Question for the experienced game fishos

[GoingFishing]

Gday Raiders

We currently fish with 130lb black magic trace on the troll for marlin.

I have heard the lighter line will increase catch rate but i am thinking perhaps this is more relevant for live baiting.

Whilst trolling is the marlin likely to see the trace, can i up line strength to say 200lb for trolling without impacting strike rate?

[Croydon]

I run 200lb traces as a minimum for striped/black marlin, on 24kg stand up gear.  Many guys I know, run 400lb trolling lures, but drop back to 200lb, for skip baits and livies.  Hope this helps...............

Dave 

[PaddyT]

I run anything from 100 to 300lb-it really depends on the size of the lure-you are mainly targeting blacks and stripes-use a good quality mono (not flouro) leader - i prefer Jinkai-you are not going to loose a fish that you havent got the bite from in the first place

[frankS]

Sam. I used to use 150 lb Jinkai when I fished for them, had pretty good capture to loss rate. I still have a small roll here if you want it, probable enough to do 4-5 traces . You would need to PM me your address again as I have forgotten how to get there.

Frank

[GoingFishing]

Thanks Fellas

@PaddyT Lures are JB Dingo in 8 inch skirt, 200lb OK?

[Brendan Monks]

22 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

Gday Raiders

We currently fish with 130lb black magic trace on the troll for marlin.

I have heard the lighter line will increase catch rate but i am thinking perhaps this is more relevant for live baiting.

Whilst trolling is the marlin likely to see the trace, can i up line strength to say 200lb for trolling without impacting strike rate?

Sam, I am no means experienced but currently have all my smaller skirts (6" to 8") rigged with 150lb Momoi Ultra Hard targeting smaller blacks & stripes. All my larger lures are rigged with 200lb & 300lb although I know a lot of guys that will happily fish a lot heavier. We made the call to fish lighter leaders to get more action from the lure to try get more bites although it probably makes no difference at all!! (But that's what we are confident in using 🤔). IMO you won't break one off only fishing 8kg drag, and getting onto it quickly - 150lb takes a lot to rub through!

Remember to check all leaders after they are made with scales (Again at least 8kg drag if using 24kg outfits, although it will be a lot more when leadering to the boat). The size and type of hook also play a massive part in staying connected after the first strike!

Livebaiting you can drop leaders a lot more, some guys using only 40lb and less for the recent Interclub Tournament to get the bite on very small, finicky blacks. 

Hope to see you with one boatside very soon! 🤙🥳

Edited March 9, 2021 by Brendan Monks

[PaddyT]

Agree with Brendan-lures will run better with lighter leader-they are just fish-hook them first and worry about the rest later-ive told the story before but i fought a little black marlin up at Coffs for over half an hour on a sabiki jig and 6lb braid-yep the sabiki eventually broke but i was putting as much pressure as i could onto that fish. Moimoi is another good brand , i find the heavier black magic a bit stiff but it still works fine, just go fishing.

[nativepirate]

Yup what above said better action with lighter leader also lighter line 24 kg at 1/3 drag = 8 kg fish 15 kg on sunset yew... lighter line lighter leader not much to get snagged on

[Croydon]

I've spoken to Dave VENN, who makes JB lures, about rigging his lures.  He has no problem rigging the dingo on 400lb mono, with a single hook rig.  Personally, I like 200lb as a good compromise.  Not too heavy for the average stripes on the south coast, the lure runs well and helps with the chaffing.  If you give Dave a call, he is really helpful and will give you a good run down on rigging and using his lures.  Cheers..........

Dave

[GoingFishing]

Thanks Fellas for the feedback.

I am thinkin to up the leader to 200lb and see how that goes.