I have a question that has puzzled me for a few years and wanted to hear your opinions on it. A few years back I went down to the keys to do some tarpon fishing. I don’t know much about it, but I have heard that a lot of times you lose tarpon once you hook them up. It also seems like a lot of people lose billfish (including me) once hooked up during their jumping shows. The guide I fished with down in key west told me to “bow to the king” when hooked up on a tarpon meaning when he jumps, lay the rod flat and lunge forward to put slack in the line while he is waiving in the air. I think we were 5 for 5 on the tarpon that week doing this tactic. I have never heard anyone attempt this on a billfish, but I am just wondering what the difference is that would make this work on jumping tarpon as opposed to billfish. It obviously wouldn’t work with the boat moving forward, but has anyone ever heard of this? Or every thought about throwing the boat in neutral and “bowing to the king” when hooked up on a billfish? Just wondering if this might reduce the thrown hooks on a jumping bill. I don’t think I am going to try this but I was just curious what others thought.
sounds plausible!!
19’ Key West CC 140 Johnson
16’ War Eagle 40 Yami
12’ Alumacraft 1954 Johnson 5.5
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Tarpon have sharp gill plates and when the jump and shake their head they can cut the line if the is pressure when the line come across that area, that is why you bow to them to release the pressure on the line.
billfish throw the hook out when there is no pressure. A heavy 10/0 hookset gets heavy and when not under pressure gets tossed