Though we catch wahoo and sailfish all year round, May through to September is our hot bite season with numerous packs of wahoo and sailfish gathering all along the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef.
When fishing for sailfish we usually use bait and switch tactics so often run teasers. We also sometimes run teasers when fishing baits or lure/bait combinations for wahoo.
Pacific sailfish are magnificent creatures and probably my all time favourite species to fish for. They feed determinedly and will chase a lure right up to the back of the boat, close enough that you could reach out and grab their bill (Not that I recommend this !).
When a sail lights up and charges a lure or teaser, it’s an extraordinary sight. On hook-up sails almost always take to the air and leap about, tail-walking away from the boat. It’s a sight to remember and if you have not yet seen it, I strongly recommend you experience the awesome and exciting display for yourself.
Coke Can Teaser for Sailfish
We mostly use bait & switch tactics for sails so we start out by trolling one or more teasers. When a pack of sails is raised, the teasers come out and the baits are fed back to the fish.
Teasers come in all shapes and sizes but we have found that the most effective teaser for sailfish is a daisy chain of three or four pink squid with a coke can rigged at the head of the chain. Yes, a coke can. Rig it so the bottom of the can runs first through the water.
Punch a small hole in the top and the bottom of an empty coke can. Remove the snap swivel on the front of the daisy chain. Crimp a stopper to the front end of the mono daisy chain line and slide the can down to the stopper. Re-attach the snap swivel to the front of the daisy chain and you are good to go.
Keep an eye on the mono around the coke can as it can suffer some abrasion from the can hole edges. We sometimes rig the can on a separate piece of mono or wire with a snap swivel at either end. That way we can change it out easily.
The concave shape grips the water and makes a huge ruckus in the prop wash. Cheap and very effective.
Coke Can Teaser for Wahoo
This teaser is exactly the same principal as above but we do away with the daisy chain and just troll two cans rigged close together in the prop wash.
Punch a hole in the top and bottom of each can. Take a two foot length of multi strand wire and crimp a stopper on one end. Slide on the first can. Crimp a second stopper about 6 inches ahead of the first can and slide on the second can. Crimp a snap swivel to the front and your teaser is good to go.
We run this teaser about 20 yards back so that it dives through and under the prop wash. It can usually survive several hits before it needs to be replaced but by then you should have put several nice wahoo on the deck. Works like a charm
We have experimented with several different types of can but the red coke can seems to be best, though I do know a charter boat skipper out of Sydney that swears by a blue and gold Fosters beer can when fishing for blue marlin…….
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