It may be unconventional, but wire-lining jigs is deadly on Boston bass.
Pictured above: While nearby anglers had little to show for their efforts, the author took three stripers while snapping wire aboard the Valkyrie. ernicrcomo 1 1
The knock against “snapping wire,” that is, trolling jigs on wire line, has always been that it’s not much fun. However, I’ve always believed that the guy doing most of the catching was having the most fun. Boston Harbor’s own Captain Walter “Pete” Peterson is a decades-long practitioner of this time-honored method for catching striped bass, and I can speak from personal experience that there’s a lot of grinning aboard his 26-foot Fortier Valkyrie!
Since I’ve caught stripers every which way but loose as long as I can remember, I believed that I had seen it all. But, I had an absolute epiphany last year when my friend Russ Burgess introduced me to Pete. Because I had never wire-lined anything before, I was prepared for the worst. I’d heard chatter from naysayers that snapping wire was laborious, not sporting, and was the fishing version of a root canal–sometimes necessary but painful.
However, that was before I saw what a dynamite tool wire-lining can be when done properly. My breakout moment was on a Saturday last September, on an eerily quiet morning when the striped bass did not get the memo that they were supposed to be blitzing because it was the fall. The harbor was full of forlorn fisherman looking but not doing much catching.
Let’s face it, most anglers pin their late-season hopes on fall-run blitzes to show them the way. With no bait, birds or obvious bass to speak of, the fleet looked helpless—they didn’t have a backup plan. We didn’t have a backup plan either, but we didn’t need one. The Viking Fleet’s Valkyrie does not leave port without its A-game, wire line and jigs.
Over one of the many rip lines that define Boston Harbor, Russ took hold of the tiller on his Cuttyhunk-style bass boat as Pete and I free-spooled the 50-pound Monel wire line a little over 100 feet back. With a 1-ounce jig, Pete commented that 3½ knots would put the jig a little more than 10 feet down, perfect for most striper haunts in the harbor.
We began a sweep-and-drop-back motion of the rods, which made the jigs and sea rind pulse in a manner that stripers find enticing no matter where they swim. Soon I came tight to a 20-pound bass—certainly a respectable fish for a rookie! In rapid succession we then landed several others up to 28 pounds.
Unfortunately, nothing quite attracts a crowd in the Harbor on a weekend like doubled-over rods, and soon we were under siege. The interlopers, though, would find little fish and much frustration because their battery of swimmers, soft plastics and even live baits were no match for the wire-and-jig combo.
If you ever hit the proverbial brick wall when there is no blitz, the bait has dried up and there is no live-line option, consider what legendary skippers across the Northeast have known for years—snapping wire consistently catches stripers.
Arguably, bucktail jigs have caught more fish throughout the seven seas than any other artificial lure. A parachute jig is little more than a modified bucktail jig that looks as if it were designed by a 60s hippie—hair, hair everywhere, behind the lure and in front. When that full “mane” (whether it defines a ‘chute or an embellished bucktail) is jigged through the water column, it has an alluring pulse and motion that other lures cannot simulate. Combine it with a strip of Uncle Josh Sea Rind #70-S and you have a very inviting artificial.
No matter how appealing a lure may be to a striper, it is not going to catch fish if it is not placed properly in the strike zone. It is nice to glamorize aggressive fish that are blitzing and hurling themselves at most every artificial that comes within range. Reality, however, is usually far different. Striped bass are designed for the ambush and will lurk behind structure and in current seams waiting for a victim. Bass, especially the larger ones, are not given to chasing their prey for long distances. Wire line puts the jig quickly and deeply into the water column where stripers go about the business of feeding. Once on a steady troll, the line keeps the jig there so you can cover long expanses of productive water. Wire’s no-stretch properties also allow an angler to impart unerring action to the presentation so that a sweep of the rod incites the jig to dance.
Even if you are in the throes of a full-on blitz with all the bait, birds and bass buttons firmly pressed, you will catch bigger fish if you cruise behind the bedlam, snapping jigs as you go. The largest linesiders lag behind the chaos and pick off the dead and dying forage that falls from above (falls behind????). While the jig-and-pork-rind combo is reminiscent of a squid, it’s not much of a match for mackerel or herring. Still, in the maelstrom of churned-up water where a wire-lined jig is most effective, it is the profile and vibration that dupes the predator.
Captain Pete freely gives credit to learning much of these methods from longtime work-mate and fishing friend, the legendary Cuttyhunk charter captain Joe Cordeiro. He also fished in the same circles as Frank Sabatowski. Pete adapted the same wire-line trolling methods that these skippers made famous in Vineyard Sound to the structure-filled, current-swept islands of Boston Harbor and it has worked just as well.
Once aboard Captain Pete’s bass boat, my first impression was how little equipment the wire-lining method required. The deck can best be described as spartan, with none of the panoply of wares that clutter other charter captains’ hold spaces. Once you spool up a combo with wire, tie on a jig and slip on a pork rind strip, there is little else needed. And, you’d be surprised how affordable the gear is.
The first piece of the puzzle is the reel. Captain Pete employs the standard among snapping-wire enthusiasts: the Penn Senator 113HSP. What makes this reel the go-to workhorse for wire is its large line capacity, beefy gears, and chrome-over-bronze spool that prevents electrolysis between the wire line and spool metal.
