Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
I rigged my first ballyhoo during the summer of my tenth year on this planet. Capt. Ben Mell was working for my dad on the “Last Call” and we were out on a fun fishing trip. The goal for the day was to catch me my first white marlin (spoiler alert…we didn’t succeed...but that is not what this fish story is about anyway).
We were trolling in the Poorman’s Canyon. Back in those days the standard ballyhoo rig was a 15 to 50-foot leader made of #9 Malin brand coffee-colored wire with a pin rig to a 9/0 needle eye hook. The rig was usually dressed with a sea witch or some other type of skirt. By today’s standards the rig was clunky and huge, but it was the hot ticket during the 70s and most of the 80s.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term “pin rig” I will do my best to describe it. The hook is attached to the leader by a haywire twist. Normally when the haywire twist is complete the tag end of the wire would be broken off leaving a smooth connection. In the pin rig, rather than breaking the tag end off, a half to three quarter inch length is left sticking up at a right angle from the leader, 180 degrees opposite from the bend of the hook. A length of monel or copper wire is then attached to the twist.
To properly rig the ballyhoo to the pin rig you hold the pin even with the hoo’s mouth and measure where the bend of the hook will end up protruding out of its belly. You mark the spot in the belly, then insert the hook through the gill plate and bend the baitfish until the hook comes out to the predetermined exit point. When this is done correctly the pin will line up with the mouth and be pushed through. The copper wire, or monel, is then wrapped around the mouth and the pin to secure the head of the bait to the leader. The finished product is then placed in the bait cooler until ready to use.
Since we were not catching any white marlin, Capt. Ben decided to make good use of the time and teach me the method I just described. Thinking back, he probably did this to get me to stop pestering him with other questions. And it worked. Sort of. I did stop pestering him, but the ballyhoo rigging didn’t exactly go perfectly. You see I have these big dumb caveman hands now, and back then I had the same hands, only slightly smaller and without years of practice.
Capt. Ben did his best to coach me. I did my best too, but the end result was not too pretty. Remember that predetermined exit point in the belly of the bait? I marked mine with the point of the hook so that I had a good target to hit. Well I missed. Four or five times I missed. Holy ballyhoo belly Batman! Actually HOLE-y ballyhoo belly. Oh yeah, the pin didn’t measure up right either. My perforated ballyhoo seemed to be looking over his shoulder. I guess he wanted to see the marlin coming!
When I held up my bait for final inspection Capt. Ben smiled and offered some encouraging words. Then he told me I should go up to the fly bridge and show my dad what I learned to do. Again, thinking back, this was probably a way to get me out of the cockpit (and out of his way) for a while. Up the ladder I went with my first ballyhoo. Dad offered some of the same encouraging words that Ben did, but didn’t stop there. He proceeded to offer some other encouraging words. Words like, “your fish is dripping blood on the deck. Clean it up. Get your mother to bring me a sandwich.” Or something like that. A short time later Ben put my ballyhoo out on one of the outriggers. A very short time after that he brought it back in and made some adjustments so that it would stop spinning and actually swim a little bit.
Now here I sit some thirty five years later thinking about that first ballyhoo. I would love to know how many ballyhoo I have rigged since that first day. That is something I think any new mate should do. Keep track of the ballyhoo. For me it is in the tens of thousands I am sure. To fish a normal Ocean City day, it is a couple or three dozen. When the bite is good that number goes up. Multiply that by anywhere from 40 to 80 or more days per summer for 30 plus years. Then add in a handful of seasons in Cancun and Isla Mujeres where rigging 80 to 100 per day was not unusual. Throw a few seasons in Venezuela on top of that, although down there it was more like 50 per day. Can’t forget about the random days in Florida, the Bahamas and Costa Rica. I may need to add another zero to the number of ‘hoos that I have rigged! Man I wish I had kept track.
So why am I spending all this time thinking about rigging ballyhoo? Because I didn’t get to rig any this week. I was supposed to be fishing today, but the plug got pulled on the trip. You see we were going to go looking for the first white marlin of the 2018 season. Unfortunately for me, but very fortunate for my friend Capt. Steve Moore, the first white was caught yesterday. Capt. Steve and his crew on the “Stalker” broke the seal for the 2018 season. Way to go guys! And you know what? Yup, you guessed it. The fish was caught on a ballyhoo. I wonder how many Stevie and the crew rigged yesterday.
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call”, owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, Inc. and multi-term President of the Ocean City Marlin Club.
