Ballyhoo

Ballyhoo - Or is it a balao?

Scientifically recognized as Hemiramhus brasiliensis, ballyhoo are the most popular offshore bait. Rigged or un-rigged, pre-packaged ‘hoos can be found in the freezer of bait shops from New York all the way to the northern Gulf of Mexico, and for good reason. I don’t think there’s a fish that swims that wouldn’t eat ballyhoo. Some may prefer it whole and others may prefer a perfectly cut chunk, but they’ll all eat it!

Out there in the wild blue yonder, large schools of ballyhoo are seen inhabiting subtropical marine environments. Structure oriented areas such as shallow reefs and wrecks are great places to look, although it’s not uncommon to find them hovering just below the surface in the vast deep waters of both the Atlantic and Gulf. Ballyhoo frequently visit the Caribbean, but oddly enough are non existent in Bermuda. They are considered a pelagic species and form large schools which feed mainly on microscopic critters and tiny sea grasses. Ballyhoo are primarily used as baitfish but are considered a palatable delicacy in the West Indies. Though, we advise against snacking on any rigged ballyhoo you may have left over from the day’s trolling trip.

The average size ballyhoo is somewhere around 10” although ‘select’ or ‘horse’ ballyhoo can reach 18”. Unknown to most, there are actually several species but only two are prevalent on the east coast of the United States, the common ballyhoo and the not so common balao. Other than some faint differences, both sub-species are extremely similar in appearance and even the experienced have a hard time distinguishing them

Maturing at a fork length of around 7”, both spawn from early spring through late summer. Ballyhoo produce close to 2,000 eggs while their close cousins the balao, spit out three times that many. The microscopic eggs attach to floating blades of sea grass and the larvae eventually develop in the floating vegetation.

Both ballyhoo and balao grow rapidly with females growing faster than the males. At the ripe age of one, their average fork length is already 8_” to 9”. Ballyhoo have a maximum life span of only two or three while a balao should consider itself lucky to see its second birthday.

Members of a group of baitfish commonly known as halfbeaks, due to their small beaklike mouths, both sub-species are often seen skipping along the surface of near coastal ocean waters. They are landed together and both are commercially sold as ballyhoo. Either is acceptable for use as bait but balao seem to wash out much quicker. Regardless, live or freshly frozen either are prime hand-outs for every pelagic species.

For the most part, ballyhoo are fished trolled. I don’t think there’s a saltwater angler out there that hasn’t at one time or another pulled a few rigged ‘hoos (If you haven’t, you should really consider starting). Ballyhoo are trolled on wire and mono, naked or covered up. Die hard billfishermen spend hours not only rigging single baits but also multiple presentations. Spreader bars, daisy chains and dredges containing upwards of 36 baits are often dragged behind proven tournament winning boats. Each captain and professional mate seems to have his own rigging preference. Most prefer not to reveal their strategic preferences. Annually, millions of ballyhoo are also purchased pre-rigged, a great alternative for those new to the sport.

Over the years countless numbers of trolling lures have been designed to either imitate ballyhoo or to be fished alongside or in combination with. My personal favorite is enhancing a rigged ballyhoo with a smoking jet head or chugger style lure. This will prevent the bait from quickly washing out and the lure adds a more enticing swimming action to the package.

Along with being trolled, ballyhoo can be fished in a number of other ways. Of course as chunk bait, just about all species will quickly inhale or peck at the portion. Diagonally slice the head and tail off and you’ve just created a ‘ballyhoo plug’, an irresistible appetizer for large snapper, kingfish and grouper. Taking the time to fillet the little guys will leave you with silvery strip baits that flag yellowtail, Spanish and cero mackerel can’t resist sinking their teeth into.

Inviting ballyhoo to your transom is done by anchoring in 8 ft. to 18 ft. of water and deploying a menhaden filled chum bag. With-in minutes you should see them racing through the slick. Catching ballyhoo can be an adventure all in itself. On occasion they’ll readily jump on bait tipped sabiki’s but I have had the best success with a single, tiny baited gold hook. Overall though, a cast net is the most effective means of capturing a day’s supply. Make sure you throw a net with a fairly large mesh size as they are frustratingly faster than the eye. At best, fragile ballyhoo will remain in fairly good health in an oversized, well circulated baitwell.

A quick rigging tip when fishing with live ballyhoo: Slide a 2” piece of drinking straw on your line just prior to tying or crimping your hook on. Impale the hook into the live bait as you normally would and slide the drinking straw down the line and over the bait’s beak, this will keep your live bally’ swimming straight and happy!

I would also like to mention that there are a couple of make sense products that really make rigging ballyhoo a cinch. One is a nifty little device from Wanabe Lures (www.Wanabe.com) called the Head Start. The Head Start is a quick-rigging system specifically designed for ballyhoo. It gives dead baits a very natural swimming action at a variety of trolling speeds and makes rigging baits easy as pie, even for beginners. The second is a patented double hook cable rig manufactured by Tournament Cable (www.TournamentCable.com). With this unique cable rig, ballyhoo can be rigged with two hooks quite easily and still maintain the baits natural swimming action. This innovative rig allows you to customize by using any two hooks that you prefer and the rig is completely adjustable for all sizes of bait.

Anyway you fish them or whatever you call them, these slender, silvery baits rule! There is no other baitfish in the world that has accounted for so many big game tournament victories. That’s a fact!