Rigging ballyhoo on trolling skirts takes lots of time and money. Blown-out ballyhoo bellies from high-speed trolling and cut-off tails from short strikes are two types of bait failures.
To save rigging time, smart anglers rig a lure on a short length of wire leader with a doubled loop and a pair of crimping sleeves at each end. The doubled loop prevents the wire from being pulled too tightly against the plug’s tying eye or monofilament leader connection knot, which could cut the lure loose and lose the fish.
While wahoo are not leader shy, other gamefish, notably yellowfin tuna, are very wary of wire. The short length of wire on this plug and the long length of monofilament leader ahead of the wire are much less detectable than standard wire leader lengths of six feet or more commonly used for trolling ballyhoo baits, so they will attract strikes from tuna and other game fish, as well as wahoo.
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