes time and patience to tie well. Like all knots, it can degrade through use. If it needs to be retied while you're fishing, anglers usually go with a faster back-up knot.

Wind-Ons are strong if correctly made, usually 100%. They are thin, only the thickness of the mono/fluoro plus one or two layers of braid. They are durable if correctly made. Most who use Streamline wind-ons have told me that they can use a single leader for many fish before replacing it. And if the wind-ons splice and serve are small, they cast long distances which is great when a school "pops up". There are some articles here: Hollow Spectra Techniques that can help you understand the trade-offs. Lastly, you can perfectly, quickly connect a pre-made wind-on in the heat of battle with a single loop-to-loop connection and you can pre-tie and pre-test your swivel or solid ring on your spare leaders ahead of time.

The keys are to know your system, work within its limitations and test as much of what you use as possible. If you don't know it or test it, Bluefin tuna will. Unfortunately, the field test report is almost always a lost fish.

Good luck with your last few outings this season. This fishery is a blast.

[starkc69]

After catching countless False Albacore this Fall, I became bored .

Todd...the Albie gods are always listening I too am hoping to get one last chance at BFT this season and definitely intend on investing more in BFT spinning gear this winter as well...Steve G and I will be working the same rotation all of next year which DEFINITELY means much more BFT time

Best of luck with your remaining BFT adventures, I have no doubt you will land one in the very near future

P.S. -- Hi Taz575...I may be contacting you about a Tuna rod this winter

[YellowSno]

im new to this whole set up but after reading up and practicing the knots... ive gotten use to tieing a mid knot... but just to be save i added some glue to hold it in place...

[Taz575]

Strong hooks are a must, too. JFM had a Raptor 10/0 assist hook start to bend out on his 70" BFT a couple of weeks ago! I have some big Gamakatsu Heavy Duty Live bait in 10/0, 11/0 and 12/0 I hope to be testing soon!

Kilsongs way to rig for BFT: my way of sluggo rigging

Rigging slugos
Sluggo for tuna
Soft jerkbaits for tuna

[crazy8]

For any braid to mono connection, that cant use terminal tackle, I use a bimini twist in the braid to a no-name-knot with the mono/flouro. The no-name is a high strength knot, that can be trimmed tight. This is what I use on all my offshore braid-mono connections.

[tmack9200]

Thanks for the input guys, I should have posted the question on CTF, jeeze weeze, didn't realize you guys were all over here

Pametfisher, your leader system sounds interesting, I will have to try one for sure. Went to the pats game today and stopped at Bass Pro, picked up a few things for this week, got my sluggos and Owner Jobu Big Game hooks size 7/0 and 8/0 I should have no excuses now

I also grabbed some Rapala X-Rap Magnum Divers, do you guys switch out those hooks also??? They don't seem bad....for stripers

It will happen this week, I'm getting that feeling, plus Barbie is taking the ride with my new Busch beer can lures Thanks again for the tips..


Todd

[LEXPRO]

Todd, don't forget to change the rings on the rapalas too.

[Taz575]

Most of the CTF'rs just found this place, too!

Tmack, if you need any terminal stuff, let me know!! Hooks, rings, etc, I have a bunch left over from this year that I haven't even used yet. Got some poppers, jigs, etc!