Rigging a stick bait for marlin

[Shane Hartstone]

Hi Guys, with summer fast aproaching New Zealand, the dream of a 120kg striped marlin on a stick bait has returned.  I'm just wondering what peoples rigging arrangement would be, particulary in regards to swivels in front of your hooks.
I've seen rigging videos in regards to trolling stickbaits for marlin, but I'm casting.I'm looking at SJ51's on the belly, and a jobu on the tail.  Should I have swivels in there?

Cheers, Shane.

[Travis Heaps]

Never done it but thinking it through I think the setup would be similar to the trolling setup wouldn't it?  The swivel on the front is to stop the twisting or spinning of the lure.  The swivel on the rear therefore can only be to drop the hook back further off the rear of the lure as an torque/twist on the components will be handled by the front swivel.

What about taking the through wire out and rigging it sliding style, could that work?  Unsure if it would effect the swimming action?  May help after hook up though as that's a big weight to have swinging around if the stripey is jumping around. 

To that end you'll be wanting to run barbs i'd say, the SJ51s are a bulky hook - the "cutting point" is dubious to say the least (i think any way).  Personally i'd sharpen the point with the dremel and while you're at it knock the sides off the "cutting point", help with the penetration but keep the strength of the solid Sj51.  Saying that isn't there a 13/0 Shiden now which is closer to the profile of the SJ41 but strength of the SJ51?  That could be totally wrong...grasping at the depths of my memory.

More questions raised than answers sorry    Good luck with the hunt!

[Andy Rowe]

  Saying that isn't there a 13/0 Shiden now which is closer to the profile of the SJ41 but strength of the SJ51?  That could be totally wrong...grasping at the depths of my memory.

More questions raised than answers sorry    Good luck with the hunt!

The Fisherman Siden in 12/0 or 13/0 are brilliant short shanked hooks for rigging on GT sized poppers/sticks. the 13/0 is a very big hook. As you say Warwick, similar in profile to the SJ41 but I think a little more 'round' and perhaps a little more robust but I doubt whether you you would say it is as strong as the SJ51, It may be fairer to say the siden sits in between the 41 and 51. I must get a vernier and check thickness of the SJ41 vs the siden just for my own curiosity.

[Gavin Ng]

whats wrong with the sj 41's? do you guys think they will straighten on a marlin? You could imagine the ammount of pressure requred to set a sj51, just want your opinion on wheter the 41's are up to the task. 

The issue with marlin on stickbaits/poppers is they will jump, when they jump they shake their heads and alot of the time this throws the lure and hooks off the bill or mouth.

To get around this you may consider buying some assist chord and tying some assist hooks at a length to suit the lure, that way, there's a bit of play allowed when the stickbait is violently getting jolted from the fish's mouth. 

[NathanMcNiece]

the sj 41's are definately up to the task, I use them when rigging trolling lures.

[Shane Hartstone]

Good point on the hooks Gavin.  I'm filling a stella 20000FA with PE5, and looking at about 10kg of drag.  Fishing will be done out of a trailer boat, so chasing the fish will be an option.

[Dave Foyle]

At 10kg of drag I would think SJ41's will be up to the job.  If you think you need to run heavier try Mustad 10874BLN's - very, very strong hook.  Heavier than an SJ41 but not as evil as an SJ51....the 10/0 is a bit larger than the 11/0 owners.

Tight lines   Dave

PS - You can now get the SJ41's in a 13/0.  I think www.plat.co.jp have some.

[Travis Heaps]

It was a solid GT (~40kg) but you can see what it did to the SJ41.  Will depend on drag settings etc but you are talking 120kg of marlin.  (hook in amongst lures in the middle)

edit: i may have shot myself in the foot...that bent 41 was a 30kg GT on that Gunz Tailwalk...the 40kg gt was caught on that dogtooth with the bent SJ51

[Shane Hartstone]

I don't think you will be able to bully a marlin the same as a GT, thats why I think the lighter drag, and let it do its thing.  The more it jumps, the more chance of something coming free.  A good hook set to begin with will be very important.

[Michael Gordon]

Have a look at the latest edition of Bluewater & you will find a very good photo of a stickbait rigged with an intresting looking twin hooked assist cord system for sailfish.Can"t see why it could not be scaled up & improved a bit for a stripy.Good luck on your mission.

[Brandon Khoo]

Shane, with all respect to our forum members, you might be on the wrong forum for this and it might be a good idea to see if you can get some information on how the marlin experts rig up and the type of terminals they use, particularly the hooks. This is going to be the most important aspect of your rig, I think. I wonder whether the heavy jigging hooks like the SJ-51 are suitable for marlin.

I know I recently found the way in which poppers are rigged for sailfish quite illuminating, especially the hooks used. Actually, I was astounded!

[Scott Maybury]

I think what Brandon says is pretty valid, I have only done a little marlin fishing but from seeing how important the hook set is and how tricky that can be when fishing lures, I think you will want a finer gauge hook that can slide in nice and easily...you shouldn't be tooooo worried about straightening one, as mentioned above you don't really bully a marlin the way you (try to) do with  GT...

[Travis Heaps]

Shane, with all respect to our forum members, you might be on the wrong forum for this...

I know I recently found the way in which poppers are rigged for sailfish quite illuminating, especially the hooks used. Actually, I was astounded!

hence my disclaimer,

Never done it but...

What hooks and rigs were used for sailfish Brandon?

Please post up when you find out Shane, not sure if i'll ever be in a position to give it a crack but am pretty interested to find out.

[Shane Hartstone]

Brandon, the reason why I ask on this forum is that 98% of marlin fishermen don't have the knowledge about throwing poppers or stick baits, let alone at a marlin.  In my opinion there is a lot more angling skill involves in catching fish on casting lures, rather than trolled lures.  Hence Im asking the guys on here for any info.  A GT fisherman would have more chance of marlin on a casting rod than a marlin fisherman who has never throw or rigged a popper.

The hooks will have to be thin enough to penetrate with a light drag, but strong enough to hold the fish on the leader.

Here in New Zealand on calm days we are sometimes lucky enough to come across a marlin "tailing" on the surface. This is when they are semi resting, and all you see is a big sickle-like tail sticking out of the water( not to be confused with a large Mako shark).  The theory is to cast a stick bait and drag it back past its nose.

Alternativly casting at a bait ball.  Either way, I think your heart rate would be going a million miles an hour!

I'm still undecided on a twisted or single strand leader.  Still a month or two to day dream.

You can see in this photo that you will want to get the tail hook quite far back in the mouth for a good hook set. This fish wan caught on a trolled surface lure (so it doesn't count

[Chuen Fan]

I have nil experience for casting at marlin, but done a little for sailfish, hooks used as bakers on both belly and tail were Oshanassey (SIC) long shanked types, you might find the sj41/51 a little too thick and short, unless rigged as an assist. If they are anyway like sails, they'd be bastards to hookup! Getting a strike is the easy bit. Good luck with your endeavours. And do post some pics when u land one.