World Record Pacific Bonefish from Honolulu, Hawaii

Triana holds seven all tackle and line class records for Pacific bones, including one 10-pounder.

“Pacific bonefish on ultra light tackle in Hawaii has been the most challenging record to break,” notes Triana. “It’s difficult to find a Pacific bonefish large enough to eclipse an existing record, because those
larger specimens are few and far between, and spook so easily.”  

World Record Yelloweye Rockfish from Seward, Alaska

Triana has captured 19 IGFA records in this small town two and a half hours south of Anchorage. Among the record-breaking species: yelloweye rockfish and Pacific cod.

“These species are some of the oldest fish on the planet, reaching 80 to 100 years old,” says Triana. “Having the opportunity to fish for large specimens gives you multiple chances to encounter that perfect fish.”

World Record Grass Carp in Miami, Florida

Triana’s hometown has provided him access to myriad oddball species including hornet tilapia, Orinoco sailfin catfish, Oscar, and a record-breaking 48-pound, 12-ounce grass carp caught in the suburb of Palmetto Bay.

“Grass carp were introduced into the South Florida canal systems decades ago to control the rapid growth of hydrilla weed that completely choked the waterways,” Triana explains. “They are the largest member of the minnow family, and grow to massive proportions.”

World Record Andalusian Barbel from Portugal

As Triana does for all his travels, including family trips, he researches species that are unique to the area. The Andalusian barbel record came in the summer of 2022 during a family vacation to Portugal, where they spent a good chunk of their time in the southern region of Algarve.

“The barbel is a common and popular freshwater game fish in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe,” Triana says. “They belong to the carp family, and can be found in river systems and reservoirs.”  

World Record Talang Queenfish from Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Before it was the megalopolis of today, Dubai was a fishing village, and Triana’s research revealed that Talang queenfish is a popular game fish in the Persian Gulf. Triana made the trip with his family in March 2022.

“I rigged a Clouser fly with 6-pound tippet, and waited for the chance to cast,” he says. “Like a light switch, schools of talang queenfish appeared all around the boat chasing small minnows. A queenfish attacked the fly. It fights down and dirty like a jack crevalle, but jumps like a tarpon. After multiple loops around the boat, I landed the fish.”

World Record Black Durgon from Varadero, Cuba

Triana wanted to explore the untapped reef fishery, but Cuba only allowed government-run fishing vessels that troll outside the reef line.

“We anchored in the clearest water I’ve ever seen, and I break out my light spinning rods with 6-pound-test line, and diced-up lobster for bait,” Triana recalls. “I can see the school of black durgon on the bottom.” He caught a 2-pound fish, topping the existing record of 1 pound, 14 ounces.

World Record Tiger Trout in Salt River, Wyoming

Call it world record by bycatch. While fly fishing along the banks of the Salt River in search of brown trout, Triana caught a baby tiger trout. He quickly made his way back to his car to reference the IGFA yearbook he always travels with to check the tiger trout records.

“I saw there was only a 2-pound fish as the existing record on 6-pound-test line class. I quickly put together my 6-pound spinning outfit and began casting a fly. It wasn’t too long before caught another tiger trout in the same exact area.” Except this time, it was a much larger specimen.

World Record Collared Large-Eye Bream from the Great Barrier Reef

Triana traveled to Australia in 2001 hoping to catch a black marlin. After the liveaboard anchored up one evening, “I rigged up one of my light tackle rods and began bottom fishing, catching a multitude of species,” Triana recalls. “One of them was a very big collared large-eye bream. I kept it on ice until I had a chance to do some research the next day.” It turned out he had caught an IGFA world record.

The post One Man’s Hunt for Record Fish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Ancient Greeks believed the sun god Helios, offspring of Hyperion and Theia, crossed the heavens every day in a burning chariot. With our modern sensibilities, we snicker and guffaw at our simple-minded forebears for ascribing deity status to a sky-crossing orb of flame. Oh, the naivety!

Actually, a significant cohort exists among south Louisiana anglers who rival the early Grecians in their love, worship and adoration for the almighty Helios. These are the guys who push their boats and motors to the absolute limits to access glorified mud puddles deep in the Louisiana marsh, places that seem inaccessible and entirely too shallow to support any fish bigger than a bluegill.

