Trolling smaller lures adds to the fishing potential, especially when run on lighter tackle that anglers of all ages and builds can handle with ease.

I have always been a fan of chasing blue marlin; to me the blue marlin is at the top of the food chain and the ultimate apex predator. Consequently, I love nothing more than trolling a set of large lures in purple-blue water on the edge of a drop-off or seamount with the anticipation of hooking one of these blue missiles.

However, this is not always possible, and we could be doing ourselves a disservice by trolling our home waters with such big lures; the more I travel and see how friends go fishing overseas, the more opportunities and potential I can see offered by running smaller lures. In a lot of places the anglers just go out and fish for meat fish for the table, but they also fish with lighter tackle to make things more enjoyable and manageable for the whole family.

We have such a great fishery here in New Zealand, and can really take advantage of many common species that are quite often overlooked when bigger lures are used. By scaling down tackle and lure size, we open ourselves up to catching nearly every pelagic species that swims and eats other fish. This, in turn, gives us more opportunities to have an action-packed day on the water, along with enjoyable angling and some tasty food on the table afterwards.

Fishing with smaller lures allows us to target some great species of game fish, such as skipjack tuna, albacore, mahimahi and even kingfish, which are absolute suckers for small trolled lures. In saying that however, don’t be surprised if a big blue marlin decides to eat one of the little treats you have out the back. I have hooked large blues on lures set out to catch bait!

But it is not just your catch rates on these species that will improve by scaling down; you’ll also have more chances at spearfish and the ever-more-elusive yellowfin tuna. Yet you will still have a great chance of landing a marlin if you rig your lures correctly; there is no reason why smaller lures cannot be used to capture the striped marlin we have here in our waters.

When fishing for a wider range of species, my lure choice tends to be those around the 6-10” (15-25cm) size range, as they catch just about everything. In fact, when testing some lures in Tonga just before Christmas 2011, the Bonze Predator, a 10-inch skirted lure, cleaned up on most species that swim in Tongan waters.

However, it is very important to have these smaller lures rigged correctly – especially if you also want to have a good chance of catching a bigger fish than expected on lighter tackle.

Two matters are especially critical. First, all lures I tow are rigged on a good quality fluorocarbon. I use leader weights of between 100lb and 150lb, depending on lure size. While fluorocarbon is not stronger than regular mono, it’s a lot tougher. Consequently, as it does not chafe as readily as normal mono, it retains full strength even after a lengthy battle – unlike mono, whose strength is likely to be severely compromised due to structural damage.

Second, you need to look at using quality hooks that can stand the test of being pulled on if necessary. With many of the good jig hooks available these days, there are numerous brands and models that will do the job. I have found two that are perfect for the task: the Dojo Hook from Pakula and – my favourite if you can find it – the Gamakatsu Vertical Heavy. The latter is very strong, but still very thin, and has a very long point, giving great penetration.

Getting these two factors right when rigging your lures can make all the difference when fishing our waters, as you never know when the big girl is going to show herself in the spread. You want to at least give yourself a decent chance, but not sacrifice your fish-catching abilities on the other species.

The tackle used can be much smaller too. Any reel in good working order that’s capable of holding around 600 metres of 10-15kg line and which has a good drag curve will do the job nicely. Just make sure the line is good quality and in reasonable shape.

As for the rod, ideally this should be a short-stroker type, and fortunately the choice of rods in this range is unlimited. However, remember you get what you pay for, so cheap is rarely best.

So what I’m saying, in a roundabout way, is that a good kingfish setup can realistically double as an offshore trolling outfit.

Scaling down has many good things going for it. For a start, the smaller and more versatile gear used means it’s much more affordable to get into initially. Also, the whole family can take part, as there is more chance of action during the trip and the lighter gear is so much easier to handle. That’s a real win, because by taking the rest of the family with us and keeping them interested, us guys get to go out on the water more often.

Targeting the smaller species gives you a great base to learn from, helps hone your skills should you decide to step up in tackle and lure size, and will also put you one step ahead if you get to fish offshore locations. Species such as sailfish, wahoo, mahimahi and other tropical speedsters all respond really well to the smaller lures I have described.

	This article is reproduced with express permission of NZ Fishing News written by Bonze Fleet - 2012 Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited Originally published in New Zealand Fishing News ----- Advertisement -----