I was sitting in a local watering hole chatting up the barmaid who I happen to know fairly well. She was dutifully cutting up limes for the night shift when she told me she could really use a 9" stiffy right now. I apologetically explained to her I wasn't any help to her and she told me she was talking about a Bubba Blade. I didn't have a clue.

So when I got home I Googled "Bubba Blade" and watched some of the videos. My question is .... do any of you guys use them and are they really what they are cracked up to be?

I noticed on their website they also sell a 7" Penetrator. If she would said that then this story could gone in a whole nuther direction,

Bubba Blade. I have not used them, so this is really mostly bolony thoughts. Some of the folks and guides in the whites hybrid section and crappie section use the blade. it seems a lot of people like the handle, it is ergonomic and large enough to give a man some leverage on the blade. As for the blade itself, it looks to me like it is pretty much the same as any other good piece of metal. It is not the equal to high end or laminated blades of course it doesn't cost what those do either.

Hell, if it's good enough to get Chuck Rollins on TV, then I'll use one, too!
seriously, seeing more of them around..............

Sardines and Lead for yellowfin

Alright guys. I have never done this before but last year we saw quite a few tuna caught with this method.

Questions

What sizes of lead are needed?
What hooks are used?
What swivels are used?
Are there any pictures online of the setup?
How far from the hook to the swivel?
How far from the swivel up to the braid?
What sizes of mono/floro is common?
Can a rubber band be used to keep the weight from sliding back up the line? Or would that be contrary to how the rig works?

shouldnt this be simpler? LOL

What sizes of lead are needed?

We were using 2 oz. mostly but depending on the depth of the fish you may nee more

What hooks are used?

Not as big as you might think. the sizes vary from brand to brand but I think I have been using about 6/0 or 7/0

What swivels are used?

I don't like using swivels myself so I don't. but if you do I'd get a Spro in about 200 - 300# because they are still pretty small

Are there any pictures online of the setup?

Prolly not

How far from the hook to the swivel?

Just guessing here because I don't use swivels but rule of thumb is you need at least 4' of fluorocarbon leader for chunking.

How far from the swivel up to the braid?

I have a long topshot of mono on my chunking rigs so I can't help with that.

What sizes of mono/floro is common?

To each his own. On my chunking rigs I have 100# braid with a topshot of 80# mono and I use 80# fluorocarbon leader.

Can a rubber band be used to keep the weight from sliding back up the line?\

certainly

Or would that be contrary to how the rig works?

Not in my imagination

Thank you. When not using a swivel, do you use a rubber band to keep the weight in place? How far do you want the weight from the hook? On my chunk setup I I like to have about a 100 ft of floro top shot. If not using a swivel this seems pretty simple. Just slide a weight on, secure it and tie on hook?

When not using a swivel, do you use a rubber band to keep the weight in place?

I just secured the 2 oz egg sinker above my 80# fluorocarbon leader which was about 4' long.

Of all the years I have been chunking for tuna last year was the first time I ever put a weight on. So I may not be the best person to advise you. Last year I got a YFT on a chunk with no weight before we started attaching the weights. I did not catch a tuna afterwards using a weight.

How far do you want the weight from the hook?

It can be as long as you like. I would sat a minimum of 4' - 5' though. I don't see why it can't be 10' - 12' to be honest.

On my chunk setup I I like to have about a 100 ft of floro top shot. If not using a swivel this seems pretty simple. Just slide a weight on, secure it and tie on hook?

I'd say so. But my topshot is not fluoro so I attach a fluoro leader about 4' long directly tied to the topshot. I attached the sinker above that connection.

Last year as far as chunking was the only season that I have used weights on chunk... because I saw hook ups on up to six ounces of egg weight... I was shocked, for years I have never
used any weight and last year if you where not using weight on some trips you would not get a pick up... I agree with lite liner, I will have at least a couple of 2-4 oz egg sinkers in
case this happens again this year....

You can bet I will too, chunking with weight would be a first

This technique was pretty successful for me last year. I just used a 2oz egg sinker on my braid and tied to a swivel. The sinker did not damage the braid and I did not need to stop it from moving. From there it was about 6' of 100# fluoro and a strong but not large circle hook with a tasty sardine. There was a lot of smack talk in another forum about what type of fishing this is called, chunking, fly lining, etc. Doesn't really matter what its called, it did work last year. One important point though was what the Capt mentioned... keep paying out line. I think the only reason this worked so well is the tuna were deeper. If you just let out 50-100 yds of line with a 2oz weight, the gulf current we normally get will bring it back up. You have to keep paying line out to keep 2oz of lead deep where the bite was last year. Who knows what will work this year.

Markk, question.... Was your braid that was connected to the 6ft floral leader, What color was it? White, blue or what color?

Braid was 80# white izor, connected to the leader via a swivel. 100# leader behind the swivel.

I borrowed a 2 oz. weight off of tuna tamer and that was the difference. Both my yft came from that set up. I have 80# mono hi vis top shot, swivel to 80# fluorocarbon leader, 6' long to 6/0 circle hook. When I didn't have that weight I wasn't catching. Ran out of time or I probably would had my third of the night. It was a slow grind for all. Hope its on fire this year....

Sorry, weight above the swivel, just let out ALOT of line..

Do you paint your egg weights flat black to cut down on Cuda attacks?