August marks the start of the fall long range season.  Fall trips to Alijos Rock and the "RIDGE" can produce as much as 100 wahoo.  If you have not guessed by now, wahoo are my favorite fish to catch.  I have learned a few secrets and I want share with you.  I hope this will help you get one or two of these critters.  But first a little biology on these high speed cruisers.

    If there ever was a fish built for ambush, it is the wahoo.   Wahoo will use there speed to out swim their food.   You will find wahoo most often cruising the drop offs of reefs, banks or island.     Any small fish that strays to far from the safety of these high spots are targets of wahoo.  And they are not picky when it comes to a meal.  I have seen pufferfish in the stomachs of wahoo as well as chunks of dorado.  To eat a pufferfish you must have a very hard mouth to swallow them.  To get chunks of dorado you have to have razor sharp teeth.    Wahoo have both and use it to their advantage.  Keep these thing in mind when trolling for wahoo.

    The very first thing that I must mention about trolling for wahoo is have very sharp hooks.   Wahoo have a very bony mouth with very little soft flesh for a dull hook to penetrate.  To penetrate their mouth sharpen your hooks so they have a knife edge.   You want to stay away from a long thin needle pointed hook.  They tend to bend and do not "stick" in the fish.

    To help the hook "stick", have your trolling drags set extremely tight.  If you are fishing with 80 lb. mono, set the drag for at least 20 lbs. of pull.  You can go even higher say 25 lbs.  Do not worry about the wahoo breaking your line.  If you have high quality, fresh mono it will not break.  Do not about the wahoo "pulling drag" it will pull a little.  If you get a strike and the wahoo peels line at an alarming rate check you drag after this fish.      Only a large wahoo will peel line off at a fast rate.  And isn't that what you want, a big wahoo.

    So now you know how to set the rod & reel for trolling.   What lures do you use?  Simple answer what ever caught the last wahoo.   If that lure is working use the same lure.  There are hundreds of different lures for trolling wahoo.   I will list a few of the ones that I have used that WORKED.  First you should have a Yo-zuri Bonita plug.  If you can afford it have as many different colors as you can.    If you can only get one, get a black/orange one.  Be sure these lures have SINGLE hooks on them.  The double hooks are just too difficult to drive into a wahoo mouth. The next one would be a large and heavy jethead or leadhead.   They work quite well when the plugs are not.   Colors are simple anything with black, black/orange, black/purple, black/pink or black/green.  I also would try a bright colored lure if the dark colored lures are not getting bit.  My final pick would be a large Zuker tuna feather.  The colors are the same as the jetheads.   This smaller lure works when the wahoo have been trolled over for a couple of days.

    The next thing is proper placement of the lure.  With the plugs you want to troll them from 30 to 60 feet off the stern.  If you cannot see where your trolling plug you maybe to far back.  For the jetheads try starting at 60 feet to as far back as 100 feet.  And for the large tuna feather try 100 feet plus.   Now you are set to fight that wahoo when it bites your lure.

    When you hook up the first thing you do is get to your rod, un-hook it from the safety straps and get the tip of the rod up.  This helps in two ways: increases the drag on the fish and decreases the chance of a jig fishermen cutting you off.  If you can try to get away from the action on the stern.  I try to walk the fish up one side of the boat.   Another trick to help land this fish is to keep tension on the fish.  Pump and crank is not needed on troll hooked wahoo.  Just try holding the tip up and grinding them into the boat.  You want to reduce the chance of slack line.  If everything is done correctly the wahoo should be about 10 to 20 feet below the surface when it reaches the boat.  Yell for a gaff now.   Try to have the wahoo and the crew member reach the same spot on the boat at the same time.  If the crew is ready with the gaff, power that fish up (low gear if you need it) and stand back as the crew bring it on board. 

    That fish should have plenty of fight left when it hits the deck.   You better stay clear and let the crew risk their arms and legs taking care of your fish.  Once you get your lure back check the leader for frays and re-sharpen the hooks.  You are ready for your next troll team.   These tips should help improve you chance of getting a wahoo this fall.

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