Pacific Blue Marlin – Lures that work here in Fiji

When trolling lures for Blue marlin aboard ‘Bite Me’, we run a standard spread of four lures off bent butt chair rods and use Penn International 80STWs. We run a long and short corner from the transom rod holders and a long and short rigger from the chair. Sometimes we run a teaser such as a spreader bar or a Pakula Witchdoctor.

We never run a shotgun. We always aim to tag & release all billfish and use Billfish Foundation tags.

We generally use lures that imitate or approximate to the baitfish in the area such as skipjack & Yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi or flying fish.

Although We use wire rigs a lot because of wahoo, we don’t double the wire inside the skirt to make a stiff rig. We just use a single wire to the hook allowing some flexibility and swing. Lures are tooth-picked or hooks set with the point or points upwards. Two hook rigs have the hooks offset at about 45 degrees.

Our recommendations are for normal general fishing on a reasonably calm day in bright or slightly overcast weather when targeting fish of any size. This is what works for us. Its not necessarily what will work for you !

SHORT CORNER

We tend to use this position more as a teaser or to tempt a monster fish with a monster lure.

1. MBT custom made monster – Silver over yellow – 2 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

2. Pakula Smokin Jo – Blue Silver/ Green Gold – 2 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

3. Marlin Magic Mirror Big Dog – Purple – 2 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

LONG CORNER

1. Hollowpoint Goblin – silver/green/gold – 1 x 12/0 wire rig

2. Pakula Rat – Black/Red – 2 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

3. John Lau Good Head – Blue yellow / Redyellow – 2 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

4. Top Gun Ball bearing Nightmare – Clear Purple tint in water / Black Gold – 1 x 12/0 wire shackle rig

SHORT RIGGER

1. Joe Yee Apollo – Evil – 2 x 11/0 wire shackle rig

2. Black Bart Hot Breakfast – Blue white / pink white (yellow stripe) – 1 x 11/0 wire rig

3. John Lau Talibung – Black/Red – 2 x 11/0 wire shackle rig

4. MBT Tulip – Blue white / White – 2 x 11/0 wire shackle rig

LONG RIGGER

1. Hollowpoint Cabo Killa – Purple – 1 x 10/0 wire rig

2. Mould craft Wide Range – Purple – 1 x 12/0 Wire rig

3. Pakula Sprocket – Lumo – 2 x 10/0 wire shackle rig (this lure picks up a lot of wahoo)

4. Wellseys Hypahead Large Talai – Black/Gold – 2 x 11/0 wire shackle rig

Where we get our lures :

• Palm Fishing Australia
• Wellsys Tackle
  
• Melton International Tackle

Lure Manufacturer Links :

• Pakula lures
  
• Hollowpoint Lures
  
• Marlin Magic Lures
  
• Wellsys Lures
• MBT Lures
• John Lau Lures – Contact John at jaslau@yahoo.com
• Black Bart Lures

If you want to know what the top Australian skippers use, check out the lead article in the Feb / Mar issue of BlueWater magazine.