Fish were spooky; saw 3 or 4 tailers as the tide was just coming in but theyd show their tail once or twice then disappear. Got close enough to cast my only piece of blue crab within 15 feet of the third one but he disappeared too. Big tide this morning, so at slack high, water was really too deep to expect to see any fish out of water. I was just walking back, pretty much resigned to the fact that the door had shut, and spotted a horse underneath the water clear as day moving really slow almost parallel to me; was shocked he didnt spook out given how close I was and was even more shocked when he grabbed my jerkbait 10 feet from where I was standing.
We were so close to the tall grass, he immediately ran to it he had plenty of energy left, and I didnt have enough line out to attempt horsing him out. Had to follow him to and through the tall grass, picking my line through the weeds, until we got to the other side in deeper (waist+ deep) water. Wore him out and finally lipped him after a couple minutes 7-8 lbs. It was an Indiana Jones like capture.cant believe my line held up in that tall grass no leader & very little 10 lb test between me and the fish.
I disagree.. Lighter line makes for a fair fight. Of course, only if you are using a circle hook. My go-to rig is spooled with 8# braid and I use 20# mono leader. Patience is the key to landing a biggun.
I disagree.. Lighter line makes for a fair fight. Of course, only if you are using a circle hook. My go-to rig is spooled with 8# braid and I use 20# mono leader. Patience is the key to landing a biggun.
Once the fish is hooked, the "fair" thing to do is to not let the fish break off with 20 or 30 or 50 yards of fishing line trailing out of the fishes mouth. And "patience" just makes YOU feel better. Not better for the fish.
if he breaks you off, 9 times out of 10 it is going to happen at the hook…actually can’t say I’ve ever broken a fish off and not reeled back in the exact amount of line that he took. I agree on using slightly heavier line though.
if he breaks you off, 9 times out of 10 it is going to happen at the hook…actually can’t say I’ve ever broken a fish off and not reeled back in the exact amount of line that he took. I agree on using slightly heavier line though.
I disagree.. Lighter line makes for a fair fight. Of course, only if you are using a circle hook. My go-to rig is spooled with 8# braid and I use 20# mono leader. Patience is the key to landing a biggun.
Kind of takes the whole point out of catch and release fishing if you cripple the fish by playing him out on ultralight tackle. Save that **** for the non-slot species. Protect the redfish that know how to tail the flats.
