Bonito lures...

[Ken Jones]

Traditionally, I have used a bonito feather with a "splasher" of some type to catch bonito. The splasher could be a bonito ball, a "cast-a-bubble," or even home-made items like golf balls, wooden floats and Styrofoam floats. However, an increasing number of people are simply using spoons and various other stand alone lures.

Given the number of bonito being taken, and the plethora of new lures, what are your favorites?

 

[HookedUp!]

Traditionally, I have used a bonito feather with a "splasher" of some type to catch bonito. The splasher could be a bonito ball, a "cast-a-bubble," or even home-made items like golf balls, wooden floats and Styrofoam floats. However, an increasing number of people are simply using spoons and various other stand alone lures.

Given the number of bonito being taken, and the plethora of new lures, what are your favorites?

I personally use "Jig Rocks" (a knockoff of the Coltsniper Jig), from Daiso Japan. I am aware that Daiso Japan is not a local tackle shop, but the "Rock Jigs" are cheap and effective. I have caught several bonito from party boats on these lures, in addition to my only pier-caught bonito.

 

[moonshine]

Good ol' mack pattern Krocodile. Casts easily, has plenty of flash and priced so it will not break your heart if it gets snagged.

 

[Ken Jones]

Interesting! Keep 'em coming.

 

[MisterT]

I've always had success with the sabiki set up with 2 oz weight. If going DIY Yellow flashabou works wonders.

 

[Ken Jones]

Although Sabiki's are effective on the smaller bonito, I've never seen them be too successful with their larger cousins.

 

[Ken Jones]

A tip on Catalina bonito from GDude:

Date: April 8, 2008
To: PFIC Message Board
From: gyozadude
Subject: Bonito fishing at the Cabrillo Mole, Avalon, Catalina Island

If you’re coming to Catalina and want to catch bonito, here are some tips:

Gear to bring: Get an 8–10 ft. spinning rod with a mod-fast action, and 12–20 lb. test line. Try to avoid a full surf rod as the butt section may be too long for good under-hand casting. I like to use braid as it seems to have less memory and casts farther.

Bring some metal spoons, in the 1–3 oz. range. Kroc spoons in chrome with a splash of color works. Also an in-line golf-ball with two small screw-in framing loops works if tied to a 5 ft. leader and streamer or Hoochie or glow grub. The golf ball is just a bit denser than water so it sinks slowly, and will create a splash if you retrieve it quickly. My favourite lure has to be a size 4 Buzzbomb. A popular lure up in B.C. for salmon, the Buzzbomb flutters when jerked and released and catches all sorts of fish. The Buzzbomb is about 1.75 oz. and casts far, plus sinks fairly quickly. Due to its pulsing hydrodynamics, however, the lure puts out a huge alert under water. So unlike the golf ball rig that generates the most flash just at the surface, the Buzzbomb draws out fish from deeper waters… Chrome or holographic finishes are ideal.

Location: Best location I think for bonito is the Cabrillo Mole. You can often spot them at a distance offshore attacking schools of baitfish. The water dances wildly on the surface. But even when there is no surface activity, there are schooling bonito that may be sub-surface, around 6–10 ft. deep.

How far you need to cast varies. Sometimes they’re in close. More often, they’re out beyond 30–50 yds. As the Mole only allows for underhand casting, we get best results using an 8–10 ft. spinning rod held vertically downward. 10 ft. seems ideal for me. The extra length allows me to clear the structure and swing inboard and under the Mole in a pendulum motion, then quickly pull back on the butt section, which lifts the tip and shoots the lure out quite a ways.

Useful tips: Be careful during underhand casting so as not to smash rods against the concrete Mole understructure. This can chip ceramic guides. I recommend a Berkley or Abu made rod or custom rod that uses either the new flex ring memory metal titanium guides or Berkley SS304 type guides which have no ceramic ring inside but just a hardened TiCh or TiNitride coated metal ring.

The kelp grows thick in front of the Mole and bonito will tangle up in it. Try to keep lines tight and fish from diving into the kelp if possible. Braid can help in these cases if you hook up because the thin, tough line can cut somewhat through the foliage. Best tactic is to be quick and keep the fish’s head up and out of the water.

