158 
Fishery Bulletin 1 10(2) 
charter vessel except that 1) circle and J hooks were 
one size smaller. 
Charter trips targeting yellowfin tuna used Mustad 
7692 9/0 J hooks and Eagle Claw 2004ELG 9/0 circle 
hooks rigged inside ballyhoo, with 7-g chin weights 
affixed to a pin. Hook and leader were secured to the 
bait with a rubberband (for wahoo see next paragraph). 
The leader was 9 m of 36 kg of clear fluorocarbon leader 
through which a blue and white Seawitch lure (C&H 
Lures, Jacksonville, FL) with a 14-g lead head was 
threaded and positioned above the eye of the hook (Fig. 
IB). The leader was attached to the standing line with 
a 36-kg SPRO power swivel (SPRO Corp., Kennesaw, 
GA). Both hook types were attached to the leader with 
a loose crimp with the tag end opposite the point. We 
used Penn “50-wide” reels (Penn, Philadelphia, PA) 
affixed to “fifty pound class” stand-up rods at all loca- 
tions. Reels were spooled with 27-kg Diamond® line. 
The drag upon strike was set at roughly 4.5 kg while 
the drag during fight (regardless of fish species) was set 
to roughly 6.4 kg. Baits were dropped back to missed 
strikes and then only until a fish picked up the bait. 
Recreational rigging techniques for yellowfin 
tuna were similar except that 1) circle hooks 
were the same type and style but one size 
smaller, 2) J hooks were Mustad 3407, 7/0 
size, 3) the fluorocarbon leader was 3.7 m 
long, and 4) “thirty pound class” stand up 
rods were used. 
Charter trips targeting wahoo used Mus- 
tad 7731A 8/0 J hooks and Eagle Claw 2004 
ELG 9/0 circle hooks rigged inside ballyhoo 
with a 7-g chin weight and pin that comprised 
part of the wire leader. The leader was 3.7 m 
of #9 (41 kg) piano wire (Fig. 1C) with hay- 
wire twists for attaching leader to a hook 
at one end and for forming a loop at other 
end; the leader was attached to the standing 
line with a 59-kg ball bearing clip swivel. As 
with yellowfin tuna, a blue and white Sea- 
witch lure with a 14-g lead head was thread- 
ed through the leader and positioned above 
the eye of the hook. The same rod and reel 
types used for yellowfin tuna were used for 
wahoo. Baits were dropped back to missed 
strikes and then only until a fish picked up 
the bait. Recreational rigging techniques for 
wahoo were similar to those used for charter 
fishing except that 1) circle hooks were one 
size smaller; 2) J hooks were Mustad 3407, 
7/0 size and 3) “thirty pound class” stand up 
rods were used. 
Figure 1 
Circle and J hook rigging techniques and leader types used in 
trolling ballyhoo for (A) dolphinfish ( Coryphaena hippurus ) on 
monofilament leaders, (B) yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ) 
on fluorocarbon leaders, and (C) wahoo ( Acanthocybium solandri) 
on single-strand wire leaders. The circle hook is the bottom hook 
type in each of the three photographs. 
Data collection 
Circle and J hooks were trolled side-by-side 
for both the charter and recreational groups. 
Fishing occurred in Gulf Stream and nearby 
ocean waters off North Carolina. The two 
charter boats were employed in order to simu- 
late a typical for-hire fishing operation in 
this region. Each of the two captains and 
mates used for charter trips in this study 
had over 20 years experience in this fishery, 
as well as experience rigging and trolling 
circle hooks for billfishes. Fishing aboard a 
research vessel was conducted to simulate a 
recreational operation where fishermen have 
no mate to coordinate the fishing operation 
(i.e., to coordinate, rig, and check baits; moni- 
tor and clear lines; check drags; and hook 
