Rigging for yellowfin

[Andrew Poulos]

Okay, the rod is here....a very sweet looking Carpenter OMA92. My first Carpenter rod  , and very happy !

So, the aim is to get some rides out(if anyone needs a deckie give me a shout) when the yellowfin are off sydney and have a crack at them with lures. The aim is to load the DF with 50lb tuff line which should take about 500-600 yards worth.

What I'm curious about is the connection and terminal end. Since there are no obstacles out there to worry about bust offs, I was going to do away with twisted leaders and look at PR knotting on a single strand leader.

For Sydney wide, I was thinking 80lb leader. Is there any need for a swivel , then a shorter length of trace of higher poundage ?

Main lures to be used would be poppers, sinking stick baits and minnows.I usually run a split ring/solid ring combo at the front of lures, but was thinking to do away with the solid ring and replace with a good swivel.

Any feedback much appreciated....cheers

andrew

[Jon Li]

Andrew ,

OMA92 has a relatively small diameter tip top guide so your leader should not be too thick lest the casting distance will be diminished , I use short heavy fluorocarbon bite leader crimped at both ends and single mono leader tied directly to the loop while at the lure end I will use splitring to the loop . I don't like swivel as they interfere with the lures' action .

As for lines , 50 lbs. Tuffline XP is good enough for most cases but if the YFTs are above 50 kg in weight , I would rather have 65 or even 80 lbs. , with DF you should have enough for the first run upon hooking , drag should be moderate and in most cases 8 kg initial drag set should be plenty , remember once your spool diameter is reduced , the drag will increase by itself anyway so at a half way to down the diameter , your drag should be more double the initial drag .

As for lures , I would prefer pencil popper and sinking stickbait as these lures cast well to the required distance and YFTs are known to refuse big lures , so bring some smaller 40~80 gr. .

Jon .

[Andrew Poulos]

Thanks Jon,

I'm a little confused by "I use short heavy fluorocarbon bite leader crimped at both ends and single mono leader tied directly to the loop while at the lure end I will use split ring to the loop"....I think the 1000mg antibiotics I'm on are doing my head in.

Does that mean you go braid - >mono leader -> flurocarbon (crimped at ends) -> lure ?

What poundage leader and trace do you use?

The reason for the 50lb as opposed to the 80lb was for capacity,  as I was going to be using less drag I thought I would need more capacity than I have with 80lb. And if I drop some other lures down deep, would have more scope. 65lb is .016" compared to .012" for 50lb ,and I guess that would give me a fair bit too. I have a spare spool of 50, so will use that for a while and see how it goes.

Lure wise, it was going to be runbohs, bigfoot orion 70s, and 60g ulua/wahoos I was going to try - as well as halco maxs. I do also have a small FCL TCP, and several pencil poppers of various types.

Minnow wise, I was thinking along the lines of shibuki's as they seem the right weight and get good reviews. I have some sinking works minnows at the moment but also had a read of the tacklehouse fritz, but they might be too light at 42g .

Just a matter of practicing to see what casts well with the rod.

With the stickbaits and some other lures, on fin, any preference of single vs treble for mouth hookups?

[Jon Li]

Hi Andrew ,

My knots would be : PE to 100 lbs. mono leader by means of MidKnot and tied using the mono leader to the loop of 8" - 12" heavy FC leader ( 250 lbs. ) by means of catpaw knot . I use FC leader for added abrasion resistance against the tiny teeth of big YFT's mouth should the big YFT shallow the body of the lure completely .

In YFT fishing , casting distance is paramount and thinner PE n leader will be better for this purposes but on the other hand if you are tied to a stubborn fish , thicker line will be better for a long fight , with OMA92 one can't use too high a drag because the rod is so forgiving , backbone wise unlike the other Carpenter rod of the same rating , namely HL TN87 .

Those lures you mentioned are OK but I had a few encounters with YFTs in a side by side fishing situation , 80 gr. lures were completely ignored while 40 gr. lures were engulved each time , a case of matching the hatch , I guess .

For pencil poppers I use trebles at the belly n the tail but when using sinking stickbait I use treble at the belly and upward facing single at the tail

Jon .

[Andrew Poulos]

Thanks Jon,

The TN87 probably has more backbone, but at 40% off for the OMA92 it was more within the budget at this point. From the pics I have seen of the rod loaded up against static weight, you can tell the OMA has alot more bend in it. The specs do say that its rated for 9kg drag, and the TN87 at 8kg.But the pics do show the difference when loaded. Hopefully, it will do the job on the size of yellowfin we get off here.

Hook  wise, that's the same way I have mine rigged up at the moment.

Which smaller lures have you tried that have proven successful and cast well ?

Andrew

[Greg Burt]

I can see a Fish Head order coming up here

[Andrew Poulos]

Greg..waiting patiently for the new FCLs to land and I will be picking up the phone pretty quick.

[Scott Maybury]

Hey Andrew, some YFT (to 35kg) were taken off Sydney on cuberas recently whilst feeding on sauries, so I wouldn't completely discount decent sized poppers

[David Noble]

Hey Andrew, some YFT (to 35kg) were taken off Sydney on cuberas recently whilst feeding on sauries, so I wouldn't completely discount decent sized poppers

I'd also look at the 100g Heru Tuna, great lure, pictured here..

Cheers Dave

[Andrew Poulos]

Yep, have one(only) of the Tuna lure to throw around. I also have some Aubrey wooden plugs that cast a mile and will defintely work offshore .
I will also make some calls to charters like Ambition and see if they can accommodate someone throwing poppers and stickbaits around off the front while others cube if no one else is heading out that I know.

[Jon Li]

Hey Andrew, some YFT (to 35kg) were taken off Sydney on cuberas recently whilst feeding on sauries, so I wouldn't completely discount decent sized poppers

I'd also look at the 100g Heru Tuna, great lure, pictured here..

Cheers Dave

Hi David ,

Is that a whale surfacing among those YFTs ?

Jon .

[Scott Maybury]

Hey Andrew, have you fished with Ivan (Ambition) before? I have fished with him a number of times and he is a good skipper...he was the skipper of the vessel that recently got some on poppers (though he at first thought it was a strange idea apparently, haha).

Whether popper casting can be accommodated will prob depend on how many anglers on board and the conditions, ie, whether you can cast from up front or not

If you want to arrange a trip or two out with Ivan let me know, I have a few mates who are planning to get out with Ivan once this weather drops off (who are into a mix of cubing and jigging for them, and I want to try for one on popper) and we might be able to fit you in if you like?

[Matt Kilpatrick]

Hi Scott, Andrew,

If there is room on the boat, I would be very interested and keen to join you. I am in Brisbane, but would happily fly down to Sydney for a day out. I have been stocking up on Smith Baby Runboh and Gunz Tailwalk lures, amongst other lures and jigs to tempt a tuna or two. Cheers.

Matt

[Andrew Poulos]

Scott,

Never fished with them before, just from reports ont he SA site and others that they are pretty good to go out with. If you know Ivan, maybe ask him abuot spots and let me know, and possibly we can get a group of people arrange a poppering/luring sessions as well.

andrew

[David Noble]

I'd also look at the 100g Heru Tuna, great lure, pictured here..

Cheers Dave
[/quote]

Hi David ,

Is that a whale surfacing among those YFTs ?

Jon .
[/quote]

Hi Jon, Yes fin whales around the boat surrounded by yellowfin, mahi mahi, a pretty incredible sight. Not that easily spooked either....cast, splash, hit! . 

Cheers David