Daisy Chain

Why use knots instead of crimps?

I've bought crimped trolling lures online and found that some factory crimps slipped at less than 1# of tension. Others failed slowly when tested, and would have certainly failed during a prolonged fight with a big fish. Crimps are notoriously difficult to make correctly. But have you ever heard of a 6-turn San Diego jam knot cinched to 40# of tension slipping or failing? You can trust my connections!

 

Why isn't the last lure bigger or a different color?

Lots of daisy chains are made with a different trailing lure, but this goes against the basic principle of daisy chains. The concept of a daisy chain is to look like a small school of baitfish with a lone fish struggling to keep up with the pack. If the teasers differ from the trailing lure, predators might key in on the teasers and eat them instead. I have seen this many times and had teasers torn up after short strikes because tuna wanted the small teasers instead of the larger trailing lure.

 

Do you really need a stainless steel ball bearing swivel?

YES. Tuna feathers do not have keels and will inevitably twist in the water. Even if the twisting action is very slow, the twist accumulates over time and can really mess up your line. Putting an expensive, high-quality swivel at the beginning of the daisy chain prevents any twist from accumulating in your line. Standard crane swivels under tension do not work well and will impart a lot of twist in your line so beware of daisy chains (or any rigged tuna feathers) that do not use ball bearing swivels.

 

Why use a double hook threaded onto a swivel instead of a large single hook?

Large inline single hooks are great for billfish because they act like a circle hook and increase the chance of a quick and easy release. When tuna fishing, very few fish are released and the most important factor is getting the hook to stick. Double hooks have a much better hookup ratio and they are threaded through a swivel so that they can quickly be swapped for a different hook if necessary. If you have ever gone tuna fishing on a San Diego sportboat, you know that they rig their tuna feathers like this because it works.

 

Do you have any other colors?

The 4 colors listed are the colors that we commonly use on the West Coast and that's all that I carry. If you look around online, sellers from Florida sell lots of red/white, blue/white, yellow/pink/blue, etc. Those colors might work well on the East Coast, but I'm only selling products that I know to work well.

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