Whip It Fish - Product Review and Striped Marlin Video

10-inch Whip-It Eel and 6-inch Whip-It Fish

I finally got a chance to field test the new skirted Whip It Fish from Al Gags Lures.  There is no better proving ground than the Galapagos Islands.  I have been fishing there annually for over 15 years and it has the very best striped marlin bite on the planet.  This year our group had 33 marlin to the boat in five days of fishing with over 100 bites.  Nearly all of the fish were in 150-200lb class and several were well over 300lbs!

We chose to test the 6-inch 3oz skirted Whip-It Fish version because it has a custom hook specifically designed for big game fishing.  The striped marlin were chasing massive bait balls of Pacific sardines and the lures were a perfect imitation.  The skirt gave the lure some additional body and made the presentation even better.  We tried pulling them in the trolling spread, but they basically caught everything!  The mahi and tuna loved them and it  totally interfered with our marlin bite.  Instead we limited their use to conventional pitch baits and spinning tackle.

You can purchase the 6-inch 3oz skirted Whip It Fish with the special owner hook here
You can purchase the 6-inch 3oz skirted Whip It Eel with the special owner hook here

Whip It Fish as a Pitch Bait

We were pleasantly surprised that the skirted Whip It Fish remained upright and did not spin regardless of the trolling speed.  The new 3oz offshore version was perfect because the hook was strong enough to withstand boatside wiring using a 300lb or 400lb leader.  We rigged it with a least 4ft of heavy leader which was snapped onto a traditional 200-300lb wind-on.  The size, shape, and color was a perfect imitation of a sardine (the prevalent bait).  Every pitch we tried resulted in a hook-up!  Most of the fish were hooked relatively close to the boat, but some were way back behind the spread.

Whip It Fish as a Casting Lure

Even before we put this on a spinning rod, we were very confident it would work.  The biggest challenge is using the right spinning gear.  I chose my heavy gear that I use for large yellowfin and medium bluefin tuna.  That gear consists of a 7-8ft spinning rod that can handle 65-80lb braided line.  I use a 3ft 50lb twisty leader with a 2ft 130lb bite leader tippet.  Unfortunately, this means that the fish needs to be really close to the boat before the wireman can step in.  The Galapagos marlin fishery is 100% release, so there are no gaffs like what we would use on tuna.  The drag in the reel needs to be perfect.  The angler needs to know how and when to use a glove to add drag pressure.  This is critical!

The following video demonstrates both the pitch bait rig and a huge striped marlin taken on spinning tackle using the Whip-It Fish!

Watch on YouTube or share this link: http://youtu.be/sMLaQYCA1Rs?rel=0