Backing on the Senator consists of about 250 yards of 80-pound Berkley Trilene. Pete prefers mono over Dacron because he appreciates the cushion it gives the main wire line – a total lack of give in the line can result in equipment failure. Pete spools two 100-foot increments of 50-pound single-strand Monel wire line on the reel. A haywire loop is the standard link between wire, backing and leader. The mono is then attached to said loop via an Albright knot. Between 100-foot sections of Monel wire, a 2-foot splice of 80-pound Berkley Trilene is tied, again with the haywire loop/Albright link. Monel generally comes in 100-foot lengths and Captain Pete spools up two sections. This splice serves as an indicator of how much line is played out and used as a buffer between the guide rings and the wire. In Boston Harbor, more than 100 feet of wire is usually not needed.
Another wire option is single-strand stainless steel wire, but modern-day wire-line enthusiasts more often than not opt for Monel. Monel is a nickel alloy that is more malleable than stainless steel, less likely to break when kinked, and easier to retrieve. About the only advantage stainless steel has over Monel is that it is cheaper.
If you’d rather a tackle shop spool you up with wire and complete all the knots, enlist the services of Russ Eastman of Monahan’s Marine in Weymouth, Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett, or Kay Moulton from Surfland in Newburyport.
Fiberglass rules when it comes to wire-lining jigs. A perfect snapping stick would consist of a 6½- to 7-foot rod with a soft, moderate tip and a sturdy, powerful butt with the timbre to handle 50-pound line. The advantages of the more flexible fiberglass when fishing the no-stretch wire line are twofold: because the rod loads and then releases, it gives the jig a more gradual, natural action, and the inherent give in the fiberglass is less likely to tear the hook out of a striper’s mouth.
Another absolute requirement when choosing a snapping rod is to pick one with ring guides made of tungsten carbide (also known as carboloy), which resists grooving. (Standard-issue chrome-over-stainless guides will wear from the wire.) Peter sequestered the folks from CMS Custom in New Bedford to build his rods, but if you are looking for a fine off-the-rack version, Tsunami offers a Trophy Series of wire-line trolling rods that are affordable and very serviceable.
Lastly, there is the jig! Parachute and bucktail jigs will both do the trick. Pete prefers his jigs to be about 1 ounce with long, flowing tails. I’m not sure if the skipper is a Celtic fan, but the kelly-green color he chooses for his jigs would look right at home on the parquet of The Garden. The captain has his jigs custom-made by an undisclosed source, but I believe I’ve found a locally-made jig that meets all the same requirements. While I haven’t yet tested it, the shovelhead by New England’s Sea Wolfe Tackle looks like a winner.
Otter Tails offer an effective alternative to pork rindsThe last embellishment is a strip of sea rind by Uncle Josh. Captain Pete prefers red but will occasionally experiment with white or yellow ones. Wire-line snappers generally stick with the Sea Rind Series 70-S, and the skipper prefers these as well. On my very first outing, I doused the entire jig with a bit of BioEdge’s Herring Potion. You may call it beginner’s luck, but on that day I was unquestionably the high hook and the added scent seemed to give me the edge. The only caution is to make sure you wash the BioEdge off the sea rind before you put the strips back into the tub. The attractant is made from real fish so if it sits and stews for too long, the malodorous wave that will hit you next time you open the container will knock you off your feet.
Once you’re wired, it’s time to get “jiggy.” Captain Pete employs a rocking motion where he points the rod tip in the direction of the Valkyrie’s stern, then in one smooth sweep he “snaps” the rod until it juts at a 90-degree angle out from the side. Without any hesitation, he then drops the rod back to the starting position and begins the movement again. The fluid motion of that glass blank loading and unloading causes the jig to come alive. If you’ve ever labored with a weed whacker, swinging it back and forth as you clipped weeds, then you already have the action down. Just keep an eye on your wire-to-mono knots and make sure they are not clanging up against the guides as you work the rod because the constant chafing will weaken the wire. Captain Pete prefers to rest the 2-foot mono splice, rather than the wire, up against the rod tip ring.
As good as the snapping wire technique is, it will still fail if you don’t find the fish. Working a jig under blitzing bass is a sure-fire technique, but if the signs are not obvious you’ll do better if you look for moving water and structure, especially a rip line. There are no shortages of rip lines in the Greater Boston area so, for starters, consult a chart. Also, scout the harbor during low tides and look for upwellings and exposed structure that, when the tide is higher and moving fast, could form a nice striper-holding rip.
A renowned local charter captain once estimated that there were 50 rips throughout the harbor. That number may be a bit high, but it seems every year someone points out a few new ones to me. Rips can be anything from a seam of rough water to a wall of fury. As previously mentioned, most areas in Boston Harbor can be adequately covered with 100 feet of wire but having another 100 feet at the ready allows you to experiment. A perfect scenario – and one that describes many resident rips – is 20 to 30 feet of water rising to a 10- to 15-foot-deep reef, shoal or ledge.
This method can also be quite effective when cruising the shoreline of a beach. The sandy bottom that typifies most beaches is far less hazardous than the structure-strewn harbor but can be every bit as good. In the harbor, you should keep the jig just off the bottom, but it can actually be beneficial to occasionally bump the bottom of a sandy area—the resultant stir that a bouncing jig causes will often prove irresistible to nearby stripers.
It’s easy to be a star when the livewell is full and the sea is blitz city, but when your first two options fizzle out, you’d better have a solid back-up plan. Learn how to wield wire line and jigs like Captain Pete and you’ll do less searching and more catching.
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Did you ever try trolling braided line (they sell a marked version to measure how much line to let out) with a four ounce drail and four ounce jig on a fluorocarbon leader? You will achieve about 1o foot depth for every 100 feet you let out. The fight is much better than using wire.
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