But somehow, these backwaters — colloquially referred to as “duck ponds” — are exactly where thick-bodied redfish want to be, engaging in a Sisyphean quest to fill their bottomless bellies. The duck ponds are an all-you-can-eat buffet of crabs, shrimp, killifish and finger mullet, and the reds push into them in numbers from one to hundreds and absolutely terrorize the local baitfish population.

Sight Fishing for Louisiana’s Redfish

In these backwater ponds, which are often filtered by submerged aquatic vegetation, water clarity can range from gin-clear to tannic, and the redfish in them glow like stop signs — but only when the sun’s out. In fact, under a cloudless sky, the fish are so easy to spot, shallow-water anglers won’t even make a blind cast. I mean, what’s the point? They’ll simply pole around in the really shallow stuff or use a trolling motor in water that’s deep enough for it, and scan the water through polarized sunglasses, searching for the fish. Baits dangle patiently at the ends of rods, eagerly awaiting the moment a fish is spotted and they can fulfill their purpose.

Accurate casts are absolutely critical, and placement depends entirely on the demeanor and angle of the fish. Generally, an angler wants to cast past the red at a trajectory that will allow the lure to be retrieved a couple feet ahead of the fish. On some days, it’s best to drop the lure when the fish first sees it, and on others, bites are triggered when the angler plays keep away with the lure. Bites are intense, as the clear water allows every aspect of the take to be witnessed — the charging at the bait, the flaring of the gills and the vanishing of the lure as it’s sucked, along with the water around it, into the gaping maw of a hungry redfish.

Then the fights are the ultimate in intensity. Hook a redfish in a deep bayou, and it will head immediately for the bottom, trying to pull you, your rod and your boat down with it. But in the shallows, that’s not an option, so the fish strips as much line as it can on its first run, and then circles the boat like a distance runner on an Olympic track. That’s especially true with fish that locals call “overs” — redfish that stretch beyond the 27-inch maximum size limit.

Oversize Redfish in the Marsh

Biologists say that’s right around the size that redfish mature sexually and get the urge to move out to the Gulf to spawn. But many are late-bloomers that seem stuck in perpetual adolescence and refuse to put on their big-boy pants. Sometimes fish up to 35 inches are encountered in the ponds.

Regardless of size, these shallow, clear-water fish are the prettiest seen anywhere. Like chameleons, their skin changes color to suit their environment. Deep-water or dirty-water reds will be silver in color, with dark-bronze or brown backs, but in the shallows, the fish are bright orange, with the rich color often extending all the way around their normally white bellies.

This trait obviously gives them some camouflage advantage when targeting prey, but it completely betrays them when they themselves are the prey. Even Ray Charles could spot them. But only when the sun’s out. On cloudy days, the fish are nearly impossible to see, and lots of blind casts are necessary for success. It’s still fun and productive, but there’s nothing like casting to a fish you see and watching it suck in a lure. That’s why shallow-water redfish anglers are strict adherents to a religion, and Helios is their god.

The post Sight Fishing Louisiana’s Duck Ponds appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

I eyed a spot at the southwestern tip of the Cameron, Louisiana, jetties and made a cast. My lipless crankbait hit the water.

As the lure sank, I began my normal seven-count before making the first pull. I stopped at three. It felt as if the lure had hit a rock and got stuck, so I set the hook — just in case.

The rod immediately doubled over, the drag screamed, and for the next 15 minutes, a super-sized redfish put my muscles and tackle to the test.

Catching redfish is fun. Catching big redfish is really fun. And one of the best ways to do that in early fall is with crankbaits at jetties.

Gearing Up for Fishing Crankbaits

Endless varieties of crankbaits flood the market, especially for bass fishing, but the most effective crankbaits for redfish are lipless.

As the name implies, these lures feature no protruding lip, a characteristic that allows this kind of bait to be fished at specific depths. Lipless versions can be more versatile because the angler essentially controls the fishing depth.

Rat-L-Trap has long led the industry, but my favorite is the Super Pogy by Bomber Saltwater Grade. It comes with a high-pitch rattle that I’ve found effective. Other options include the Nobondo Lipless Crankbait, Nomad Design Madscad and Biospawn Rattle Bot.

