In the Mid Atlantic, the green machine is said to have caught more
offshore fish than any other lure. On thousands of
sportfishing boats, green machines are an essential lure for
catching tuna and other fish.
The original green machine was a lure produced by
Sevenstrand. The rig is simple and durable, with a bullet
shaped acrylic head, large eyes and a long green vinyl skirt.
Today the green machine comes in a variety of colors and
variations. Several companies produce nearly identical lures,
although some anglers will fish only the genuine Sevenstrand
version.
Rigging is simple, the lure gets a 8/0 - 10/0 southern tuna
style hook, and 28-32 red beads on the line to properly space
the hook.
Green machines are extremely popular along the Mid Atlantic coast.
They are often rigged in tandem with a large bird and daisy chain of artificial
squid. This rig is sometimes trolled far back on the center line
and is known for catching fish in that position.
Green machines are also combined with other rigs. Local
anglers sometimes rig a green machine behind a spreader bar
or daisy chain of artificial squid. Green machines are also
run on the flat lines behind a bird, or without other
teasers, anywhere in the spread. A single green
machine on the long rigger is often the lure that saves the
day, when fish are fickle and bites are scarce.
Green machines catch a wide variety of offshore fish,
including tuna, dolphin fish, bluefish, cobia, skipjacks, bonita, false albacore, king mackerel, wahoo, and billfish.