Trolling squid skirts

[SaltyGreek]

Hi all I’m looking to try trolling some squid skirts around Botany Bay to see if I can land myself a mac tuna, kingfish or any other pelagics that might be around. I’ve never really tried it before. I’m just wondering how these lures should swim in the water. Should they sit just below the surface or should they kind of drag along the surface and make a small wake? 

This one here is a bit big maybe 5 inches but I’m going to go get some smaller pink ones as all the ones I currently have are deformed.

[noelm]

We used to use small pink ones and put a bean sinker in the head, a single straight hook and they were good for Stripes and stuff, big ones were never as good. They look like offset hooks, if they are, it will spin and twist your line real bad.

Edited February 9, 2023 by noelm

[SaltyGreek]

54 minutes ago, noelm said:

We used to use small pink ones and put a bean sinker in the head, a single straight hook and they were good for Stripes and stuff, big ones were never as good. They look like offset hooks, if they are, it will spin and twist your line real bad.

Thank you. The hooks here are ganged hooks but I removed the first one so it was just the 2 hooks left. I had a quick test in the pool and it didn't seem to spin but I think ill go with a 1/0 or 2/0 long or short shank for the smaller ones

[noelm]

We used to use stainless single hooks, straight set (I think the number was Mustad 42007?) used stainless so the rig could be used and stored without going rusty, single hook made for easy unhooking.

[Green Hornet]

Friends of mine that were professional yellowfin fishermen (rod and reel) would always fast troll (probably 7-10 knots) a pink or pink and white squid back from The Banks to Crookhaven after a days fishing for a few stripies that they’d cube up for the following day. 
As @noelmsaid, they always ran a barrel sinker in the head and used either a Mustad Limerick or Southern and Tuna hook. Both hooks have no offset.

[wazatherfisherman]

Mustad 34007(stainless) are the ones Noel suggests 8260(tinned) are the Limerick, both straight patterns. Don't use anything smaller than a 5/0 or you'll lip and lose fish. Standard hooks for Stripies, Kings even Frigates we used to use 6/0, 7/0 or 8/0- don't worry they aren't too big unless you are using real small skirts, even then 5/0 is minimum size and make sure the hook sits with the bend adjacent the rear of the lure

[SaltyGreek]

2 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Mustad 34007(stainless) are the ones Noel suggests 8260(tinned) are the Limerick, both straight patterns. Don't use anything smaller than a 5/0 or you'll lip and lose fish. Standard hooks for Stripies, Kings even Frigates we used to use 6/0, 7/0 or 8/0- don't worry they aren't too big unless you are using real small skirts, even then 5/0 is minimum size and make sure the hook sits with the bend adjacent the rear of the lure

I’ll have to look up those hooks as I’m not too familiar with the mustard codes.

The skirts I just bought are 75mm and 115m so ill probably use the 5/0s for the 75mm and 6/0 for the 115mm

[bookwa]

Pink works way best, 5/0 - 6/0 single straight hook with straight eye (the latter is very important,) ball or bean sinker in the head . Fast troll except for spotty or bar mackerel which go better at slow troll.   This is also a great rig for snapper in shallow water - 10 to 20 metres—if you’re up near the sandon river or black rock in shark bay just north of iluka ( medium fast troll).   

[wazatherfisherman]

Just to add- if you can find some plain white feather skirts they are just as good (if not better) if they have red/white feathers pull the red ones out. Go 7/0 for the 115mm skirts- just make sure the hook is right at the end. If you're lucky enough to find feathers (lead head) with mother-of-pearl/ shell eyes they are way better than the red plastic ones. 75mm skirts are mainly for Frigates

[noelm]

I remembered the right hook number after I posted, the 4200, is a tinned hook I use for Flathead, I just got the two mixed up (haven't bought any for ages now) the 34007, is a great hook for trolling, not overly exciting, it just suits that application.

[wazatherfisherman]

1 minute ago, noelm said:

I remembered the right hook number after I posted, the 4200, is a tinned hook I use for Flathead, I just got the two mixed up (haven't bought any for ages now) the 34007, is a great hook for trolling, not overly exciting, it just suits that application.

Getting expensive too these days Noel! They last years longer than the new 'hi-carbon' crap

[SaltyGreek]

4 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Just to add- if you can find some plain white feather skirts they are just as good (if not better) if they have red/white feathers pull the red ones out. Go 7/0 for the 115mm skirts- just make sure the hook is right at the end. If you're lucky enough to find feathers (lead head) with mother-of-pearl/ shell eyes they are way better than the red plastic ones. 75mm skirts are mainly for Frigates

ahh damn I saw a few of them in the tackle shop today, I thought they looked pretty good. Ill have to change over all the hooks tomorrow as they all currently have 2/0. Im happy to catch anything on the skirts but I'm mainly looking for little tuna or bonito. lol ever since my first marlin outing I've been addicted to towing lures 

[noelm]

Trolling lures is really quite an art, just pulling lures along can get fish, but, to be consistent it takes practice with speed, lure types, "spread" and of course, some fish around.....

