This is the traditional rig to
use when trolling Ballyhoo. It's more common nowadays to use
a mono leader with a separate wire pin, and the mono will
certainly draw more strikes, but many old hands still use
wire, especially in waters where Wahoo or Kingfish are a possibility.
Take a hook of a size suited
to the bait. Note that the best hook for this rig is
a needle eye type. If a round eye hook is used, special
care must be taken to ensure that there is no gap in
the eye through which the wire can pull out. Squeeze
the eye closed with pliers if there is any gap at all.
Pass
the wire through the hook eye and form the Haywire twist
as before. However, do not do not break off the tag
end after making the Barrel wraps.
Wrap the wire so that the tag end stands up away from
the main wire, pointing in the opposite direction to
the hook bend. Trim the tag end off to around 1/4"
– 1/2", this will depend on the size of your
bait.
To rig the Ballyhoo, first break off the bill attached
to the lower jaw by snapping it off downwards. Then
run your thumb along the belly towards the anal vent,
emptying the stomach cavity. Finally flex the bait a
few times to loosen it up a little. Some crews remove
the eyes from the bait to stop them bulging out with
the water pressure when trolling.
Insert the hook point under the gill cover and through
into the body cavity. Bring the hook point out through
the belly, leaving the pin under the bait's head. Push
the pin up, to exit through the top of the head level
with the eyes. Some anglers like to bend the pin back
to avoid the sharp spike spooking a wary fish. I'm not
convinced by this, but I guess it can't hurt.
Ensure that the bait hangs straight. If it doesn't,
take a sharp knife and carefully cut a slit where the
hook exits the belly until it moves freely. This is
very important, if the pull is not on the head of the
bait it will spin when trolled.
You have several choices for securing the bait to the
pin. The favourite among charter crews is to hook a
very small rubber band over the pin, take it around
the bait's head, and hook the other end of the rubber
band over the pin.
The second is to wrap the Ballyhoo to the pin with
fine copper wire. Before attaching the bait to the hook,
take 8" – 9" of rigging wire and wrap
one end tightly around the Haywire twist to secure it.
Rig the bait as previously described, then wrap the
copper wire up and around the pin then through the eye
socket and out of the other side. Pull the wire up tight
and take another wrap around and behind the pin. Finally
finish wrapping the wire down the broken off bill and
you're done.
The third method, which many purists sneer at, is to
use a product called a bait spring. It's simply a tightly
wound cone shaped spring. The wide end faces towards
the Ballyhoo and it is simply wound onto the pin. It
really is that straightforward and it works great.
I generally like to add an octopus skirt or a small
lure head such as an Ilander to help protect the bait
whilst trolling and to make it easier to spot the baits
from the cockpit.
Like many things in fishing there is no one right answer.
Try them all and see which method works best for you.
Pass
the wire through the hook eye and form the Haywire twist
as before. However, do not do not break off the tag
end after making the Barrel wraps.