Big Game Trolling Secrets #2: Lure Skirting that Gives the Edge

Ever wonder why certain captains and crews seem to be in the 5% of teams who catch over 50% of the fish? It’s in the details and preparation, and one of those details is how they skirt their trolling lures. Was it any surprise that Marlin Parker trolled a vinyl skirted lure that won the 2016 Bisbee’s Black and Blue, and caught but lost an even bigger marlin during that same tournament. Details matter.

Optimal skirting of your trolling lure can make or break its success. Most lures are over skirted, meaning, too heavily skirted. This impedes the action of the lure making it less effective, and also can obstruct the hookset. There are several ways to address this problem: trim the inner skirt or use Newells/Moldcraft strands instead of an inner skirt to lighten the load. Vinyl outer skirts are another good option for large to very large trolling lures.

Another key skirting factor is the skirt to lure head transition. The smoother the better. Skirts which bulge up behind the lure head or are wavy greatly impact its action and appear unnatural and will not fish as well. At Legendary Tackle we are completely obsessed about lure skirt transition and will not sell a skirted trolling lure where the skirting is not even. If you request “optimize skirting” we will evaluate the total skirt weight and potentially trim some inner skirt strands. We also offer vinyl (naugahyde style) as an option. Vinyl skirting is great for big marlin, however if you are targeting tuna and other non-marlin big game we don’t recommend it.

Lastly, at Legendary Tackle we spent ourselves silly ensuring that we have the top quality lure skirts and most effective colors. Close is not good enough, we wanted to nail it for you as other lure makers offer a much more limited, if not inferior, skirt selection.

Please do email (link) us with any questions, we would be delighted to help.