The four bluefin rigs every SoCal boat should carry
Fly-line, sinker rig, flat-fall jig and surface iron. What each one is for, and when to switch.
Bluefin change their mood by the hour. The boats that catch them are usually the ones that have four rods rigged and ready, so they can switch the moment one stops working. Here’s the basic set.
1. Fly-line
For: fish on the surface or in the top few fathoms, especially near a bait stop or a kelp line.
The simplest and often the best. A live sardine or anchovy on a small hook, no weight, swimming on its own.
- Braid main line to a fluorocarbon top shot. Join them with a knot you trust, like an FG or a double uni.
- A light, strong live-bait or ring hook, sized to the bait, not the fish.
- Nose-hook the bait for a long cast and a natural swim, or collar-hook it to keep it lively.
- Cast it out, keep the reel in free spool with your thumb on the spool, and let the bait swim away from the boat. When it takes off, let it run, then engage and wind tight.
If fish are refusing it, drop down in leader size before anything else.
2. Sinker rig
For: fish marking 10 to 40 fathoms down that won’t come up.
Puts a live bait at the depth the fish are holding.
- A dropper loop above the hook with a torpedo sinker on a light line, so a snagged weight breaks off and the fish doesn’t.
- Or a sliding sinker above a swivel, with a long fluorocarbon leader to the hook.
- Drop to the marks, then wind up a few turns at a time.
3. Flat-fall or knife jig
For: marks on the sonar, at night, and for the biggest fish.
A flat, heavy metal jig that flutters as it sinks. Bluefin often hit it on the fall.
- A conventional reel with good drag, heavy braid and a heavier fluorocarbon leader than you’d fly-line with.
- Drop to the marks and let it flutter. Then wind it up in short bursts and let it fall again.
- Watch the line as it sinks. If it stops or jumps sideways, wind tight.
Most big bluefin in recent seasons have been caught this way, often in the dark.
4. Surface iron, popper or stickbait
For: foamers.
When fish are blowing up on the surface they’ll sometimes eat a lure thrown into the middle of it.
- A long rod for distance, a reel that picks up line fast.
- Cast past the commotion and work the lure through it. Speed matters more than the lure.
- Pull up quietly, upwind, and don’t drive through the school.
When to switch
- Fly-line ignored? Go lighter. Then try the sinker rig.
- Fish deep on the sonar? Sinker rig or flat-fall.
- Fish breaking out of range? Surface iron or popper.
- After dark? Flat-fall.
Rigged rods in holders, ready to go, catch more fish than the perfect rod still in the rocket launcher.