TARGETING A REEL SCREAMER
Our season is in full swing and we now start rolling into the time of year where PB’s are broken, dreams are realised and in some cases tall stories of the one that got away or never gave us a chance is all about to kick off. We not talking about just any species though, we talking about every anglers ‘Unicorn’, boating a 30kg plus Wahoo. We chat to two guys who have caught more of these slabs than anyone I know and get the ins and outs on targeting this REEL SCREAMER – Mr Wahoo.
A FEW THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Wahoo are open water Pelagic species meaning they like the vast expanses of the big, clear, blue ocean and will only hold over an area for a few days/weeks if there is bait holding there, in this case Bonnito, the water is warm 24 degree plus and its ultra clean. They enjoy water between 25 to 50 metres and can be found on structure, pinnacles, reef upwellings or ledges. If they are in a shoal, they are easier to entice to take the bait as there is competition for the same bait but if there are only one or two then it becomes a little tougher to entice the strike. Your bait has to be lively and presented perfectly and this is all before you have even hooked up.
TACKLE
1 x Light spinning outfit7/8ft spinning rod – Kingfisher Bonnito. 5000 size reel rigged with 20lb braid and 25lb Maxima Ultragreen rigged with an 18g bite me or Onda.
If you can’t get the Bonnito ( Frigate Bonnito are best) on the spinning gear then try trolling a daisy chain for one. The ideal rig is one light Bait rod, either the same stick as above or a 12kg rod with a 20lb ultra green main line on a 30 size multiplier reel like a Daiwa Sl30sh used to troll a daisy chain through the shoal. The daisy chain most popular to catch these bonito is a two hook, MAX 20lb piece of line about a metre long with two mini Yamashitas (approximately 2cm long) above a 1/0 mustad hoodlum or VMC livebait hook tied to a #4 powerswivel.
Livebaiting and trolling rods
Tyrnos 30 reels, Daiwa Sl50SH, BG50’s or the Penn Fathom 40 or any reel with a high gear ratio ( you will find out why) filled with 300metres of 50lb backing and 150 metres of 50lb Maxima Ultragreen. They don’t use any leader or Fluorocarbon which makes fishing and rigging a lot easier. Once that 150m of 50lb ultragreen is coming close to finishing you just put another 150metres on and off you go. These reels are paired with 12 to 15kg trolling rods, the Shimano Beastmaster 7ftMH works well or the Poseidon Dorado ski or Couta stick works very well.
THE TRACE
Mark de Lahey runs through his favourite live Bonnito trace in this issue but here is another that has had just as much success with these fish. It’s the simple couta trace, just a little more beefed up. Approximately a metre of #8 American Fishing wire from a number 2 power swivel to a lead hook which is anything from a 3/0 to a 5/0 Mustad hoodlum or VMC live bait depending on the size of the Bonnito. On the bite trace, between the lead hook and the first treble use # 9 wire and a Size 1 Gamakatsu, black 4 or 5x strong treble. Run two trebles in the trace like you would on a couta trace but instead of placing the two trebles on either side of the bait, place them on one side, one halfway down the bait and the other just up from the tail. With Bonnito, rigging them this way seems to create less issue of the hooks on the baits getting snagged up.
GETTING YOUR BAIT
If you see some small Bonnito on the surface, make your way up to them, make sure you have your livebait trace ready. Start with your spoon and cast at them, if this doesn’t work pull your daisy chain. The daisy chain should never be more than 3 hooks long and is trolled at around 10 to 12kms p/h. You need to have a bit of white water coming out from behind the boat, once you have that then you know you going the right speed. Your daisy chain should be positioned just behind the white water as it starts to fade out.
If you can’t get bait but know there are Wahoo around the favourite plastic that the guys troll is the Halco 160dd 2m diver in the R15/Chrome Pink colour. Troll this lure as fast as you can and position the lures as follows: one short (15metres out) and one long (30 metres). Make sure you put about 30cm of #8 fishing wire in front of the lure tied to a #2 powerswivel. Most of the time you pick the first fish up on the short rod due to a reaction bite, carry on a bit, maybe like 10 metres and you should pick up the other fish.
If you get your Bonnito and there are a few in the area put it out immediately and stick around the bait, as long as you are in a decent amount of water and there is bait around, you should pick up some action. I generally check my bait once every five to 10 minutes to make sure it’s still swimming fine and is still lively. I will troll a livebait with the motors just in gear and every now and then I will give a little prod of the throttle to pull the livie a little quicker for a metre or so just to wake it up a bit. If you find that the bait is alive but not too fresh ( especially if you bring it to the boat and it lies on its side for a bit) and you aren’t getting pulls but you know the fish are there, it may be an idea to try and find another bait. It gets a bit more technical than that, there are a few tricks to keeping your bonito swimming fresher for longer. Instead of a side on ‘Scotty’ type rod holder, try a rod holder that holds the rod straight up, that way there is less line in the water and the bait isn’t tiring itself out by fighting the drag of the line as much. By checking your bait every five to ten minutes you also making sure that it hasn’t snagged itself on the trace or other line which could also cause it to tire.
The most important thing with these fish is that it’s a waiting game. You could fish for three or four hours without getting a bite and then all of a sudden you get three of four decent fish in a matter of minutes. For example, generally the fish off Aliwal Shoal will come on anywhere between 10am and 1pm and again later in the afternoon, early in the morning just doesn’t seem like a favoured time for them, so stick it out and wait for them to come on the chew. If you get a fish on a specific spot, mark that spot and try it again with the next bait. More often than not, you will pick up another fish on that mark. They extremely good at throwing hooks and this is due to a few things. They take blisteringly quick first runs away from the boat and then turn around and head straight back just as quick, this is where you need a reel with a high gear ratio to keep the tension. Their bottom and top jaws move simultaneously which makes it even hard to keep a good hookset. This is an amazing species and definitely one of the most exciting. It takes a while to figure them out but it’s all worth it.
CAPTION 1
HALCO 160DD 2M DIVER – Seen better days as the hoo’s go a hold of it. Notice how the wire is rigged straight to the nose.
CAPTION 2
The famous daisy chain
CAPTION 3
Shimano Tyrnos 30 packedwith 50lb Ultragreen and the 7ftMH Beastmaster.