Best colors include chrome, white/black, chrome/pink, and bronze. I use a casting reel rigged with a 30-pound green P-line braid tied directly to the lure because I fish in dingy water. In clear water, add a 36-inch fluorocarbon leader if needed.

I like a medium-heavy action, 7 1/2-foot rod but have a particular preference for its composition. I learned about this while fishing over the years with four-time Bassmaster Classic champion and living legend Rick Clunn.

Super-sensitive rods actually work against you when fishing with crankbaits, Clunn told me. A fish actually pushes the lure in pursuit; if you’re fishing a super-sensitive (graphite/composite) rod, you’ll set the hook before the fish actually has the lure.

Clunn collaborated with Wright & McGill a few years back to create the S-Glass Series of rods that incorporate traditional fiberglass technology with a modern flare. I use these rods for crankbaits and have had serious success everywhere from the Mississippi River near Venice, La., to the Cameron jetties.

With glass rods, I have had far more hookups than misses because I can’t feel the bite until the fish takes the lure. You’ll find numerous fiberglass crankbait rods on the market, and they can make a massive difference in the pursuit of redfish.

Location and Technique

Around the jetties, start fishing near the boat cuts [Ed’s note: Texas jetties feature breaks in the rock wall about halfway out that allow small boats through] to take advantage of reds foraging on baitfish moving between the channel and Gulf side of the jetty rocks. “You get shrimp, shad and crabs pushing through, and the reds will move in and feed,” says veteran jetty angler Bill Killian.

Anchor up-current of the cut and work the lure against the flow. “Throw it out toward the cut, let it sink a few seconds, and then reel it in as fast as you can. The pressure of the current will allow the rattles to work really well,” he says.

Also look for jetty reds in the deep holes usually found around the southern tip of the rocks and northward about 50 yards. At these spots, the current wraps around the jetty structure and carves out large holes. Reds congregate around large boulders that have fallen off the main wall into these holes.

Read Next: More Redfish Fishing Tips

Throw out the crankbait, let it sink to the level of the rocks, and rip it. I pull a few feet and then reel a couple of cranks. Repeat that three or four times and recast. The reds usually hit just after the first pull and sometimes on the fall.

While it might sound counterintuitive, if you see dolphins feeding in the area, that’s a fortunate sign.

In my logbook, I’ve noted dolphins feeding in the vicinity every time I’ve caught lots of bull reds. The times we had fewer fish, I saw no dolphins feeding. The presence of dolphins often indicates menhaden, a primary forage species for big reds.

Releasing for the Future

As everything from algae blooms to bycatch in the menhaden fishery puts pressure on redfish populations, catch-and-release becomes increasingly important — particularly for the big, breeding-size reds that inhabit jetty systems.

Scientists say the discard mortality rate for all sizes of redfish averages around 8 percent, though the type of terminal tackle used plays a major role. In general, lures deep-hook fewer fish than J-hooked natural baits.

In fact, one fish Killian caught at a nearshore gas platform off the Sabine Pass, which I tagged for Texas Sea Grant, made a reappearance three weeks later two miles away at the Sabine jetties. As the super fat bull redfish surfaced, Killian netted it. We quickly noticed a tag covered with slime.

I removed the growth, and my heart raced as I realized the tag said Sea Grant.

After examining our data, we realized it was the same fish Killian caught a few weeks before. It taught me firsthand that releasing big fish pays off, and I will carry that and deep respect for these bulls with me for the rest of my life.

The post Fishing Crankbaits for Gulf Jetty Redfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

An angler on an overnight tuna and swordfish charter out of Narragansett, Rhode Island, caught the largest mahi-mahi the state has ever seen in late August. Fishing with Maridee Charters, angler Karl Mohr, of New York, battled the 37.56-pound, 59-inch dolphinfish to the gaff.

“We were pumped. I’ve never seen one that big,” said AJ Dangelo, who was running the deck for his father, Capt. Andy Dangelo. “It’s not typical to see mahi in our area over 10 pounds. You see a few big ones every year, but nothing that big.”

