Walter & Group...
Peter Morse comes in with a potential solution to Damon Newpher's fishing problem :
Gordy here's a shot of a world record claim Narrow barred mackerel I
caught a few weeks ago. We were anchored when I hooked up and by the
time we realised this was a really good fish and it was time to
pull
the anchor I had 300 meters of backing out and was in
complete
freespool. Its pretty easy to panic and think that
tightening the
drag in a situation where water pressure is going to
play such a big
part in the fight is the solution. If you run a
hundred yards of line
out behind the boat at 20 knots you soon realise
the forces that are
working on a fish and the tippet from water
pressure alone and that's
just with the line running straight out
behind the boat - add to that
a belly and some good honest head shakes
or a jump or two and things
start to red line very quickly. I always
set a light drag initially. I
really like reels that go from freespool
to lock up with a single turn
and its even better when the drag
adjustment knob is numbered.
Re the brown trout in a river on 5X and
6X.
My first step, if it worked and you could get bites, would be to
fish
heavier tippets. I would also make sure my knots were as near to
100%
as is possible to get them and I would load my rod up with a
few
different angle bends to find out just how much or how little
pressure
I was putting on the fish end - a set of scales is a pretty
good way
of measuring this, attach these to the leader, secure the
scales to
something very heavy and start pulling. You can get scales
that will
record the weight of your pull.
Browns also have a
habit of thrashing on the surface if you hold them
hard and I would
try to get the fish's head up to start it thrashing
because then they
go nowhere.
If it did take off downstream I would apply side pressure -
how much
is of course dependent upon your tippet strength, your knots
and your
hook strength. In my experience trout do like being
bullied and
pulled from all kinds of angles, I would work them over
like a tarpon
and constantly change the angle of pull.
Peter
Morse
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Peter...
Congratulations on a Great catch ! I placed your picture in an attachment to this message.
I caught several of these off Queensland Au. and can attest to the fact that they are great fighters.... "reel screamers".
Hope your World record claim goes through successfully !
I DO agree with the use of the heaviest tippet which can be used and still gain the strike. Reason ? I want to land the fish before the creature gets so fatigued that a successful release is jeapordized..... didn't think that way in past years as I tried for records on frog hair tippets.
There does come a time when the only thing you can do is to judiciously and slowly increase your drag when you seem to have reached a stalemate as you battle a fish way out there or having sounded in deep water. That's when I'll sometimes pop the tippet..... or with "heart in mouth" get to make a successful catch. I recall one memorable catch made by my brother, Dave Hill in Panama years ago. He had a black marlin which had sounded and then "hung" in a stalemate for the longest time with the spool arbor almost showing. He very slowly increased his drag just enough and was able to pump the critter up, one painful turn after another. That fish was, in the Panamanian dialect, "enredada del cola" ....... leader wrapped around the tail.
I have fished a reel which goes from free spool or light drag to instant lock-up. I can do that, however, with my direct drive reels by "locking up" with my hand on the rim drag.
Back in the 70's, Capt. Bob McChristian of Miami, came out with a superbly built big game salt water fly reel which was called a "Duel Mode" model. A perfect jewel ..... took about 5 years for him to make one for me. It was an anti reverse reel until you began to reel in.... at this point, it went into direct drive mode. Many anglers favored this. I was not one of them, because I had gotten so used to the direct drive reels that I even used them for bluefin tuna and billfish. While gaining experience with these, I learned all too well the meaning of the word KNUCKLEDUSTER ! I don't recommend these direct drive models for the fisherman who is trying for the first time to tackle these big salty pelagics.
One way to prepare for fishing big salty critters with a direct drive reel is the way I've done it in the past. I'd fish for large trout and salmon using a Hardy Marquis (very light frame reel with only a rim drag and just enough built in click resistance to minimize the chance of a backlash.) Then I used it for fishing snook and redfish as well as bonefish. I loved what we called the "Hardy screech" as the fish ran ! (Helped keep the bears away when fishing in Alaska.)
Comment on casting when fishing the flats......I join several of our best guides and fly fishermen in the Keys with this opinion:
I discourage the use of the so-called SALT WATER QUICK CAST or "speed cast" when fishing folks on my skiff unless they have demonstrated expertise with it under pressure. It is a prescription for instant disaster as the angler stands on the bow as a school of big tarpon approach in crystal clear water only 2 feet deep.
His knees knock, his eyes bulge and his hair seems to stand on end. His whole body seems to be vibrant with a mixture of terror and ecstasy He's at FEVER PITCH !! Then I give the command to cast............
The line ends up all over the place.... sometimes even back around me and my push-pole ! I have had this happen with some of the very best casters in the world..... folks we all rightfully admire on the tournament casting circuit. This does NOT include Steve Rajeff who is truly expert at it and can handle any amount of pressure.
I know of no one who does & teaches these casts better than Lefty. His descriptions and photo's (by Jay Nichols & Lefty) of the various ways of making these speed casts properly are the best I've heard or seen.
Ref: CASTING WITH LEFTY KREH, Lefty Kreh: photos by Jay Nichols, 2008, ISBN- 13: 978-0-8117-0369-7. pp. 373-384.
Lefty, Jim Valle and I will be demonstrating these and other casts / presentations in our Workshop at the Conclave at Loveland, Co. coming up soon. Don't know if we can supply the terror and the ecstasy, though.
Gordy
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