DOUBLE-HOOK RIG
This rig fools short-strikers like kingfish
and wahoo. Rig your J-hook ballyhoo in
the skipping style, then insert your trail
hook in the bait’s anal vent and work it up
toward the lead hook. To get to the shank
you’ll need to cut a small opening in the
ballyhoo’s belly behind the lead hook.
Hook manufacturers now make special hooks with open eyes just for doublehook ballyhoo rigs. These work best,
although in the old days we pinched
down the barb of the lead hook and slid
the trailing hook eye over its point. With
the open-eyed trailing hooks, simply loop
the eye around the shank of the lead hook
and crimp it closed with a pair of needlenose pliers. Double-hook ballyhoos don’t
have the same action as single-hook baits,
but they will give a short-striking fish a
surprise instead of a free meal.
As with most kinds of bait rigging, it’s
important to practice these techniques. If
you do, rigged ballyhoo will produce
more fish. By mixing up your spread with
baits rigged several different ways, you
maximize your potential. And that’s what
the game plan’s all about.
When fishing for meat fish, a number
of captains still prefer J-hooks. The
method is similar to that used with the circle hook, but instead of wrapping the wire
to the bend of the hook, wrap it to the eye
or just behind it. Work the point of the Jhook into the body cavity behind one of
the gill plates and as far back in the bait as
you can. Pass the point through the fish’s
belly, taking care to keep it centered, then
slide the shank of the hook into the body
cavity by pushing it back.
Now you can run the wire up through
the fish’s jaw and out the top of its head,
wrapping back around the gill plates and
through the eye socket, then forward and
down the fish’s bill. Some people skip
passing the wire through and jump right
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