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Tuna and big fish trolling relies on a pattern of lures to maximise strikes. Big fish seem to be drawn like a magnet to a particular lure and are rarely scared of the boat. How the lures are arranged is a matter of preference and a bit of experience. Some anglers like to work the lures in matched pairs down each side of the boat while others like to have a long side and short side. With a short corner rod matched with a short lure in the outrigger and a long corner rod matched by a long line on the rigger. The fifth lure is usually set down the middle of the pattern and behind the other lures with the rod in the rocket launcher, this is known as the 'shotgun' lure. The advantage of this pattern is that it is almost tangle free and allows for manoeuvring around fish attractors, schools of bait, islands or whatever without fuss. All lures are set on top of the wake rolls behind the boat. The wake roll optically enhances the appearance and the movement of the lure to any fish swimming below. The effect is like putting something in the centre of a glass lens. Lures can be set in the second, third and so on wake rolls. Even though it looks close many fish are caught in the second or third wake roll close to the boat, so don't think all the lures need to be way back, they don't. Lure patterns are set very deliberately and attention should be paid to lure placement. Some lures simply work and catch better in particular spots in the pattern. Most of this is only discovered by experience and strike rates. When deliberately chasing yellowfin and bluefin tuna, it is possible, if boat space permits, to troll eight or more rods. This is because tuna are a school fish and the more lures out the back the better the chances of multiple hook-ups when a school is contacted. Tuna usually run deep on the strike and any crossovers of other lines can be quickly sorted out. On tuna it is usual to put two or three lures on wakes two and three and then two lures out the back and two from the outriggers. This all depends on how big the boat is, how many rods are available and the weather and sea conditions being relatively calm. It is hard to troll big numbers of lures if the conditions are difficult. When the tuna strike, keep the boat going forward for at least 100 metres as the rest of the school will often start hooking up.
Fish Baits
