Is this the answer to big tuna jig heads

[tuna wrestler]

Picked up some of the these 9 inch 2 1/2 oz jig head lures at the local tackle shop for tuna fishing, the hook is 4x plus and the split ring is s/s 100lb rated. I like the two hook concept and my 80lb florocarbon fits nice into the hook eye. Is the 4x plus hook a bit overkill for spinning tackle?? and is the two hook concept worth the extra scratch? Held off on the ones with 6x hooks.

[justin080799]

Looks mean, hope you get to test it out !

Rob

[Albiemanmike]

Only time will tell whether those hooks are up to the challenge. I would add a solid ring to the split ring that way you don't have to screw around trying to get the leader through the small hole left in the jig head. The 100 lb. split may need to be upgraded as well to something more like 300 lb. Plenty of stories of the 300 lb. rings breaking this year so that would have me worried about the 100 lb. split. Great idea though and it should work fine.

[tuna wrestler]

albiemanmike thanks for the split ring tip. Off to the local shop for 300's. Man fishing is expensive:cool:eek:

[sandy]

Only time will tell whether those hooks are up to the challenge. I would add a solid ring to the split ring that way you don't have to screw around trying to get the leader through the small hole left in the jig head. The 100 lb. split may need to be upgraded as well to something more like 300 lb. Plenty of stories of the 300 lb. rings breaking this year so that would have me worried about the 100 lb. split. Great idea though and it should work fine.

Are people really blowing through 300lb split rings? Seems like a bit of overkill upgrading my lures to 300lbs when my leader is under 100lb fluoro. I've got 170lb rings on my tackle now and would rather not upgrade all of it if I don't have to. I've seen triple rings show up this year on some lures but a lot of the supposed upgraded hardware on the locally made tuna lures (ocean tackle, salties, etc) definitely does not look like 300lbs.

[DaleH]

I like the two hook concept and my 80lb florocarbon fits nice into the hook eye ...

I like the 'dual hook' where it is formed from 1-wire ... but I can't find anything > 2X strong.

http://i.s.shopwiki.com/i/data/__Mustad+Stainless+Steel+Double+Hook+7982HS/0x0/9/242/344/aHR0cDovL3d3dy4yY2F0Y2h0dW5hLmNvbS9zdG9yZS9pbWFnZS 5waHA@anBnbmFtZT0vaG9tZS9zZXJ2ZS9zcG90L3N0b3JlL2lt YWdlcy9sMzUxLmpwZw====.jpg

[tuna wrestler]

Dale H is that really your boat? and if it is you are the owner of my dream boat and you are a lucky man. Even that said I still don't think there is a perfect boat, now thats a contradition in thought.

[justin080799]

I don’t believe I would change out everything to 300# test, BUT......... If you have witnessed or have been on the other end of a 300# plus fish you would throw the toughest stuff you have at them, in the end you will thank yourself. As far as fish being leader shy, we were casting sluggo's to these huge fish with 130# & 100 # mono leaders and they were not shy at all. Many hits and hookups but like most people agree, one mistake on these big fish and its over. Sometimes I think people read these fish incorrectly, for instance a group goes out and runs into 50 Tuna that are cruising and possibly just put on the feedbag. They follow the fish around and throw everything at them - no takers (must be leader shy) this could end up being bad advice in my opinion. When these fish are feeding aggressively in my experience they are not shy about anything. If they are not feeding I don’t think a 90# leader over a 130# is going to make them pickup the lure. on the other hand, there have been many times we have thrown what we thought they would eat only to change lures and get bit time after time.

[Albiemanmike]

I don’t believe I would change out everything to 300# test, BUT......... If you have witnessed or have been on the other end of a 300# plus fish you would throw the toughest stuff you have at them, in the end you will thank yourself. As far as fish being leader shy, we were casting sluggo's to these huge fish with 130# & 100 # mono leaders and they were not shy at all. Many hits and hookups but like most people agree, one mistake on these big fish and its over. Sometimes I think people read these fish incorrectly, for instance a group goes out and runs into 50 Tuna that are cruising and possibly just put on the feedbag. They follow the fish around and throw everything at them - no takers (must be leader shy) this could end up being bad advice in my opinion. When these fish are feeding aggressively in my experience they are not shy about anything. If they are not feeding I don’t think a 90# leader over a 130# is going to make them pickup the lure. on the other hand, there have been many times we have thrown what we thought they would eat only to change lures and get bit time after time.

All very good points to be sure. There is no one hard fast rule for these fish I have learned and when you think you have them dialed they will make you cry. When they are up feeding aggressively ceashing on the surface I don't think any of this stuff really is important just get your offering into the feed and hold on. But when they are breezing/pushing on top after feeding then you must get a bit crafty and stealthy. They can be caught when they are breezing on top but you have to be patient and persistent. May take 100 casts but you will get bit sooner or later if you stick with it. I have done it many times when others left to do something else because they got frustrated or bored.

As for the split rings I personally have not had any fail but I know a charter Capt. that has had multiple 6X strong trebles bend like pretzels, he has broken 300# split rings and parted 65-80 lb. braid on these beasts. So as far as leader strength and ring size it doesn't seem to matter he was running much lighter leader than the strength of his split rings and the rings let go so you figure it out as I don't have a degree in materials science just a passion for tuna. I would not change out every single split ring just the ones I know I am going to be throwing at the fish and have a pair of pliers handy if I need to change one out on another lure should a i need to. Terminal tackle is cheap losing a fish from not using the proper terminal tackle is priceless. So if you want to gamble on 100-170 lb. terminal tackle by all means do keep using it, but if you want to be confident that you will land these huge fish than do yourself a favor and upgrade some of your split rings.