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Ballyhoo Fish: What They Are and How to Fish Them

A ballyhoo is a silvery halfbeak that schools in shallow inshore water. Almost every offshore predator eats them, which is why they are the most trolled bait in the Atlantic.
By David Rose, updated September 2026
Identification

What is a ballyhoo fish?

The ballyhoo (Hemiramphus brasiliensis) is a baitfish in the halfbeak family. Its lower jaw extends into a long, thin beak while the upper jaw stays short, which is where the family gets its name.

Most ballyhoo you'll see run 8 to 12 inches. They're bluish or dark green across the back, silvery down the sides and white underneath, with a fleshy red tip on the beak and a yellow-orange upper lobe on a deeply forked tail.
They live in the western Atlantic from the northeast United States down to Brazil, including the Gulf and the Caribbean. They are an inshore, surface-dwelling fish that schools in large numbers over shallow banks and grassflats near reefs, feeding on seagrass and small fish. That's worth knowing if you plan to catch your own: you'll find them shallow, not out where you're trolling.

Ballyhoo vs. needlefish

Needlefish are the common mix-up. On a needlefish, both jaws are long and lined with teeth. A ballyhoo has only the lower jaw extended, and no teeth.
The extended lower jaw and red-tipped beak make a ballyhoo easy to identify.
On the menu

What eats ballyhoo?

Just about every pelagic predator worth trolling for. That's the whole reason ballyhoo became the standard offshore bait: a trolled ballyhoo looks like something the fish already hunt.

Mahi hunt by sight and will run down a ballyhoo on the surface. Wahoo hit them hard and fast, often cutting a bait clean in half. Sailfish and marlin eat them regularly, and a ballyhoo is the standard bait for both. Tuna take them, and so do king mackerel closer to the beach.

Live bait

How to catch live ballyhoo

Where live ballyhoo are available, they're very popular. They aren't widespread, though, which is why most ballyhoo used as bait has been frozen. If you fish an area that has them, here's how to get them.

Where and when

Look in clear water around seaweed, buoys, weed lines and floating debris. Early mornings are generally productive, when ballyhoo are more active near the surface.

Chumming

Chumming is often essential. Use small pieces of cut bait or fish food to create a chum slick. As ballyhoo come to the commotion and the scent, you can work them with a net or a rig.

Cast net

A cast net is the most common tool. Pick a net with a radius suited to the depth you're fishing, approach the school quietly, and cast over it. Practice the throw beforehand so the net opens fully.

Sabiki rigs

A sabiki rig is the other effective option. These multi-hook rigs carry small lures or flies. Drop the rig and jig it up and down to draw the ballyhoo in, then reel them up gently so you don't injure them.

Keeping them alive

Live bait is only worth the trouble if it stays lively. A live well with proper circulation and aeration keeps ballyhoo healthy and behaving naturally once you put them out.
Frozen bait

Buying and prepping frozen ballyhoo

Most anglers fish frozen ballyhoo, and they work. Good bait handled well outfishes live bait handled badly.

Buy quality bait

Offshore fishing is too expensive to gamble on cheap baits. Buy from a reputable vendor and look for vacuum-sealed bags, clear eyes, minimal blood in the package and undamaged tails. Don't buy bait that's been refrozen.

Thaw them thoroughly

This is the step that matters most. A partially thawed ballyhoo holds a bow and will not swim properly, no matter how it's rigged. Thaw baits in saltwater, which keeps the flesh firm.

Empty the digestive tract

Run your thumb down the underside of a thawed ballyhoo, from just behind the gill plate toward the vent, to push the contents out. This helps produce a limber, flexible bait.

Limber the bait

Hold the ballyhoo firmly just behind the pectoral fins and work the tail back and forth in a swimming motion, building up to a wider S-shape as it loosens. Don't mash the flesh or try to break the backbone: that shortens how long the bait lasts and doesn't help it swim. The goal is a bait flexible enough to move naturally when you troll it.
Bait prep

Brining, eyes and fins: what you can skip

Most ballyhoo advice tells you to brine your baits, pull the eyes and clip the pectoral fins. Those steps exist for a reason, but the reason is pin rigging, not the bait.
A pin rig has very little control over the bait's head. A bulging eye or a misaligned fin creates an irregularity in the ballyhoo, and a pin rig can't correct it. The bait spins. Removing the eyes and clipping the fins takes those irregularities away before they can cause trouble, and brining firms the flesh so it holds up.
Rigged with a TrollTrue lure, none of that is necessary. The lure shrouds the ballyhoo's head, so a bulging eye can't distort the bait. The molded keel weight sits in the same position on every rig and overcomes irregularities in the bait, including a misaligned fin. Leave the eyes, leave the fins, and skip the brine.
What still matters is what always mattered: quality bait, thoroughly thawed, and limbered up before it goes in the water.
Two steps, on the water

Rig a ballyhoo without the pin rig

Hook the bait, slide the lure on. No pins, wire wraps or rubber bands, and no prep work at the dock.

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Rigging

Three ways to rig a ballyhoo for trolling

Pin rigging

The traditional method, and still the most common. An 8/0 J-hook is the most popular hook for pin-rigging ballyhoo. The pin holds the bait's head to the leader, and the rig is wrapped to keep everything in place. It works, but it's slow, it takes practice, and it's unforgiving of a bait that isn't perfectly prepped. Full details are in our guide to rigging offshore trolling lures.

Pre-rigged ballyhoo

You can buy ballyhoo already rigged. It saves time at the cost of control: you're trusting someone else's bait selection and rigging, and you can't re-rig on the water when a fish takes one.

TrollTrue lures

Hook the bait and slide the lure down the leader onto its head. It takes two steps, does less damage to the ballyhoo than a pin rig, and the keel weight keeps the bait tracking upright instead of spinning. Here's why ballyhoo spin.

Speed

How fast to troll a ballyhoo

Six to eight knots. Faster than that and a ballyhoo washes out. Slower is fine, and it's what you'll run if there's a more delicate bait in the spread.

Once the bait is rigged, watch it swim alongside the boat before you drop it back. If it spins or rolls, ease off the speed or limber the bait up more. For where ballyhoo sit against every other bait, see the best trolling speed by bait.

Built to keep ballyhoo swimming true

Molded from 100% lead with an integrated keel weight, TrollTrue lures keep your bait swimming true instead of spinning.

Rig as you go

Rig on the water, only what you're about to fish, instead of over-rigging at the dock.

Fewer short strikes

The lure positions the trailer hook to cut down short strikes.

Made in the USA

Handpainted, with a powder-coated finish that stands up to offshore conditions.

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Keep reading

More on bait and trolling

Why Ballyhoo Spin

What makes a trolled ballyhoo spin, and how to stop it.

Best Offshore Trolling Speed by Bait and Species

How fast every bait can troll, from live bait to skirted lures.

The Humble Cigar Minnow

The other natural bait worth rigging, and how it differs.