Getting the most out of your Nomad Design Madmacs and DTX Minnows starts with the right rigging and lure placement.
Join Nomad Design founder Damon Olsen as he explains how to rig and run these lures for offshore species including Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Marlin and Mackerel.
Both lure families are built for offshore trolling, but they play different roles in your spread. DTX Minnows are designed to dive and work deeper in the water column, while Madmacs are built for fast trolling with a tight, high-speed swimming action.
Keep Your Rigging Simple
With both Madmacs and DTX Minnows, less is more. Large or unnecessary hardware creates additional drag and can affect how the lure swims.
For the best performance:
- Keep connections small, clean and streamlined.
- Tie or crimp your leader or wire directly to the lure's tow point where possible.
- Avoid unnecessary snaps, clips and bulky swivels at the lure.
- Keep knots, crimps and tag ends neat.
- Use the original hook size and style wherever possible.
Both Madmacs and DTX Minnows feature Patented Autotune™ Technology, helping the lure maintain a straight and consistent swimming action. Clean rigging allows the Autotune system to work as intended.
Recommended Leader and Wire
Your exact leader setup will depend on the species, lure size and tackle you're using. For larger offshore setups, a good starting point is:
- 150–200lb mono leader for tuna, heavier for XL tuna
- 140lb single-strand wire for Wahoo, Mackerel and other toothy species
- Up to 250lb multi-strand cable when additional bite protection is required
Keep the final connection to the lure as streamlined as possible. On deep-diving DTX Minnows in particular, smaller connections can help the lure achieve greater depth.
How to Run Madmacs
The Madmacs is built for offshore trolling and really comes into its own when targeting fast-moving pelagic species such as Wahoo and Tuna.
Unlike the DTX Minnow, which is designed to dig down and hold depth, the Madmacs works higher in the water column with a tight, high-speed action.
Position your Madmacs well behind the boat in clean water, away from heavy prop wash. A good starting point is around 50–100 meters (165–330ft) behind the boat, then adjust depending on your boat, sea conditions and the rest of your trolling spread.
When running multiple Madmacs, stagger them at different distances rather than placing every lure the same distance behind the boat. This helps separate the lures and allows you to cover more of the water behind the boat.
Before putting the rod in the holder, watch the lure beside the boat and make sure it is swimming consistently. If it isn't tracking correctly, check your leader, connections and hooks before sending it back out.
Madmacs Rigging
A simple Madmacs trolling setup is:
Main line → mono leader → wire/cable bite leader → Madmacs
For Wahoo and other toothy fish, wire or cable is strongly recommended.
Keep everything strong enough for the target species, but avoid adding excessive hardware directly in front of the lure.
The larger Madmacs 160, 200 and 240 also create increased resistance as trolling speed rises, so make sure your rod and reel are capable of handling the constant trolling load, not just the size of fish you're targeting.
How to Run DTX Minnows
The DTX HD series is designed to dive and hold its position below the surface, giving you a completely different presentation to the Madmacs.
One of the most important factors when running a DTX is getting it away from turbulent prop wash.
As a general starting point, run larger DTX Minnows at least 60+ feet behind the boat. This gives the lure room to settle into its swimming action and begin diving properly.
For maximum depth, increasing the distance behind the boat can make a significant difference.
DTX 220 HD – Maximum Depth
The DTX 220 HD is built for serious deep offshore trolling and can be trolled between 4–12 knots.
When trolled approximately 200 feet behind the boat at 5–9 knots, the DTX 220 HD can reach around 50 feet, with additional depth possible when using lighter braid such as 65–80lb.
Keep in mind that the DTX 220 pulls surprisingly hard. We've measured drag loads exceeding 20lb on larger DTX models, particularly as trolling speed increases. This means your tackle needs to handle the constant pressure of the lure as well as the fish.
For extended trolling around 8–10 knots, we've successfully used setups including:
80–100lb braid → 12–15ft of 80–150lb mono leader → wire trace → DTX 220 HD
We've run these setups extensively using Penn International 30W and 70W reels with 50lb-class trolling rods.
Lighter reels may be capable of landing the fish, but the bigger consideration is whether the entire setup can comfortably handle the sustained lure load for hours at a time.
DTX 200 HD – Fast and Deep
The DTX 200 HD is an excellent option when you want to cover water while keeping your lure deep in the strike zone.
It will hold its swimming action at speeds of up to 12 knots and can achieve 40+ feet of depth when trolled around 6–8 knots under suitable conditions.
This makes it a versatile option for Wahoo, Tuna, Mackerel and other offshore pelagics.
DTX 180 HD Shallow – High-Speed Trolling
The DTX 180 HD Shallow is part of the Nomad Squall Runner series and is designed for a very different job.
It can be trolled at 18+ knots while running at approximately 10 feet, making it ideal for keeping a lure in the water while travelling between fishing grounds.
Instead of pulling the entire spread when moving spots, the DTX 180 HD Shallow gives you the opportunity to keep fishing along the way.
Running Madmacs and DTX Together
One of the advantages of these two lure families is that they can provide very different presentations within the same offshore spread.
A Madmacs can work higher in the water column, while a DTX Minnow gets down deeper, allowing you to cover multiple depths while searching for fish.
For Wahoo in particular, this can be an extremely effective combination.
Every boat produces a different wake, so don't focus only on an exact distance. Watch your lures and adjust their position until they're running in clean water with a strong, consistent swimming action.
Final Tips
The key to getting the best performance from Madmacs and DTX Minnows is to keep your rigging simple and your connections streamlined.
Use tackle capable of handling the sustained trolling load, keep the lures clear of heavy prop wash and stay with the original hook specifications wherever possible.
Remember that actual running depth and performance can vary with trolling speed, line diameter, leader size, rigging, sea conditions and distance behind the boat.
Get those basics right and your Madmacs and DTX Minnows will spend more time swimming correctly and working effectively in the strike zone.
