Other than tuna, wahoo is one of my favorite species to target. Nothing like casting out, doing a fast retrieve when suddenly the reel won't turn, but you KNOW you have to keep cranking. The fish opens its jaws to release the bomb you threw, and your non-stop cranking pays off as the jig pulls into the jaw.
Then your reel goes off like like you're hooked on a reef and the boat's going 50 kts.
If I go on a long range trip, and everyone else is targeting tuna, which is my favorite as well, I keep 2 backup rigs handy with wire leaders. If I see someone throwing live bait get snipped off, I pull my tuna rig and run for a wahoo rig. Last trip I had 22 wahoo. The next closest person had 9. Little known fact, wahoo meat freezes well when vacuum-packed for YEARS! I've had wahoo (and I don't recommend doing this as a rule) that I forgot about in the chest freezer, defrosted after 7 years. I'm an amateur "chef" and am picky about meat quality. This was really really good. Tuna doesn't fare well when frozen, but wahoo, all I can say is to give it a shot.
I'm so into wahoo that on these long range trips, I make my own bombs. The last 5 trips over the years, both the crew and other dudes fishing have asked me to make them bombs.
About 12 years ago, I went on a 10 day trip. The rule on most long range boats is, 4 ppl troll, when in international waters. If one hooks up, the next 4 are on troll duty. On day 3 of the 4 days it would take to get to the target location, I was up for troll duty. In the previous trolling rotation, one of the guys hooked up on a 25lb skipjack. Terrible luck, as we use those for lobster bait. So, I picked a purple and black Marauder, and took my place next to the starboard corner. I watch how far the corner locked his drag at, and sent mine a couple yards further.
We trolled through the f@ckin desert for HOURS. My brother brought me lunch at the stern. At about 2 p.m. I was ready to leave, but you're supposed to be a soldier when on troll rotation. I was talking with a deckhand at the baitwells when someone's reel went off. The corner guy yelled "hookup!" and the captain cut the engines.
My brother's like dude, it's yours! I ran back, unclipped the trolling strap, and slowly locked in the drag. This was a Penn 50 narrow 2 speed that I'd had blueprinted, and could pull 60lbs of drag if I wasn't careful, so I increased slowly, not knowing the species.
At about 30lbs of drag, I didn't want to go further, or risk having my rig pulled overboard. The boat was now stopped, and everybody was waiting for me to pull in another skipjack. I got in about 10yds when the reel started going off, not like a tuna. The fact that it was pulling line with this much drag meant it was not small, and definitely not a skipjack. A deckhand saw the line going out, and told me to tighten my drag, not knowing I already had it pinned at 30, and was trying to keep it from going over. A few seconds later it stopped taking line. I kept it in high gear, and just started grinding. I got back 25, and it ran again, but only for a few seconds. I said to my brother, "this kinda feels like a wahoo, but I have the drag too high for any wahoo I've ever caught." I kept reeling, and got it to the rail in about 10 minutes. My brother looked over the rail, and said, "holy sh1t, you're not going to believe this!"
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Most wahoo we get are about 30lbsto 55lbs. This one went 102. Everybody was silent, and I started laughing. Yeah, the picture sucks, and I have a terrible haircut.
Who gives a sh1t? I just got a 102lb wahoo. That, and I had ALL my hair back then. I can't tell you how many ppl still ask me about it to this day. And, best part, it doesn't count if there's no picture, right? Luckily, I've got tha pic. The hair, not so much, but most of it...