If the bonito seem to disappear and stop hitting, often, they’re still there. Just cast further, and let the lure sink to about 10 ft. and work your lure. Bonito are attracted to the surface often because of baitfish. But otherwise, in bright sunlight, they will stay deeper.

Vary the speed of the retrieve and depth to find where the fish are and then work that section for 10 minutes or until the hits stop and then move on. If the bonito are out there, they won’t waste time chasing food, and they are picky. If there are no hits, change positions and cast some more.

When a bonito hits, often, you won’t hook up. Crank up the slack quickly, and continue to retrieve. Bonito will give chase and often smack a lure multiple times until hooked.

 

[Ken Jones]

A tip on Catalina bonito from Scooterfish and GDude:

Date: April 24, 2008
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Scooterfish
Subject: Catalina bonito rigging

Some folks at Catalina were interested in details about the bonito rig I was using at Catalina, so here they are, starting with the terminal end…

Lure — ¼ oz. jig head dressed with a 4-inch Saltwater Assassin “Sea Shad” in the “Space Guppy” pattern (Chartreuse with salt + pepper flaked clear). Not the most durable plastic by a long shot (1 per landed fish), but very effective with great action. I like using a ¼ oz. head because it keeps the lure ~6” underwater even when retrieving “bonito fast.” Tail action of the Sea Shad is frantic, even at lower speeds and on the fall.

​

Leader — 5+ feet of 20-lb P-line CFX fluorocarbon leader. I’ve used this stuff for quite a few years in the 15-30-lb. test and have never had it fail me. Works well with my Uni knots.

Splasher — 3” Magnum (1-1/8 oz.) Flexcoat “Launcher” casting float. There are larger sizes of this float, but this size casts best for me with this rod. The larger sizes seem awkward and have too much wind resistance, and the lighter sizes are too light to get distance… *Distance casting was less important this year as the bonito were cruising primarily just outside the kelp, and inside the harbor. On Sunday I caught a few smaller sized bonito on long casts, but the rest of the week they were close in. Thursday afternoon they were cruising the Green Pleasure Pier and the harbor and technically could have been caught with a handline!

​

These are different than most floats in how they connect. Both mainline and leader are attached to the same point, giving the splasher erratic action.

​

I use the one in the middle, 3″ Magnum, weighing 1 1/8oz.

Mainline — ~270 yds 20-lb PowerPro. Old reliable! Casts far, sensitive, strong. Brought a spare spool with 30-lb PP, but never needed it. FWIW I had zero break-offs this year from kelp, fish, or bad casts!

Rod — 11’ G-Loomis SUR1324s (Fast Action ½-3 oz. lure, 15-30-lb. line). Same rod as last year, and same rod I use primarily for Jack Crevalle and Redfish here in Louisiana. Light, strong and fast. Allows me to easily load up under the pier for a pretty effective underhand cast.

Reel — Shimano Sustain 4000fe. The drag on this reel got a pretty good workout this year, and did not disappoint. Spool lip is definitely smoother than the Stradic, although I did not notice any big difference in casting distance.


Excellent info!

Posted by gyozadude on Apr-24-08 1:50pm

I need to stockpile some of these at all times for the next trip. My red, size 4W Buzzbomb using a 3/0 Gamakatsu large eye spinnerbait trailer hook (to replace the stock treble) was only marginally consistent, on only on Saturday afternoon. Your rig above seemed like the deadlier and more versatile one on this last trip. It could be fished slow and fast.

Plus, as I mentioned before, these bonito were so fast this year that the hits I did get on the Buzzbomb knocked it out of the way, the hook never even coming close to the mouth of these fish. The softer, lighter grub/shad/swimbait was something they probably could take on the run better.

 

[Ken Jones]

I added the two previous posts for ideas but both are almost 15 years old and thus they do not mention any of the new lures.

 

[MisterT]

I've seen the casting egg, splasher, and/or golf ball work with bonito.

I've caught bonito using jighead and gulp smelt or power bait as well.

By far though the sabiki (3-4 hooks) are the most effective. I use 2 oz because it helps with casting far and positioning the sabiki in the right water column - I do a sweeping retrieve with the sabiki.

