The outfit
- Rod
- 7 ft 12–20 lb class conventional or spinning rod
- Reel
- 20 lb class conventional or 4000–6000 spinning reel
- Line
- 20 lb mono (or 30 lb braid with a long top shot)
- Leader
- 15–20 ft of 40–50 lb fluorocarbon; a short wire trace for kingfish
- Hooks
- 4/0–7/0 non-offset circle hooks, bridled through the bait's nose
- Weights
- None; kite clips or a small balloon
- Circle hooks and a steady wind-and-lift hook-up: never strike at a sailfish.
- A sailfish you plan to release stays in the water for the photo.
Bait to pair it with
- Pilchards (scaled sardines) · live
- Threadfin herring · live
- Goggle-eyes · live
- Live ballyhoo · live
- Speedos and cigar minnows · live
- Rigged ballyhoo · dead
- Tube lures and spoons · artificial