[BaitDropper]

For what it's worth, I always mix it up. I troll similar skirts as you have there, but also chuck out an x rap or similar into the mix.

I think with trolling, it's all a lottery at times, you'll get to know which colours and varieties work for you, the same as trolling speed, I as a rule sit anywhere from 8-11 knots, depending what I'm trolling. That's all part of the fun of it, sometimes I'll run my squid teaser bar and have a hot hook amongst the spread, also one of those dead baits in a head start set up. I'll also rig up a live or dead bait and drop it 10 plus meters on the down rigger as well, but that reduces your troll speed some what. I guess that's why trolling can be quite interesting, there's no set rules and 101 different techniques and lures you can use, all part of the fun of it... 

[SaltyGreek]

Thanks to all your tips we managed to catch a decent feed of tailor today. We had 7 hook ups, 1 double hook up, landed 5 and kept 3 all between 7am and 9:30am. No luck finding the Mac tuna but that’s for next time. The smallest we kept was 31cm

[noelm]

It's funny how the "old fashioned" less advertised, simple gear still works! Fish are pretty simple creatures that change very little over the years, simple feathers and Squid lures have worked forever and still do. My father used to make a simple feather lure, or just a long piece of white cloth on a hook, with some sheet lead rolled around the shank to catch Bonito for bait, 50+ years ago.

[BaitDropper]

49 minutes ago, noelm said:

It's funny how the "old fashioned" less advertised, simple gear still works! Fish are pretty simple creatures that change very little over the years, simple feathers and Squid lures have worked forever and still do. My father used to make a simple feather lure, or just a long piece of white cloth on a hook, with some sheet lead rolled around the shank to catch Bonito for bait, 50+ years ago.

Yep, that's so true.

 Clever marketing and fools with there money have made fishing far too complicated and unnecessarily more expensive in my opinion.

 Some of the gear I have, is often laughed at,  but only before we go out.

And don't get me started on the need for every new reel that comes out, with special new features, that are a MUST if you have any hope of catching.. LOL

 

[SaltyGreek]

9 minutes ago, BaitDropper said:

Yep, that's so true.

 Clever marketing and fools with there money have made fishing far too complicated and unnecessarily more expensive in my opinion.

 Some of the gear I have, is often laughed at,  but only before we go out.

And don't get me started on the need for every new reel that comes out, with special new features, that are a MUST if you have any hope of catching.. LOL

 

Yep I agree things are much too complicated now. Simple is best imo 

[SaltyGreek]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

It's funny how the "old fashioned" less advertised, simple gear still works! Fish are pretty simple creatures that change very little over the years, simple feathers and Squid lures have worked forever and still do. My father used to make a simple feather lure, or just a long piece of white cloth on a hook, with some sheet lead rolled around the shank to catch Bonito for bait, 50+ years ago.

The squid skirts are an awesome way to fish and nothing is more addicting than watching the rods buckle in the holder and listening to the drag scream. The white cloth on a hook would probably still work, I’ll have to try it when I’m in a pinch. 

[noelm]

It's just a sign of the times I guess, Glossy magazines, TV shows with "talking heads" telling us you need this or that to have a chance to catch fish, reels with dozens of bearing, 40kg of drag, super double black, triple chemically sharpened hooks, space age line, and to be fair, it all works, and some are nice to use, but.......

Edited February 11, 2023 by noelm

[noelm]

Probably one of the best small trolling lures is the old "Christmas Tree" nothing fancy, just a small metal head and some "tinsel" streamers, tie on a single decent hook and away you go. I once caught a 19KG Wahoo at "The Banks" trolling a tiny Christmas Tree for Stripies, just hooked in the very corner of the mouth. I still use them now and then trolling for bait.

[Blackfish]

31 minutes ago, noelm said:

Probably one of the best small trolling lures is the old "Christmas Tree" nothing fancy, just a small metal head and some "tinsel" streamers, tie on a single decent hook and away you go. I once caught a 19KG Wahoo at "The Banks" trolling a tiny Christmas Tree for Stripies, just hooked in the very corner of the mouth. I still use them now and then trolling for bait.

Still got a Christmas Tree Lure down in the shed. I can remember when they first came out and they were in Australian Angler, as i kid I was in awe. Ron Calcutt wrote a piece about them.

[campr]

It is best to have hook right at the back with curve of hook just exposed,  best to position hooks with large soft lumo beads as spacers.  I prefer pink lures but loved the old lead head Christmas trees and hex heads but these are hard to find.  Ron 

[noelm]

You do see small Christmas Trees is supermarket type shops now and then, but they are rare, I had a large one that got "snipped off" by a Wahoo hitting the swivel right at the boat....damn!