[MidwayJ]

Since it was published in Hawaii Fishing News this month, I'll share it here. Sometimes you'll find a floater where the Mahis don't want to bite. We go out of our way to keep a dead aku (skipjack) on board. 3 lbs is a good size, you can go a little bigger or smaller if you need to. The aku teaser is commonly called a "Charlie"

When you find the school, nose hook the aku, then run it off the short corner. I like to jig the aku so it pops and jumps. The mahis should be all over it like a stripper on a $100 bill. That's when you drop back your bait (in Hawaii we often use dead saba (mackeral) or ika (squid). You should get bit pretty quickly. Make sure to let em eat if you've got heavy enough leader, we like to gut hook em. If they're still all over the charles, take it away, or bring it closer to the boat.

You can often keep the whole school around the boat by giving the aku the appropriate action. It drives them crazy. Just don't let the smaller ones mouth it too much. Every once in a while, a big bully (or marlin) will show up and eat the charlie, so make sure you've got the clicker on and are ready to throw it into freespool at any moment.

A dead aku and a case of saba are a lot cheaper than live bait! Give it a try and let us know how it works in Cali waters.....