 

[moonshine]

Good to see the Gulp! Smelt mentioned, MisterT. I've even fished
them dropshotted for browns up here. Never used them for bonito but figured they'd be an effective bait.

 

[Mahigeer]

Anybody who has read my Catalina reports, knows that my rig of the choice is "splasher rig"...

First the water filled plastic cast-a-Bubble. Then BB filled plastic bubble. Later was my own design sinker/slider bubble. Followed by Styrofoam launchers. Recently it has been back to BB filled plastic or Launchers.

I got my first bonito at the Mole thanks to Gdude's generosity may he RIP with Buzz bomb lure.
Buzz Bomb Jigging Spoon - Chrome, 1-7/10oz, 3in - Chrome | Sportsman's Warehouse (sportsmans.com)

I do use lures at times, but I prefer the action and excitement of topwater lures.

 

[moonshine]

The last bonito I caught was several years ago at San Clemente pier and it wasn't on a lure. I trolley-rigged a frozen anchovy about mid-pier. No one was catching anything, so in reality, I'd promote a balanced approach between lues and bait.

 

[Mahigeer]

That is a good old method, providing the rail is high above the water.

Huntington Pier and San Clemente are good candidates.

 

[Ray619]

Always first choice would be a original Krocodile Jig/spoon.

Second Choice would be a kastmaster jig/spoon. the bigger one's with a bucktail teaser on the treble hook.

3rd choice would be a whitebucktail jig. Mainly incidental bonita catches with this lure.

 

[nolandw]

I got lucky this past weekend with my first bonito ever and a size 10 sabiki. Biggest fish I've gotten on a sabiki! I was excited, fun fight.

Sounds like I should bring my Krocodile and Kastmaster next time...

 

[fish-ninja]

I use a variety of metal jigs similar to hookedup!’s Daiso jigs and Shimano coltsnipers. When I go see my mother in Japan, my suits case is heavy with gifts in the first leg. And in my return leg, the same or more weight gets covered by assortment of fishing gears from tackle shops there. Metal jigs are one of main personal imports since there are so many styles and manufacturers there. There are some that I buy locally here without making my suitscase too heavy protecting my shoulders. Major Craft is a pretty respected business there who sells good fishing rods and lures in reasonable price. They have office in Torrance and sells their goods online to the us market. Jigpara series of jigs are great to fish column and top boils. They come to Fred Hall show usually. If you do not find those in your local tackle store, I’d check them out in FH. Or just buy a few from their online store to test them!

 

[Mahigeer]

Folks, believe you me, fish-ninja has some killer lures.

I have noticed his catch rate compering to my cast-a-bubble. 5 to 1. Wow.

Last time at the Mole, he got sheephead, bass and no surprise barracuda while casting for bonito.

 

[CatchinKelp]

I've only caught two from piers (one each Goleta Pier and Stearns Wharf). At Goleta, I was using a two-hook 2/0 sabiki that came with rubber hoochies on the hooks, and also strips of salmon belly on the hooks. At Stearns Wharf, it was a 2 inch bay smelt pattern Big Hammer, carolina rigged with a 1 oz egg sinker. Both fish were about 16 inches.

 

[MisterT]

I use a variety of metal jigs similar to hookedup!’s Daiso jigs and Shimano coltsnipers. When I go see my mother in Japan, my suits case is heavy with gifts in the first leg. And in my return leg, the same or more weight gets covered by assortment of fishing gears from tackle shops there. Metal jigs are one of main personal imports since there are so many styles and manufacturers there. There are some that I buy locally here without making my suitscase too heavy protecting my shoulders. Major Craft is a pretty respected business there who sells good fishing rods and lures in reasonable price. They have office in Torrance and sells their goods online to the us market. Jigpara series of jigs are great to fish column and top boils. They come to Fred Hall show usually. If you do not find those in your local tackle store, I’d check them out in FH. Or just buy a few from their online store to test them!

I've noticed Majorcraft's offerings in the US expanding which I am excited about. I often browse the internet for Japanese lures, reels, and rods. Lots more options to choose from.