MARLIN

The first concern of anglers targeting marlin in Southern California waters should be to acquire live bait to cast or drop back to sleepers, feeders, tailers, and fish seen working jigs in the spread. The primary species used to bait marlin off Southern California is the Pacific mackerel. Mackerel can be caught nearshore using Sabiki style bait catching rigs and a small box of frozen chum prior to departing offshore to search for marlin. Once on the fishing grounds most boats will troll and array of three to five mid-sized marlin lures. The multitude in size, shape, and color of marlin jig heads and skirts produces wide array of swimming actions, bubble trails, and silhouettes, allowing the angler to select the optimal lures for a particular area, sea-state, water clarity and time of day. Popular models we carry include Zukers, Wildlife Lures, Mister Jigs, and Sevenstrand Kona Clones. These lures are usually rigged on 100 to 200 lb test monofilament with a needle sharp forged hook. We carry a full line of hooks, leader materials, and rigging components to go along with our lure selection. We even provide detailed demonstrations and instruction to anglers wanting to learn the proven methods and newest approaches to rigging lures, teasers, casting and drop-back setups.

Once the bait has been made and the lures selected it's time to drop back the jigs to create a spread that readily entices marlin to strike. Lever drag reels capable of holding 450 yards of 30-60# test monofilament line mounted on rods approximately 6 ft in length are the primary equipment required. The International and KG series from Penn and the Tiagra and TLD series from Shimano mounted on rods from Calstar, Seeker, Allstar, and Shimano are the premier choice of anglers worldwide. Marlin raised by the spread or seen on the surface feeding/tailing/sleeping should be baited with live mackerel using a medium weight casting outfit loaded with 20-50# test mono with an 80-120# test leader spliced on. The Shimano Trinidad and TLD series or Diawa SLX series matched with a medium action 7 ft rod from Calstar or Seeker would be an excellent choice.