Juvenile mahi move into the waters off New England with warm Gulf Stream currents in summer. They congregate around “high flyers,” which are tall buoys with radar reflectors to help lobstermen find their pots. The mahi are a popular plan-B target when the tuna fishing is slow.

Doubled Up on Big Mahi

During Mohr’s trip, Capt. Dangelo had taken them about 85 miles offshore to an area known as Fishtails. They were trolling over about 700 feet of water, right on the north edge of Block Canyon.

AJ said Capt. Andy was pushing to see how close he could pull his spread to the buoys when they doubled up on mahi.

“The first one we got to the boat was a nice cow, maybe 15 pounds,” AJ said. “And I told the angler it was a good fish. I didn’t think the other one we had on was a mahi, because it wasn’t coming in like one.”

When AJ gaffed the second fish and brought it over the rail, he knew they had caught something special. The big mahi should replace a record that has stood for nearly 30 years. Although Rhode Island doesn’t officially recognize dolphinfish for state records, it does list a 32-pound, 4-ounce, 58.5-inch mahi caught in 1995 as a “Notable Catch.”

With this fish, AJ thinks he’s found a lucky combination for Meridee. Two years ago, Mohr caught a giant wahoo that would have been a record if they had documented it properly. The big wahoo and the record mahi both came on the same Sterling Tackle spreader bar—same lure, same angler.

Mohr’s wahoo weighed 91 pounds, “with the guts out,” AJ said. Also listed as a “Notable Catch,” the largest Rhode Island wahoo on record was caught in 1998 and weighed 80 pounds.

In case you’re curious about what an overnight trip out of Rhode Island looks like, AJ said they troll for yellowfin and big eye tuna during the day and spend the night swordfishing.

“It’s a blast,” he said. “They look like zombies when they get back to the dock. They’re all delirious. People try to get some sleep here and there, but everyone’s so excited that it’s hard to sleep.”

The post Huge Mahi Tops 30-Year-Old Record appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Sunup at Ferry Beach, near Scarborough, Maine, had us excited to catch striped bass. The Scarborough, Nonesuch and Libby rivers dump into the Gulf of Maine, and that’s where we wanted to be as the sun popped above the horizon. Summer warmth kept us comfortable as we launched our kayaks and headed toward the pass.

Nearby, we heard a huge splash from a mystery fish that no one was able to get eyes on. The whole group turned toward the sound. “Probably a sturgeon,” guessed nearby kayak angler Daniel McFetridge, Old Town kayaks’ e-commerce and digital marketing manager.

Fighting an incoming tide, most of us were using the ePDL+ drive that propels Old Town kayaks via a lithium battery. Of course, anglers can assist and pedal with their feet for extra power. Ryan Lilly, marketing director at Old Town, was the first one to the spot which was chock-full of underwater boulders and feeding stripers.

A strong incoming tide made the area really hard to fish. We had to hold position in the cut and make pinpoint casts. A kayak with a spot-lock trolling motor might have been able to handle it, if the motor was strong enough to stay in position in the heavy current. Maine regularly experiences 8-foot tides, with little slack tide between the rising and the falling.

With his ePDL+ nearly at full power, Lilly locked his rudder steering in place to slice into the current. He was then able to stand up and make long casts close to shore. Prospecting with a topwater, Lilly hooked up on his third toss. And then a couple casts later.

The rest of us couldn’t replicate what he was doing. Some of us didn’t quite have the battery power to fight the current, which then required us to pedal sitting down. And sitting down meant we didn’t have enough casting distance to reach the fish. I didn’t risk moving closer to the fish, fearing I might run into submerged boulders. Soon the tide began to slow, the bite shut down, and Atlantic sturgeon were jumping around us so frequently I thought I’d become a pancake.

It was one of the most unique ways I’ve seen someone stand and fish from a kayak. Lilly obviously had experience standing in a kayak, which is necessary to fish an inlet. But I never thought I’d see standing — not sitting — kayak anglers fishing inlets and jetty rocks during a roaring tide. The experience made me think of two other instances on that recent summer trip to Maine when standing in a kayak was better than just sitting.

