![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthygrinsportfishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/A1.jpg\" "\\"A1\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nOn the Healthy Grin, we go pinless. This has to do with a billfish bias. Billfish anglers do not like a pin sticking out the nose of their ballyhoo baits. Billfish tend to squeeze the bait and then swallow it. During that initial crush, a sharp pin might encourage the fish to let go. We want the only pointy thing on our baits to be the hook.<\/p>\n
We start by tying our leader to the hook via a 3-turn nail knot. We tie instead of crimping because this gives a stiff connection to the hook. The hook does not wobble which is easier Prepare your ballyhoo however you normally do. You will want to remove the eyes. To add a chin weight, simply slide an egg sinker over your leader and rigging wire. For this ballyhoo, we are not using a chin weight. Place the hook into your ballyhoo as you would with the standard pin rig.<\/p>\n Now, we are going to insert the end of the rigging wire up under the gill plate and out through the eye sockets.<\/p>\n Wrap the wire under the gills and through the eye sockets two or three times.<\/p>\n Next, we are going to use the rigging wire to take the place of a pin. Poke the wire up through the lower jaw and out the hinge of the upper jaw.<\/p>\n Slide the lure that you want to use over your leader, a Sea Witch, Ilander or something else and start trolling.<\/p>\n If it is good for billfish, it should be good for tuna and dolphin. On the Healthy Grin, we always go pinless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Go Pinless Ken Neill photos by Tricia Neill published in the Chesapeake Angler Tuna, dolphin, wahoo, and billfish, what a fantastic mixed-bag fishery we have in the offshore waters of the mid-Atlantic! We troll all kinds of stuff out there … Continue reading <\/a>on your ballyhoo\u2019s belly. The nail knot is used because it is a good non-slip knot that is easy to tie with even heavy leader material. We attach a piece of rigging wire to the hook.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Now simply wrap the remaining wire around the bill and leader.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n