[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by MITCHELL

If your going to trophy hunt for big halibut ditch the trap rig

I've caught them using both a single circle hook on a dropper loop and using a trap rig. The only issue with using a single hook is that your hit n miss ratio will increase.


.....a trouble hook will make your mackerel die quicker plus possibly damaging a short halibut

That's a false statement. I fish with trap rigs 99.99999% of the time and I place the treble hook on the top of the mac near/behind the dorsal fins(right in the meat) or right above the anal fin right in the gut. Most of the time I change my bait because I've had the same bait on for an extended amount of time, its rare that I change it because it turned. Also, a butt will have to swallow the entire bait in order to the hook to dig deep in the gut, I've seen happen but its extremely rare because of the way they attack the bait so using a single hook will not guarantee that a small butt will not get harmed


40 trilene biggame egg sinker swivel 25 lbs florocarbon leader off set j hook caroLina riged worked for me ......a big butt won't have any trouble swallowing your mackerel

That is true but not all of the time. If you need proof of that take a look at Greg's video and you'll see that its rare that a butt(large or small) swallows the entire bait on the first strike........that's why the term 'raked bait' exist

Anyway............that's a hell of a fish!!!