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Rory McPherson

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tackle for striped marlin
May 23, 2013, 03:16:19 PM
Couldn't see really which bit of the forum to put this but I think big tuna share a few characteristics with marlin  .
I do  a bit of game fishing on lures and live baits over here in NZ, we see numerous marlin feeding on mackerel on the surface and was thinking of having a go with a stickbait , for lures I was thinking 100-140gr gammas and maybe a Pandora. The questions really are what rod , maybe MC works one of the Tuna specials or do I need someting like a Carpenter MH80 ? The new Stella's come to mind , needing 500m PE6 ? And a 250lb leader .
Any body have any good advice rods , line . lures etc .Thanks

Sam Morrison

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 24, 2013, 03:06:19 AM
Couldn't see really which bit of the forum to put this but I think big tuna share a few characteristics with marlin  .
I do  a bit of game fishing on lures and live baits over here in NZ, we see numerous marlin feeding on mackerel on the surface and was thinking of having a go with a stickbait , for lures I was thinking 100-140gr gammas and maybe a Pandora. The questions really are what rod , maybe MC works one of the Tuna specials or do I need someting like a Carpenter MH80 ? The new Stella's come to mind , needing 500m PE6 ? And a 250lb leader .
Any body have any good advice rods , line . lures etc .Thanks

Hey Rory,

Maybe contact Sami about the Race Point rods, there may be something in the line up suitable and you could always use it on some West Coast/ Bluefin!

Are you going to use assist cord for rigging etc? Singles or trebles? Jason K has had success chasing these on stick bait, if he doesn't chime in I will put you in touch. He sent me some great ideas on rigging stick baits with singles for this type of situation, I'm making a few lures that don't run a belly swivel and are rigged with assist cord.

Rory McPherson

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 24, 2013, 05:40:46 AM
Thanks Sam , I tried using assist cord on my game lures ! But ... if you get a marlin bill and rub the assist cord back and forwards over it it wears through  really fast  , scarily so . I might use trebles ,or as I do with my game rigs , chains.
I don't know much about the Race Point rods ,would be good to know more .
Last Edit: May 24, 2013, 06:41:42 AM by Rory McPherson

Mark Harris

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 24, 2013, 10:40:49 AM
Hey Rory,  If you do a Google search I think you will find a fair bit advice on rigging poppers and stick baits for sailfish. Some of that might be helpful for striped marlin.

The guys who chase regularly sailfish on poppers and stick baits have been fine tuning this for many years.

Best of luck.
Last Edit: May 24, 2013, 10:47:42 AM by Mark Harris

Rory McPherson

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 24, 2013, 12:48:52 PM
Hey Rory,  If you do a Google search I think you will find a fair bit advice on rigging poppers and stick baits for sailfish. Some of that might be helpful for striped marlin.

The guys who chase regularly sailfish on poppers and stick baits have been fine tuning this for many years.

Best of luck.
I hadn't thought of doing a google search ! But I will thanks .

Trevor Skinner

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 24, 2013, 01:21:01 PM
As Mark said, stick baiting or popping for Marlin is a specialist skill since most of us only come across them either in an opportunistic way, as you've described, or as a result of targeting them with bait and switch techniques.

Most of my experience with poppers and stick baits has been with sailfish but I guess some of it translates. Trebles do work but hook up rates suffer in comparison to singles on assists. You will hook a lot of fish before you get one to stick and when you are only getting to cast to the odd fish that may be interested that translates into a significant amount of time casting to fish that you probably won't catch.

Most sailfish I've caught have been in packs and I always feel there's a competition element in getting an aggressive take and a successful hook-up. You may need to think carefully about the type of lure and retrieve that you use, you will need to get their interest and distract them from the bait ball. That may be an effort in itself.

The rod is important as well. It needs to have the ability cast well and at the same time the stiffness to set the hook into a hard, bony mouth.

Just a few thoughts.

Regards,




Trevor     

Rory McPherson

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 26, 2013, 08:04:08 AM
The marlin we see are picking off the fish that are injured etc and ' fall " out of the baitball , and towing our lures .live baits replicates this , and sometimes , we hook up , but to be able to cast at either surface or sub surface bait balls would be awesome.
I still have issues with the assist cord from my own expermients with a marlins bill and a heap of lines but it seems everyone is doing that for sailfish .
Rods -  was thinking of an oldie perhaps the Carpenter BC 611 XHS or maybe one of the more modern 7'0 rods Carpenter are making ?
Thanks for the pointers - googling helped  :)

Titahi brown

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 26, 2013, 08:38:54 PM
Hi Rory, I was fortunate enough to snag one on a stick bait, I used a 18000sw on a borrowed Ian Miller custom made 7,6 50-80lb rod. If you were hoping to static cast at bait balls then somthing slightly longer might be more appropiate? I dont think you need a rod with huge lifting capacity. I have managed a few on on 50, 30 and 16 lb game fishing.
 I used some 250 jigstar kevlar to rig a stickbait. If you are not keen on some big Owner trebles then consider a jobu swung of the tail? or a baker rigged jobus?  I actually used some mustard hoodlums from memory, fine gauge for penetration but reasonably strong, you might consider some SJ41 hooks as an alternative to these?
 I caught mine by switch and tease with some of the best in the business at the whangenella banks, which made it easy, casting into a bait ball and snaging one would be a purists dream.


Link to it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsVVJ6DBjqU

Rory McPherson

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 27, 2013, 02:42:27 PM
Thanks Titahi , remember you doing that ,   I might have to move away from Carpenter lures ( don't know that Id get it to swim right with any thing other than the recomended hooks) ,and then use a Baker rig , An Orion maybe ?
Got to say we fight most strippies on 8kg drag and less and am more interested in a comfortable rod to fight with .
There will be some fish which are teased up at speed and a good cast back will be the go , others where we see meatballs , either on the surface or sounder .

Felix Neuer

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Re: tackle for striped marlin
May 27, 2013, 07:18:34 PM
trebbles on stick will simply not work for billfish. maybe foul hooked, but even if you manage to set the hook normally, the risk of losing the fish during the fight is enormous. guess why a standard trolling outfit uses single hooks or even two of them.