How many times did you hear the popular phrase, “There is not “I” in Team”, when you were growing up? Playing team sports all of my life, I heard it plenty. One of the things I love about offshore fishing is that it really is a team activity. When I read all of the reports on the site, the words, “we caught”, are used in just about every report. When a particular boat wins a tournament normally people can tell you what boat did well, but many times cannot actually tell you which angler was on the rod. This is due to the fact that targeting large fish offshore and successfully landing these big, strong fish is truly a team effort.
For avid offshore anglers the importance of surrounding themselves with a few good people is the key to success. I have been on more than one boat when a large wahoo, dolphin, marlin, or a multiple hook-up of tuna is completed successfully. Afterward, there are high fives all around the boat because everyone played a part in the success. The boat handler kept the boat in the proper position, the person on the rod did their job to bring the fish to the boat, the person that handled the leader helped guide the fish so that another person could either gaff or tag the fish, and someone rigged the bait that attracted the fish to begin with.
When the anglers arrived at the fishing destination there was a process of looking at the conditions and deciding what type of spread to pull. This may have been a group- discussion or there may be one person that has a particular knowledge or knack for picking the right baits. During the entire fight there was constant communication from the driver of the boat to the angler and other people on the boat. They talked about how much line was out, which way the fish was heading, how tired the fish was getting, where they wanted to position the boat to have the best shot at the fish, and many other things.
Over a period of time each team begins to recognize certain strengths of their teammates. One person may be a really good gaff ha