Hey all,
Here's a scenario: Imagine you flew into San Diego to do some yellowtail fishing, and you only have one rod/reel to work with. Depending on the conditions, you might be fishing deep yo yo irons, or surface irons, or live bait- swapping between all three takes time, and I was wondering about the best way to quick switch between the above options.
Option 1: Cut and retie your leader whenever you want to swap between the 3.
Option 2: Just tie a barrel swivel to the end of my mainline, and clip in to a surface iron/yo yo iron/leader with a live bait hook depending on the scenario. However, I hear that attaching a swivel to Tadys/Salas irons messes up the swimming action significantly.
Option 3: Tie a bimini/spyder loop at the end of my mainline with a long diameter loop (6'' or so, enough to feed the loop through the solid ring on top of a jig and around the jig to secure it. Could secure a libe bait hook the same way, though seems less than ideal. Disadvantage- double line to the jig might be clunky and or visible?
Option 4: Similar to Option 2, with a swivel at the end of my mainline, but rather than have the swivel attach directly to the jigs, have a short 2'-3' leader tied to each of the jigs I might use with a perfection loop at the other end, and clip my mainline swivel into that leader whenever I want to swap. If the swivel isn't directly attached to the jig, maybe the action will be normal?
Has anyone tried any of the above options and have an opinion as to which might be the best way to go? Numbers in SD are looking like 1 to 1.5 yellowtail per angler, and I'll be going next week. Just want to maximize my chances of hooking up. Thanks a lot!
Vince
I would attach a 100 foot top of 30# or 40# leader material and cut and retie a surface iron, yoyo jig or a hook.
I would ask a friend to loan me 2 more rods but that is not the answer you need.
Quote from: Keta on April 21, 2016, 11:31:44 PM
I would ask a friend to loan me 2 more rods but that is not the answer you need.
;D ;D
I travel lighter now but used to drag three plus three back ups. Pretty funny Keta.
I am trying to cut it down to 10 for the June trip..... :D It was a good thing I had spare rods on the 2014 trip, I loaned out 1/3 of my rods.
No hardware, just cut off the jig and tie on another or a hook.
I try to stay at 8 because that's how many rod holders my crate has, though I do tend to sneak a bent butt in, packed in a case at times.
Thanks for all the input all, I'll cut and retie! Eventually I'll fill out my stable and go out on one of those offshore trips with ya'll.
Where do you live Vince?
If you went on one of Alan's 5 days you wouldn't need to bring any rods! Alan brings enough loaners for half the boat.
Agreed RE no hardware in those conditions.
Quote from: Keta on April 22, 2016, 09:58:58 PM
Where do you live Vince?
I live 20 minutes from Alan's house (up in palo alto currently). Im limited to one rod mainly because my fishing buddy is in charge of bringing the poles while I bring the cooler/vacuum packer :P. He doesnt have space for more rods apparently. Otherwise I would have brought more rods!
Quote from: Vince on April 23, 2016, 05:25:42 AM
Quote from: Keta on April 22, 2016, 09:58:58 PM
Where do you live Vince?
I live 20 minutes from Alan's house (up in palo alto currently). Im limited to one rod mainly because my fishing buddy is in charge of bringing the poles while I bring the cooler/vacuum packer :P. He doesnt have space for more rods apparently. Otherwise I would have brought more rods!
Bummer about the space. We probably could set you up with some older gear (myself) or some newer gear (Alan) as I live 20 minutes from Alan myself further down 280
Quote from: Vince on April 23, 2016, 05:25:42 AM
Quote from: Keta on April 22, 2016, 09:58:58 PM
Where do you live Vince?
I live 20 minutes from Alan's house (up in palo alto currently). Im limited to one rod mainly because my fishing buddy is in charge of bringing the poles while I bring the cooler/vacuum packer :P. He doesnt have space for more rods apparently. Otherwise I would have brought more rods!
Then loaning you one of mine rods won't work.
Why not use the same setup that comes standard with butterfly jigs? Tie your mainline to a solid ring that has a split ring attached to it. Then use split ring pliers to change from jig, topwater, or live bait hook.
Quote from: Long Enuff on April 23, 2016, 02:35:41 PM
Why not use the same setup that comes standard with butterfly jigs? Tie your mainline to a solid ring that has a split ring attached to it. Then use split ring pliers to change from jig, topwater, or live bait hook.
What he said!
I recently purchased a bunch of the solid "8" rings. This piece of tackle keeps the jig and split ring off of the leader or mainline knot entirely. The hook is on the larger solid ring and the split ring holds the jig. Split ring pliers are all you need. I'll be fishing various jig weights off and onshore in Alaska in 7 weeks...but I'm still carrying 3 setups for Salmon, Halibut, Lingcod and Rockfish. ;D ::)
Quote from: Long Enuff on April 23, 2016, 02:35:41 PM
Why not use the same setup that comes standard with butterfly jigs? Tie your mainline to a solid ring that has a split ring attached to it. Then use split ring pliers to change from jig, topwater, or live bait hook.
Seems like this approach would be similar to using a snap on the end of the mainline (without a swivel)? I imagine that might work well for jigging- would the extra hardware be too obvious for live bait purposes though? I dont have enough experience to be able to say that mainline-hook is +/- productive as mainline-ring-hook re: yellowtail fishing. For rock cod and ling cod I always use the snap approach.
It would be similar to using a snap, but would eliminate that piece of hardware. The rings are already on the jigs. For bait fishing, if the fish aren't bothered by the sight of the hook, those two little rings won't bother them.
Bill
Unless your snap is heavy duty or $ quality is it the piece most likely to fail. Solid rings hardly ever. I had a split ring open up two years ago on a huge pacific cod which decided to spin like a drill during the fight. Got it to the surface in time to see the jig fly off -wahhh! It was one of SaltyDawg's I got in a trade with Dominick. But the fish was on the hook on the solid ring not the jig so he did not get away.
Big corkscrew snaps work great for quick change and need no split ring pliers. Mostly in big sizes. We use them for the 2-4# halibut rig weights and unscrew the weight off as the fish is about to be brought on board for obvious reasons.
This is simple stuff. On an overnight boat out of SD, you're going to be using a Salas 6x/6xJr yoyo iron, Tady 45/Salas 7x surface iron or a 2/0 hook. Maybe a flatfall jig. Either way, no need for any hardware. Maybe some fluoro leader with the hook if they go offshore for some BFT. Not needed for YT. If they're mid-column, a 1/2 oz egg sinker above the hook would be good with a sardine.
I fish for Yellowtail 3 day a week in season and have done so for 50 years and always use a "clip" with or without a swivel to attach my various lures to my line. If you fish from shore this is essential to avoid the line breaking on the lure, if it bumps on to a rock.
The only time not to use a "clip" is with a deep diving type lure that swims, like a Rapala or similar.
I don't usually fish with bait, so can't really comment on that.