Great Day this past Saturday. Started off with a couple cows, cuda, and sharks. Later in the day found a nice weed line. Tons of peanuts that wouldn’t eat. Saw what appeared to be a 12’-14’ shark. We had our first billfish. We are pretty sure it was a white marlin but would like to get a more seasoned opinion. Should we have done anything differently? Besides losing our first bill, overall great day Saturday on “INcompletely.” Thanks for all your help.
Looks like ya’ll had a good day.
The only thing I see that I would have done different is to keep the boat moving at a steady clip. Stay in front and off to the side of the fish. That way you can somewhat control where the fish is going.
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Thanks for the advice. Do you think it was a white?
Sailfish
Thanks,
Paul
GW 257 Advance
definitely a sail. like brianh suggested, keep the boat moving forward. that helps keep the fish towards the surface and not diving straight down. also improves your side to side range in terms of fighting the fish. looks like the angler kept the line on the port side of the vessel when the fish had clearly gone deep and starboard, adding to the drag/pressure. if he was going to fight the fish from the bow, he should have gone with the rod tip where the fish was going.
That makes sense. One more question. We had some friends of ours on their maiden voyage go out Saturday and they also caught a sail. When it got to the boat one of the boaters was reaching for the leader when the fish jumped and broke the line. This is also on video and you can see the fish’s bill get to close for comfort to the guy’s face pulling in the leader. Should the wish be worn down more? I wouldn’t think that would be good for the fish? How do you know it is safe to reach down for the bill? Thanks again for the help.
quote:
Originally posted by CRSThat makes sense. One more question. We had some friends of ours on their maiden voyage go out Saturday and they also caught a sail. When it got to the boat one of the boaters was reaching for the leader when the fish jumped and broke the line. This is also on video and you can see the fish’s bill get to close for comfort to the guy’s face pulling in the leader. Should the wish be worn down more? I wouldn’t think that would be good for the fish? How do you know it is safe to reach down for the bill? Thanks again for the help.
There is always a risk when trying to leader a billfish… even experienced mates get hurt from time to time. need to have good technique and quick feet. not something you can really explain on a message board post.
I would never wear the fish down on purpose …If the sailfish is green and you are using light leader (say #60lb or less) just take few wraps and pop the line after you grab the leader and don’t mess with the fish. If you can’t pop the leader then do your best to control the fish and get a hold of the bill to control it.
another bit of advice…get those rods off the back transom and out of the way so the angler can switch sides easily if the fish runs and so he can easily maneuver the rod and fish away from the props. really tough to do that when there are 4 rods in the way.
quote:
Originally posted by shevlinquote:
Originally posted by CRSThat makes sense. One more question. We had some friends of ours on their maiden voyage go out Saturday and they also caught a sail. When it got to the boat one of the boaters was reaching for the leader when the fish jumped and broke the line. This is also on video and you can see the fish’s bill get to close for comfort to the guy’s face pulling in the leader. Should the wish be worn down more? I wouldn’t think that would be good for the fish? How do you know it is safe to reach down for the bill? Thanks again for the help.
There is always a risk when trying to leader a billfish… even experienced mates get hurt from time to time. need to have good technique and quick feet. not something you can really explain on a message board post.
I would never wear the fish down on purpose …If the sailfish is green and you are using light leader (say #60lb or less) just take few wraps and pop the line after you grab the leader and don’t mess with the fish. If you can’t pop the leader then do your best to control the fish and get a hold of the bill to control it.
another bit of advice…get those rods off the back transom and out of the way so the angler can switch sides easily if the fish runs and so he can easily maneuver the rod and fish away from the props. really tough to do that when there are 4 rods in the way.
GREAT advice, and for the love of Billfish, take your pics IN the water! We were all excited when we caught our first one, but save the fish for my kids to catch one day
great movie
Thanks for all the advice. I have been an inshore angler my whole life but am still learning the ways of offshore fishing. I have tons of questions so thanks again to y’all veterans.
Great video, nice sailfish too. Did anyone touch the leader? That makes it caught 
Yall got most of the goody out of it anyway, and pictures to prove it.
What everyone else said, keep the boat moving about 6 kts and clear all those rods. I try to keep the fish in the same position relative to the boat. If it’s on the port side I make wide circles to port, always keeping the fish on the inside of the turn. Use the boat to put the fish where you want it, and keep it there.
Grabbing the bill is a dangerous moment, never put yourself in a position where it is pointing at you, always keep that thing pointing away. One stroke of it’s tail will run you through. Consider it a cocked and loaded gun, and always think about what it will hit when it goes off.
And sometimes when you do everything right, you still lose the fish, which is why we call it fishing
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
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All good advice above. If you do grab the bill, grab it with both thumbs pointing towards each other from one side, that way it is easier to control and push away from you if fish gets to thrashing. I’ll usually try to grab it about a third of the distance of the bill from the fishes mouth, that way you don’t break the end of it’s bill off.
Russ B.
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