We have been catching marlin on hard bodied lures for many years on charter. The use of deep diving minnows such as the DTX minnow for the likes of black marlin and sailfish can offer a highly effective way to target them. A DTX minnow, or stickbait mixed into a spread of skirted lures often provides something different for the marlin to look at, and often triggers a bit from fussy fish that you may not have caught on baits or skirts.
We've tagged and released a 900lb black marlin caught on a deep diving hardbody minnow off the Ribbon Reefs in past years, and it is possible to catch some very big marlin on deep diving minnows, and there are times that the fish prefer this deeper presentation.
All hardbody lures need to be rigged with assist hooks when chasing billfish, and the video below shows how to rig the DTX minnow for this purpose. The madscad, Riptide and Maverick can all be rigged the same way, just using the belly eyelet to attach the assist cord, or just using a single assist cord and a reasonable size hook on the tail eyelet only. Either method works well, but the use of an assist greatly increases hookup rates and reduces the chance of the lure being thrown when the fish jumps.
The Riptide 200 is particularly effective when trolled from the rigger, and the combination of skittering over the surface and swimming is something that many marlin and sailfish.
