AS SEEN IN THE JAN/FEB 2008 ISSUE 

Bridling Gogs – if you’re not doing it, brother you're missing the boat!

Of all the baitfish in the world's seas, bigeye scad, commonly known as goggle-eyes to the South Florida angling community, are likely the most effective live bait for South Florida's most glamorous gamster - sailfish. These Olympian swimmers are unrivaled in their ability to ‘hang in there’ for hours on end while either dangling from a kite, or fished on a flat line. Our own editor, Captain Mike Genoun, jokingly comments, “Once you put a goggle-eye in the zone; one of two things is going to happen. It’s going to get slammed, or it’s going to get slammed!

For those anglers not willing to pay the steep prices, gogs can be caught under the cover of darkness, during false light just before dawn and sometimes as bycatch when targeting other baitfish species during daylight hours. Your best bet will be to look for goggle-eye action during the evening with the use of a large Sabiki rig in 20 - 420 feet of water near rich bottom structure. However, unless you have your finger on the pulse and you know exactly where the majority of the bait-catching activity has been taking place, it may be well-worth shelling out the big bucks and saving the time and effort associated with locating these masters of illusion. For a typical six hour South Florida sailfish trip, I suggest having no less than two dozen prime baits at the ready, as kingfish, dolphin, cobia, sharks and other pelagics can quickly deplete your resource before acrobatic sailfish make their anticipated appearance.

Never more important than during the wintertime months when the sailfish bite is at its peak, the practice of bridling baits is an extremely effective means for presenting your offering in the most attractive light possible. By keeping the hook fully exposed and positioned where it can not turn and embed itself in the bait’s body, bridling ensures a solid hook set. Also, no fish appreciates being impaled with a sharp hook. The large hole created from a chaffing hook will quickly deplete your baitfish's energy, and sometimes that can mean the difference between strikes and no strikes. Bridling undisputedly provides gogs the greatest chance of survival for the longest period of time, which hopefully isn't too long before the unsuspecting scad gets gobbled by a hungry spindlebeak.

While many anglers choose to bridal their valuable sailfish baits with rigging floss, plastic wire-ties or wax thread, tiny specially designed rubber rigging bands offer a quick and easy alternative and also minimize the handling time of your precious bait. While they are sold in black, natural rubber color or clear, all work equally well. When bridling with wax thread or rigging floss, anglers must pass the rigging needle through a bait two times and then tie the knots, while anglers using rigging bands only need to pierce a single tiny hole. Another advantage is that the rubber band acts as a shock absorber in terms of the bait pulling against the hook. However you choose to bridle, this approach to proper presentation guarantees that you will entice more strikes and ultimately increase your release numbers.

Bridling goggle-eyes for kite fishing: When dangling gogs off fishing kites, the most ideal location to place the bridled hook is in the baitfish’s back, directly in-front of the dorsal fin. The placement allows the bait to be displayed horizontally in a lifelike fashion.

To connect the rigging band to your hook (circle-hooks are highly recommended), simply loop the band through itself and pull tight, creating a loop around the bend of the hook. Next, place the loop of the rigging band on the tiny latch hook at the end of your rigging needle. Rigging needles with an eye at the end rather than an open-end latch will not work for this application. Now that you have the hook and rigging band connected to the rigging needle, pass the point of the rigging needle through the back of your goggle-eye (be careful not to pierce the bait’s spine), and when it comes through the other side, run the hook through the rubber loop once again. Spin the hook several times until the slack in the rigging band is tight and thread the point of the hook under the bridge formed by the rigging band. When you are finished, the hook will sit up-right about an 1/8^th to a ¼ of an inch off the bait’s back.

Bridling goggle-eye for flat lines: Gogs intended to be fished on a flat line should be bridled through the nostril or eye socket, however, if the current is minimal, you can also bridle them near the anal fin which coerces the bait to swim down and away from the boat.

When bridling goggle-eye through the nostril, connect the rigging band to the bend of the hook with a simple loop as mentioned earlier. With the rigging band now connected to your circle-hook, place the open loop through the latch on the tip of the rigging needle. Next, pass the rigging needle under the bridge of the eye socket, but be careful not to injure the goggle-eye as this is a very delicate region. This will leave you with your circle-hook on one side of the bait’s face, and the open loop of the rigging band on the other. Place the hook point through the open loop and twist the rubber band until the hook is snug against the goggle-eye’s forehead. Proceed to thread the hook under the bridge formed in the twisted band. This quick and easy bridle can be completed in seconds compared to the longer processes of stitching and bridling with wax thread or rigging floss.

Good luck and stay hooked up!

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