Trolling is one of the most productive methods of fishing for wahoo, but trolling catches can be augmented by the simple, and very effective, art of the drop-back. Give me a few minutes to explain an your catches will increase dramatically, guaranteed!

In many areas of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast, the favorite trolling offerings for striking gamefish, including wahoo, is rigged ballyhoo or mullet, sometimes with plastic skirts or chugger-type lures over the heads. While these baits work well, they require a considerably slower trolling speed than artificials which restrict their productivity for the king for the high-speed predators, the wahoo. For that reason, you'll read a number of excellent articles in this issue of The Journal which will demonstrate the move to high-speed lures and plugs taking place for these great gamefish, even in places where rigged baits are considered end-all and be-all of big game fishing. This same move to high-speed lures, especially plugs, took place many years ago on the long-range boats out of San Diego that encounter big pods of Pacific wahoo found off the Baja and further south.

The single most productive lure I have found for trolling wahoo is the Marauder-type deep swimming plug. Though trolling big, high-speed plugs doesn't take much finesse, knowing where to place the lures and the right color choices spells successful. Wahoo show a decided preference for plugs in purple/black, red/black and orange/black, however, lures in natural baitfish colors, such as dorado, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna, have proven to be extremely successful in recent years. Staggering the size of your trolling lures can make a big difference. Keep in mind that wahoo will frequently go after the odd lure out in a trolling pattern. If you are trolling four similar size lures and one in a different size or shape, more often than not, you will get bit on the odd lure. The same thing applies to color.

When trolling plugs, another critical consideration is line test and drag settings. I recommend using nothing lighter than 50-pound test outfits from private boats. In tournaments, go to 80s. Wahoo have such powerful jaws and sharp teeth that you need the heavier line, and the heavier drag settings they permit, to break the lure free from the fish's grasp to allow the hooks to get near it's mouth. A wahoo attacks a plug and grabs it across the center of the body in an attempt to bite it in half. The heavier line and drag settings pulls the plug through the grasp of the jaws and allows for a hookset. Speaking of hooks, swimming plugs with single forged hooks attached with ball bearing swivels will out produce double or treble hook rigged plugs ten to one.

Wahoo are definitely not afraid of boats and will hit plugs trolled within a few feet of the transom of even the biggest vessels. I have seen them jump right into the cockpit following a jig on a fast retrieve, they are so aggressive and oblivious to the boat when on an attack run. The best place to set up a pattern of plugs is close to the boat. Run your flatline lures from the corners no more than 30 feet back and put any additional lures one wake behind those, keeping them tight.

Several years ago I was fishing off the east coast of Australia watching a spread of Marauder plugs swim right behind the boat when a wahoo took a shot at one of the lures from the depths below and misjudged it by a couple of inches. The fish rocketed up more than 20 feet up into the air in a display that proves the ferocity with which they attack prey when they decide to eat.

So now that you're trolling with a pattern set for wahoo. Here's where the drop-back will help you increase your hook-ups from singles to multiples. The technique is so effective because wahoo generally travel in small packs that can number up to a few dozen members and when one feeds, the pack usually joins in. That means that if you hook one, there's generally at least another couple more hanging around and maybe the rest of the offerings in your trolling pattern just aren't appetizing enough to get them to rise and strike. Hence the drop-back.

There are a variety of lures that can be used to accomplish this successfully, but the one at the top of the hit list is simply called a Wahoo Bomb. It's a relatively simple affair resembling a more conventional high-speed plastic trolling lure, except it consists of a chrome or painted, cast lead head to give it considerable weight, with a bright plastic or tinsel skirt attached. They are rigged with a 18 - to 24-inches of multi-strand cable and 8/0 or 9/0 hook. On some of the models I manufacture, we add a little extra flash in the form of a swivel mounted "willow leaf" spinner blade off the bend of the hook for good measure. If it will work on those silly large mouth bass, why not on wahoo, and work it does.

The main reason the Bomb is so effective is when a wahoo bites down on one, the hook in its mouth and there is no hard plastic or other material to get in the way like there is with plugs, so the hook-set is easier. Smaller plugs can be used for a drop-back offering, like the smaller versions of the Marauder or the Little Speedy. Usually those 5 1/2 inches long work best, but I still prefer the Bomb for the added sticking power and strikes they draw.

Here's how the procedure goes. First, you'll need one or two outfits, rigged and ready with Bombs, easily accessible in the cockpit. We use medium to fast taper rods, 6 1/2-7 feet in length, mated to a 4/0 size, fast retrieve reel and loaded with 40- or 50-pound test mono. They come into play when a wahoo strikes a trolling lure and rips off several hundred yards of line on the initial run. While the boat is still moving forward, grab an outfit and get ready for action. If you are on a private boat, cast the Bomb out from either corner of the boat being careful to clear any outrigger lines. If the wahoo has charged off to one side, then its preferable to work from the opposite side of the boat.

Casting distance is not critical since the boat is still moving. When the lure hits the water, leave the reel in free spool allowing the lure to sink and drop back at least 100-150 feet further. This will put your lure in the vicinity of any free swimming wahoo in the pack and also allows it to drop down in the water column 50 or 60 feet, where the are most likely to be prowling. That means your retrieve will start in the strike zone.

Now, put the reel in gear and wind like there's no tomorrow. You can not retrieve a lure TOO FAST for a wahoo, just TOO SLOW! The most important thing to remember when you're cranking is when you feel that slam at the end of you line when a wahoo hits the Bomb, DO NOT set the hook, just keep on winding, even if you are reeling against the drag. If you hesitate even momentarily, you will allow the wahoo to open its mouth and drop the lure. This will happen any time you hesitate to maintain a tight line, so remember, keep winding until line starts to come off the reel on the fish's first run, then, and only then, lean back and give it a couple of head, jabbing hook sets and the fish will be pinned.

Keep in mind this form of lure presentation will work on wahoo anywhere on any kind of boat. It is just a matter of a little practice and patience. Here's a word of warning. If you're getting to the end of a fast retrieve and you have not gotten a strike, ALWAYS stop when the lure is approximately 10 feet from the boat before winding it in very slowly the rest of the way. As I mentioned, wahoo will often chase down a fast-moving lure with such wild abandon that they will come out of the water right into the boat with you if you retrieve it to boatside and lift it for the next cast immediately. Having a wahoo traveling at upwards of 50 miles per hour, all teeth and chomping jaws, slam into your chest is no laughing matter. Don't think it hasn't happened.

Try the drop-back next time you're trolling 'hoos and watch your catches soar! It started on the long-rangers, but has proven effective anywhere these fish are encountered.