When we live-bait around the deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, one trick we like to use not only gets more bites, but also keeps the bait swimming longer and stronger. The secret: Use single-strand wire leaders on your circle-hook live-bait rigs.
The wire helps sink the bait (unlike mono, which tends to float the bait) and helps keep it from continuously struggling against the buoyancy of the mono. As a bonus, 400-pound wire is almost invisible and cuts through the water much easier than mono. Also, no matter what grabs your live bait, now you don't have to worry about chop-offs from wahoo or chafe-through by a bill, regardless of how the fish swallows your bait. Just keep in mind that when you're wiring the fish you have to be careful not to kink the wire - or you'll be holding a very short piece of wire with nothing on the end. A kink in single-strand wire means an instant break-off.
You can avoid the kink factor by using a multi-strand piece of braided cable, but you might lose some of the stealth factor since braided cable is a bit more visible than single-strand wire.
Richard Richardson / Houston, Texas
