Walla Walla

[Jordz]

Hey Guys and Ladies, I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to slide a Walla Walla at a deep water spot. I have been thinking about this and wondering what the general thoughts are. Wallas have  amazing shine and by my account should attract the johnie long before a flasher does.
What are your thoughts

[Seventenths]

I Love Walla wallas.... think you on to something there Jordz... let us know if you have any luck!

[colin]

Hi guys. What is a walla walla  ,is it a local name  ,  does it have another name that it swims under .  .  . .

[Bassa]

local  name is walla walla or ribbon fish .....strong fighters on light tackle ....and beware of there sharp teeth.......we use walla wallas for deepsea couta fishing....slow troll behind the boat....excellent results

[colin]

  to Bassa , have never seen one, photo is very clear . . Colin..

[Cam Mundy]

Beats a bonny as a big couta bait every time!

[Cam Mundy]

Bait

[colin]

  Thanks cam now I know, your bait is my trophy fish. . Colin

[Zak-e-Boy]

I must agree with Cam, walla walla is a great bait for cuta and also wahoo. These fish have however got a built in camouflage defence system which allows them to change colour to a dull grey/black when stressed and therefore it is best to use them dead, this due to the fact that they give off a brilliant silver shine, that stays, when they are dead. It is in any event difficult to place your hooks into them when they are alive.
When trawling these for bait use the old Mydo method or a belly sinker (sliding sinker) between your first and second hook to keep the fish upright and then around four to six singles or trebles depending on the length of the fish. A small pink or pearl skirt in front works well.
Important, if you intend freezing them do not wrap them in newspaper, this will remove some of the shine when they are defrosted. Clingfilm is the best wrapping to use. Hopefully, should Neptune be generous this year, the shoal cuta should start arriving on the 30/32 fa ledges between Umhlanga and Umhloti in the next few weeks, if you don't try you won't know... However in May/June these wala wala will find you the crocodile you have been waiting for in the shallow water off the Durban Hypermarket.   

[Jordz]

Thanks for the replys, was just wondering how to best rig it to a slide trace, as it is a long fish, any thoughts of building a longer slide or hooking in jaw bone and belly and then having a long tail piece with no hook in it?

[Half-Pint]

Personally I would chop the tail off, split them into 2 fillets. Cotton them on over the head either skin side out in clear sunny conditions or flesh out in dirty water

[Jordz]

Thanks Half-Pint, the nice thing is that in clear water you will get the belly shine and in dirty water you will get the smell out there.

[deezynking]

as mentioned before awesome bait... drift bait or trolling bait. i remember once we used a walla on the center bank for grunter, landed a nice 5kilo grunter on a walla walla fillet on drift