Skipjack.

[rando]

Trolled up a few Skipjack out from Evans. I had not seen one before and called it a Bonito. they went in the freezer for bait supply over the next few trips.

Are they any good as table fish? if so next time Ill bleed and Ice them.

[MitchCalcutt]

Trolled up a few Skipjack out from Evans. I had not seen one before and called it a Bonito. they went in the freezer for bait supply over the next few trips.

Are they any good as table fish? if so next time Ill bleed and Ice them.
John West Don't regect them but lets face it after a fish has been pressure cooked for as long as their fish do they all tast the same.
My mum used to make fish cakes out of them and they cooked up ok.
Much better live bate for WaHoo though.
Mitch

[skipalong]

make great marlin skip baits

[rando]

One of them was better than two kilo at a guess. Ill put it on the scales when i get around to it. Solid fish, it would have to be a decent old marlin to get its gear around the biggest one.

On another note how do I rig a skip bait, and what speed would i troll such a bait ??

[skipalong]

bridle rig it, run at more than 6 knots depending on wind and swell conditions

justin

[rando]

Is that through the eye sockets?? whats the best tool,,

[chop duster]

google or youtube it, you will have to stitch the mouth closed etc..

[Jeremy]

Rando, much easier to troll it as a livie for a spaniard or wahoo. You need to have a rod rigged and ready to go when you catch one as they won't last more than about 30 seconds out of the water. Make up a 2 hook rig on 59lb single strand brown wire using a 6/0 at the front, and a 1/0 treble at the rear. Length between hooks varies with the size of the bait, but you want to aim to have the rear hook around the anal fin and the front hook goes upwards through the top jaw (or you can go through the nose, or bridle it with a rubber band through the eye sockets). Troll dead slow. You will only be able to troll one at a time as they move around a bit, but they go off if there are wahoo around. I have had them taken in less than 2 monutes of putting them out.
Jeremy

[Tewantin]

Agreeing with and adding to what Jeremy said, a method we used very successfully out of Narooma on yellowfin and marlin is to feed out around 3 or 4 metres of loose line from the rod tip behind the boat and into the water then hold the line direct to the bait in your fingers. This way you feel everything the bait is doing and you'll know it's about to get smashed. When the line gets ripped out of your fingers the slack 5 metres of line in the water gives the fish enough to hit and swallow before you pull tight and set the hook.

[rando]

Can you show me the set up for two hook rig using single strand.
Is it like sliding snell rig??? Just cant picture it?
I'm down there for 5 days at easter, I hope the weather is kind to me.
Id love to land a -hoo, that ones still on my list,
+ spaniad
+ Tuna bigger than my avatar.;) (16kg)

[Jeremy]

Rando, pretty sure there are some other threads about the same with piccies. Think Webby might have posted it before.

Anyway, not sliding. Swivel to 6/0 with a 40cm piece of wire, haywire twist at each end, and again 6/0 to treble with say 20cm wire, haywire twist each end.

Jeremy

[rando]

Thanks Jeremy
So idle to six knots ( depending on the bait size) line in hand
Two hook rig
Do I need to stitch that mouth and gill covers or is that for dead baits?
Cheers
rando

[Jeremy]

6 knots is way to fast for live baits, idle to 2-3 knots for livies. Stitching mouth and gills is for livies only, but bridle rig is good.

I like to hold the rod for trolling tuna with reel in gear, but free spool and drop back if I get a hit that doesn't hook up can work well.

Jeremy

[TunaKing2008]

taste like crap wouldnt even try it great marlin baits had a 250kg blue take a live one off bermagui 3 weeks ago tuna would of been 3-4kg and was only in the water long enough for me to set the drag. as mentioned great skip bait or if tyou get a big one the belly flap can be used as a skip bait or teaser