Went out to the humps for the first REAL trip offshore and not to a reef. Headed out around 5:30 am and ran until we found warm water and trolled around all day, two big take downs that left just the mainline corkscrewed like the knots failed? I think one of 3 things happened
my fisherman knot sucks and need improvement or just not the right knot for trolling big game?
mainline on the reels need to be replaced
left the drag too high when setting the rods in the spread
Here is the damage for the first day of class
Port side taco outrigger mounts kept slipping back, would not hold a line out
-starboard outrigger pole would not fully extend, little button didn’t come out?
-1 ballyhoo skirt…gone man…just gone…
-1 Yo-Zuri cool FISHY AS F*&$ looking lure ($50+ea)…watched this one happen…I wanted that fish so bad!
-$280 in fuel
Caught 0 fish but had some baller ass sandwiches and the beer was cold! Amazing day on the water, can’t wait for next time!
</font id=“size6”>BOAT
</font id=“size4”>BREAK OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND
$280 in fuel is cheap…and you got home with a cold beer.
My yammies sip fuel like a fine bourbon, slow and steady. I think it was something like 90 gallons when all said and done
But the sandwiches were amazing! Smoked cheese, smoked turkey, and ham washed down with a sweat water 420, HALLELUJAH!!!!!
Nothing in the world like a day on the salt.:smiley:
Ive popped mono not at the knot and got the pig tail before. If the lines not crap then it was the drag or knot. Id do the pull test on the line and knot to check them first, then check my drag. A sticmy drag can cause popped lines. If its popping close to the boat it is usually a rod issue. Max drag when a fish is running should be a third or less of the line strength. So if you got 30lb line less then 10lbs of drag or risk breaking off on a hard run. Conventional reels drags increase as the spools decrease. Some people say as much as a 3rd with each 3rd of a spool, so consider that when setting your spread. If you dump half to 2/3rds the spool on a far out line and full spool drag is 10 your drag is actually closer to 20lbs. 20lbs of drag on a fast run will blow most line under 50lbs and most knots are less than 100% of tbe line strength, so that adds in to the equation too. Most of the times we set the drag so line wont creep and fish the drag lite until the fish stops surging unless it looks like we are gonna get spooled. Then we increase the drag first, stop the boat second, and angle toward them to chase them down third.
Agree with everything except “angling toward fish”. Wouldn’t this put a belly in the line - like pulling a seine? I can understand chasing directly but it seems to me that water friction on long lengths of line adds greatly to the real line stresses involved, especially if it is being dragged sideways. Actually a complicated subject…
quote:Originally posted by 40inchreds
Ive popped mono not at the knot and got the pig tail before. If the lines not crap then it was the drag or knot. Id do the pull test on the line and knot to check them first, then check my drag. A sticmy drag can cause popped lines. If its popping close to the boat it is usually a rod issue. Max drag when a fish is running should be a third or less of the line strength. So if you got 30lb line less then 10lbs of drag or risk breaking off on a hard run. Conventional reels drags increase as the spools decrease. Some people say as much as a 3rd with each 3rd of a spool, so consider that when setting your spread. If you dump half to 2/3rds the spool on a far out line and full spool drag is 10 your drag is actually closer to 20lbs. 20lbs of drag on a fast run will blow most line under 50lbs and most knots are less than 100% of tbe line strength, so that adds in to the equation too. Most of the times we set the drag so line wont creep and fish the drag lite until the fish stops surging unless it looks like we are gonna get spooled. Then we increase the drag first, stop the boat second, and angle toward them to chase them down third.
Agree on added drag but thats the last move before locking it down and lock down almost always pops the line and it takes to long to clear a spread to chase them down and a quick 180 to chase a fish is a good way to tangle a spread.
I would agree but for a fish that big our crew usually has the spread in ASAP. Then again we are usually pulling 50lb class or better.
Hooks, knots, connectors, line strength, line expended, water friction, drag consistency, drag seizure…a complicated business.
Another thing - all rigging and drags are tested before use - eliminates a lot of potential problems and worries when a good fish hits hard. It’s simple to screw a big hardware hook into some wood and use it for testing.
