8/21/07 - local albacore

[alantani]

i went through my old box of tuna lures and re-rigged everything !!!!!!!!! 5 boxes full of jigs. everthing from cedar plugs to clones. all of the leaders were 2-3 years old and had to go!











i was working on rodholders for the last year and finally came up with these "smith's."



all total, it gives me about a 20 foot spread.





the last thing i did was mark off 75 feet of line. i used some old dacron and a 6 turn uni-knot. it's hard to see, but there's a screw driver in the grass, just in front of the plum tree. that's 75 feet.



and here's the uni knot marking 75 feet.





so everything is ready to go. all we need is some decent weather and some albacore willing to go stupid on us.

[Dominick]

Alan:  I loved the pictures of the lures but they prompted some questions.  I am re-rigging some of my lures and am also considering taking step by step photos while doing so.  Sort of like a tutorial.  And if they look okay, I'll post them.  On the Zuker feathers you have what looks like a crimp right at the nose of the lure.  What is the purpose of having the crimp so close?  Most times the lure rides up the line when there is a fish on.  That would help preserve the feathers.  Also it looks like you are using 300lb leader on the lures.  Am I correct?  In the last couple of photos you show a Uni-knot placed at 75 feet with no explanation why this is done.  Am I missing a trick to catch Albacore?  Dominick

[wallacewt]

here is a little ozzie trick that may help to preserve your leader and adjust your hook length inside your feathers skirts and plastic tails also for connecting your snap.plastic tube from the cotton buds cut  to slide over your leader and stick out the head of the lure.surprising how many fish with teeth you land.fits most jet heads etc;stops metal rubbing on the leader,and prevents a lot of lures tearing apart,like the type in the photo.this particular hook and leader in the photo is from a seized illegal taiwanese long liner.300lb leader?hope it helps.

[alantani]

the crimp is used to keep the feathers in place because it's a daisy chain rig.  the line marker is used to deploy the rigs to the exact same place every time.  it's quick and easy!

[Dominick]

Duh!  I feel like a dumb blonde .  Next time something doesn't look right I'll think it through . Dominick