Choosing the right AFW wire for toothy fish

Most king mackerel fishermen use 2 types of fishing wire; single strand stainless steel and stranded stainless wire. Becoming more popular for all types of fishing is a 3rd material,titanium, a space age material. This is the metal used in the nose cone of our space craft.

The most popular used wire is the bare 1x7 stranded wire. It is easy to tie and can be used several times before being discarded. The brand of stranded wire that you use can make a difference in your success or failure. The American Fishing Wire Co. (AFW) of West Chester, Pa is secretive of the process they use and does not permit anyone except their employees in the areas where the actual twisting of wires take place. Made 2 trips to this sponsor’s business, still have not been permitted access to view the process, not that I would know what to look for. The President of the corporation recently granted me clearance for my next visit.

The AFW 1x7 wire is different than the other stranded products. Other stranded wire has to be heated where it’s to be cut. If you don’t heat the wire the strands will unravel. AFW wire does NOT have to be heated, the strands will NOT unravel after being cut. Let’s take this unraveling one step further into the fishing arena. When fishing for toothy critters, other wires will break one strand at a time until the wire weakens and breaks completely, resulting in a lost fish. Our fishing team has put the AFW bare 1 x 7 Surfstrand Stainless steel wire to the ultimate test, catching 7 “cookie cutter” low to mid 40’s kingfish in Biloxi. Never changed the wire and never saw a single strand break. We felt guilty about reusing the wire any more and finally changed it out.

To tie this wire, take a measurement to determine how much wire is needed, and use a single piece of wire to make your king rig. You will need to know how to tie 2 fairly simple knots, a snell knot for your hooks and a figure eight knot for your swivel. Worst case scenario, use a figure 8 knot instead of a snell for your hooks. Use a minimum of 3 feet for your leader and 5 to 7 inches between your drop hooks. On a 1 stinger rig, you will need about 4 feet to 4 ∏ feet of material. The AFW wire comes in 20, 30, 45 and 60 pound test. 45# is the most popular, with some going to 20 and 30 in cleaner water. Some use 60, Remember the heavier the wire used the more it affects the effectiveness of your live bait presentation. 30 and 45 is the test that we use the most. Clear gin colored water use 30, all other use 45. If others are catching and you are not, scale down, even going to 20 lb if necessary. Use a 4 to 6 inch trace of 20 on your Spanish mackerel and 6 to 8 inches of 45 or 60 for your offshore rigs to avoid bite offs. Also used effectively to tie stingers on your bally hook rigs when the dolphin are biting short.

The 2nd most popular wire being used is the stainless steel single strand wire. This is the most difficult and time consuming material to tie. Some use the Dubro twister, some use electric machines and others use pliers for tying the fabled haywire twist. Single strand wire will kink and when it does it breaks. The wire is not as flexible as the other 2 materials. After catching one fish the rig is trashed after removing the hooks and swivels. Single strand is graded different than the other 2; #2-27 lbs., #3-32, #4-38, #5-44 #6-58, etc.

King fishermen use the lighter wire for the leaders and the heavier wire for the drop hooks. The coiled wire was the only material used by most until American Fishing Wire introduced Tournament Straights. They are referred to as “Tournament” wire since the coloring is a little darker than the coiled wire. This wire is numbered the same as the coiled wire and is packaged in tubes with 300 12 inchers and 100 36’s to a tube. The same colors as coiled; silver for rigging ribbon fish and brown camo for the other baits. After tying several hundred rigs with different make wires, my conclusion is the AFW wire is softer and not as brittle as other brands. A good test of this is when you break off the excess wire from your haywire twist. It will take longer for the AFW wire to break than the others, that’s a good thing. This discovery prompted me to call the President of the company resulting in being named to their Pro Staff Team.

The 3rd wire, titanium, is fairly new on the scene and is used on various leader applications, not just for fish with teeth. A Dentist from Colorado sent me some about 7 years ago, and it didn’t work out. 4 years ago, AFW sent me some to “play with”. Mostly did not like the fact that afer catching a fish the knot on the hook was so tight, you couldn’t thread your new wire thru the titanium and the eye of the hook to reuse. Gamakatsu Hook Pro Staffers requested that a ringed live bait hook be made. This hook was introduced in 2006 and came to the market in 2007. The ringed hook does not need to be threaded thru the other wire’s loop and thru the eye anymore. Tie the leader wire and the drop hook wire directly to the ring. This method also allows the live bait more freedom to make a more realistic presentation.

This new hook sparked my interest to “play with” and to start using titanium. Packaged in black 15 ft. packs in 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, and 100 pound test. Gamakatsu’s live bait with a solid ring hook product numbers are: #18411R for a 1/0, 18412 for 2/0 and 18413 for 3/0’s.

The other problem with the new material, was the knot that was used. Vise Grips helped to solve that problem. Tie a clinch knot, NOT an improved clinch knot to the ringed hook and your Spro Power swivel for your 3 ft. leader. Wear eye protection. Use vise grip pliers, grab each tag end and pull tight, or put the hook on a stationary structure and pull to test and tighten the knot. When you pull tight you will feel the titanium give, If you are quiet, you can hear the wire stretching. This stretching is the forgiveness factor in titanium when a vicious fish strikes hard resulting in more hook ups. Still prefer using single strand wire to tie drop hooks to the ringed hook or you can use 1x7 stranded wire. After you catch a fish with single strand, put it to the side, bring it home, retie only your drop hooks using the same leader. With stranded wire, continue to use until you feel guilty about using the same rig over and over again. Again bring the rig home, use the same titanium leader over and over again. Long term this material will save you rigging time, and put more fish in the box. It is non corrosive and has zero memory.

Depending upon your level of fishing, you have your choice of 3 materials to use. Choose the one that suits your needss and your pocketbook, lighten up on your king drags and bring a slab to the scales.


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