bridle rig through the eyes mate I have towed mine fast as 4knts through the eyes give a higher towing point on the head also add a 4oz sinker at the swivel just to pull it down a bit, dont be afraid to just drift along with a bait out either, had great results on baits last week just drifting allows you to bait bomb schools as well getting the bait down deep,

I'm still learning the art of live bait trolling Sho_gun - hopefully a few exerts will join in with their own tips tips but a few things I've learned:

You need to troll livies at a speed they can swim at, and the smaller the bait the slower that is. Even a little jack mack can sprint at speed for a short distance, but when it gets tired, as you note it loses control & starts barrel rolling or surface skipping. Same thing happens if you tow skippies too fast, especially if they have been handled roughly or damaged during rigging, although being bigger & faster fish they handle higher speeds for longer.

Go for the biggest macs you can find, & if you want to cover ground change them out regularly. If you run them deep or well behind the boat you may not realise they have lost it and started spinning.

I've noticed more with skippies rather than macs that if you are running in a straight line but the fish is tracking out to one side it's starting to lose control or your tow point has slipped.

Another option, albeit one I've never tried, is to rig them as dead swimmers. Youtube has a few clips on how to do that, & it appears you can travel more quickly as the rigging provides the stability rather than relying on the fish to keep itself tracking correctly.

Why even bother trying to tow them. I have had great success drifting. and saves heaps of gas. Find a spot where you know fish will be & relax.. it will happen.

We tow skippies and jacks together all the time.  Skippie is dropped back further and the jack is kept closer to the boat.

there you go, lance, smart thinking.

Just tow a dead bait behind your dredge it will work better...you will be able to cover a lot more ground  have complete control over the bait and the fish will eat it just same.

Thanks Josh. I'd like to try some alternatives to live jacks as sometimes (heaps of times) they're a hard thing to get out of tuts.