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WINTER WAHOO JUMP TOO
Florida's continental shelf offers exciting wahoo fishing action during the winter fishing season and they jump too!
by Terry Lacoss

"The sun was just about to set when I noticed a large school of bait that was being pushed up to the surface by game fish down below," Don Combs said. "The nervous school of bait showered the surface of the calm ocean, indicating game fish were feeding on them at will."
Legendary blue water angler Don Combs and his fishing party aboard the St. Augustine, Florida, based sport fishing boat, "Shark Bait," were fishing for sailfish in three hundred feet of water. The sailfish bite had been excellent during the past few days off from Flagler Beach, Florida, which led them to believe that sails were more than likely working the pod of baitfish.
"We trolled right through that nervous school of bait, resulting in a big fish striking a black and blue 'Flame' lure," remembers Combs. "We fought that big fish for almost a half hour before we were able to bring the hooked fish up close to the transom of the 'Shark Bait'. Suddenly a giant wahoo stuck its head out of the water and shook the hook loose. I knew that wahoo had to have weighed well over 150-pounds!"
It could have been possible that the "Shark Bait" fishing party may have possibly lost a world record class wahoo. The world record wahoo weighed 158-pounds and was caught by Mabry Harper on August 2, 1960. Mabry made his historic wahoo catch while fishing in Baja California, Mexico.
Don Combs also holds the existing Northeast Florida Marlin Association's wahoo record, which weighed 125-pounds.
"Typically the really big wahoo will take a large bait or lure," Combs said. "In this case we had just begun to troll with a spread of large 'C&H' lures. Minutes later that monster 'Hoo' struck and we had it in the boat in less than fifteen minutes. I immediately announced on the VHF marine radio that the tournament was over and we had just landed the winning wahoo!" Indeed Don Combs and his "Shark Bait" fishing team had not only won the Northeast Florida Marlin Association's annual wahoo tournament, but they set a club record that still stands today!
Some of the best wahoo fishing in the world can be found off Florida's east coast from Daytona Beach to Fernandina Beach during the cooler months of fall, winter and spring. Here the continental shelf is located some 42 nautical miles offshore of Daytona Beach, where it begins to run slightly offshore. By the time it reaches Fernandina Beach, fishermen will need to travel 68 nautical miles to reach the "Big Ledge."
However it's the big curve and steep drop off in the continental shelf that attracts good numbers of wahoo. As the Gulf Stream runs from south to north, it pushes baitfish over the ledge onto the shallow side of the drop off where a variety of blue water game fish take advantage of this prime ambush point. This steep drop off begins in 180 feet of water and in less than a mile, drops off to over 1,000 feet!
The fishing is so good here that blue water fishing boats often hook up to ten or more of these ocean race horses per trip to the ledge. During a recent blue water fishing trip out of St. Augustine, Florida, Don Combs and his fishing party had 21 big wahoo strikes!
"Wahoo are one of the fastest swimming fish in the ocean," Don Combs said. "They also jump during the cooler months and I have seen hooked wahoo jump as high as my flying bridge. Boy is that a sight to see!"
Comb's favorite setup for wahoo begins with 50-pound class trolling rods set at the transom and fished with weighted lines. A 24-ounce trolling weight, with a hole running right through the center is rigged with a section of 135-pound cable followed by beads at each end and swivels. A 15-foot section of 200-pound mono shock leader is then attached to the trolling weight and on the business end, a blue and white rubber skirted "Jet Head" is attached.
"I prefer the mono over wire because it gives more action to the lure and produces more strikes," Combs said. "However I have found from past experiences that wahoo will oftentimes bite through the mono shock leader, right where the mono is sleeved to the first hook. I eventually solved this problem by adding a small section of 135-pound seven strand wire to the loop and sleeves of the first hook."
"Wahoo produce speedy strikes and often miss the first hook, a #34007 Mustad 8/0 stainless hook. This problem was also solved by adding a small section of 135-pound cable to a needle eye #3412C Mustad, 8/0 stainless hook. The stinger hook cable is sleeved to a swivel, which is sleeved into the mono and cable loop of the first hook. I also recommend embedding the stinger hook just behind the anal of the ballyhoo."
Combs sets the two transom lures just under the surface of the second wave. At the fifth wave, Combs sets two outrigger lures and the "Shot Gun" lure is trolled some two hundred feet back.
"I like to use a 'Super Smoker' as my shot gun lure," Combs said. "The 'Super Smoker' has three jets on the outside of the head and three jets on the inside of the head, which creates an unbelievable smoke trail!"
"And in many situations in wahoo fishing, we will place a sixth trolling rod in the fighting chair rod holder and fish it with a big bait, such as the 'Billy Bait.' We also set the reel drag settings just tight enough so that the lure does not pull off any fishing line from the reel while we are trolling."
Don Combs and his Shark Bait fishing team normally trolls this wahoo setup at a trolling speed of eight knots.
"At this trolling speed we often rig medium size ballyhoo to our lures and do quite well," Combs instructs. "But if we are looking to catch a really big wahoo, we will fish strictly with large lures and bump the trolling speed up to 12 knots."
"One thing that I have learned though, is that wahoo prefer to strike a lure that is trolled under the surface and is also trolled in a dead straight line. Some of my favorite lure combination colors for wahoo include blue-white and red-black. Ironically, one of the very first lures that I designed is still one of my favorite blue water lures today, which is the 'American Express.' We have caught some really large wahoo with this popular lure and during one blue water fishing trip to the 'Big Ledge,' we boated a 67-, 57- and 45-pound 'Bull' dolphin with the blue-white 'American Express'!"
Captain Allen Mills charters his 31-foot Bertram, appropriately named "Wahoo" from Amelia Island's Fernandina Harbor Marina. Here Captain Allen Mills targets "Big Ledge" wahoo during the cooler months as well.
"Once we have cleared the St. Mary's jetties, I normally point the bow of the "Wahoo" sport fishing boat in an easterly direction," Allen Mills said. "It's a 68 nautical mile run to the continental shelf from here, so the weather has to cooperate. We will normally troll back and forth across the big ledge until we find a water temperature change. Here baitfish normally gather and a variety of blue water species, particularly wahoo!"
During a recent trolling trip to the big ledge, the "Wahoo" sport fishing boat found a temperature break in 500 feet of water.
"We hooked a pair of sails to seven feet, which we released," Allen Mills remembers. "We also landed several dolphin and a nice blackfin tuna. However the highlight of our fishing trip were those speedy wahoo strikes! The largest weighed just under sixty pounds."
Captain Allen Mills once guided a charter to a 90-pound wahoo while trolling on the shallow side of the continental shelf!
Captain Mills prefers to troll for wahoo with "Cedar Plugs," medium rigged ballyhoo, "Islanders," and "C&H Wahoo Whackers".
For more information on C & H's full line of wahoo lures, visit candlure.com or call (904) 992-9600. For wahoo fishing charters, call Captain Allen Mills at (904) 261-9481.