The Path Forward

On the backside of an island in Casco Bay, Maine, we dissected a shoreline in a way that any veteran Bassmaster would appreciate. Joe Albanese, editor in chief at Wired2Fish, and I cast plugs, Z-Mans and Slug-Gos at fishy-looking grass edges and rocky shorelines in the lee of the island.

We stood in our Old Town Sportsman BigWater kayaks, recognizing the higher elevation was a huge asset in this type of fishing. In the background, gray storm clouds blew up like popcorn near the Sandy Point Bridge. We needed every bit of sunlight and height to find the spots we wanted to land our lures. Albanese struck pay dirt first when he landed a striper off some vegetation. The striped bass were definitely selective in the heart of the afternoon.

Here’s how I handled it:

1. Standing in the 3-foot-wide kayak wasn’t a problem. Most wide kayaks with a wide-flat hull are plenty stable to stand up in. Standing is more of a confidence issue than anything. When you trust your footing, you don’t overcompensate and cause problems. Utilize a wide stance and loose knees to ride the swells, just like in a bigger boat. I’ve fished a ton in kayaks; be wary of kayaks that are too long-and-skinny or seemingly too lightweight for their size. Those are the ones most likely to dump you in the water while standing.
2. Next, I set the ePDL+ drive on its lowest setting to slowly creep along the shoreline. Every once in a while, I had to make an adjustment to my course, but it was as simple as making a rudder correction with the hand knob.
3. Finally, the other key element was skip casting. This was not as technical as casting underneath mangroves or docks, but I still used that underhand motion to land lures close to structure without making a huge splash. Executing a skip cast while sitting in a kayak isn’t easy.

Later that day, fishing a different part of the same island, we had success casting topwaters at a sandy beach and nearby shallow-water point. Out in open water, it was much less about precision casting — instead we were fan-casting a general area, looking for bait school marks on the side-scan sonar. Of course, we were standing and stretching our legs while casting.

In the Marsh

Sneaking back into the marsh was a blast. A certain type of angler from Texas to Maine really digs exploring a maze of shallow waters in search of surprisingly large gamefish. I’m that type of angler. Ideally, kayakers should allow a flood tide to push them into the labyrinth. But first, always make a stop at the entrance. That’s what we did and landed a couple striped bass off a flat. I let the current and wind drift me along a fishy stretch to maximize fishing time. 

Then it was onto the creeks. We had a short window — as we were fishing the outgoing tide — before the water left the creeks entirely. I had luck with an oversize Z-Man DieZel Minnow soft plastic. It looked like a hearty baitfish, or maybe an eel. And I didn’t have to sit down to re-rig or retie. Just grab what you need and pop right back up. Even releasing smaller striped bass was easy while standing.

The exploration was productive. Standing in a kayak in the marsh allowed me to see what was coming next, such as a creek mouth, island or shallow flat. In many cases, we were able to look over the marsh banks and reeds to prep for the next cast, which is something you just can’t do while sitting. With the water dropping, stripers were exiting quickly in the deepest water they could find. We had to lift up our pedal drives to float out, paddling over the shallowest points.  

Standing in a kayak takes getting used to, but most anglers become comfortable quickly. Start with a quality kayak in shallow water, and work your way up. Soon enough you’ll be fishing moving water in passes and inlets with the best of them.

The post A Balancing Act appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Normally, harvesting 108 red snapper from the South Atlantic might be enough to earn you some jail time. Not if you have Florida Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs).

Studies being conducted on Florida’s east coast right now are allowing recreational anglers to catch and keep red snapper, and there’s still plenty of opportunity to put your name in the hat for a chance at an EFP.

Team Buck Rogers Charters out of Jacksonville got their hands on four of these golden tickets known as EFPs, and they are busily cashing them in. With an allowance of 36 red snapper per trip, six lucky anglers likely have sore arms from pumping and reeling.

“We’re piling them up. We’ve got four permits and 36 snapper per trip, and we’re 100 percent so far,” said Capt. Chad Starling. “It’s not hard. We did it in 45 minutes. That’s what happens when it’s been shut down for 14 years.”

Fishing with an Exempted Fishing Permit

EFPs allow the take of out-of-season fish for scientific research. Team Buck Rogers is participating in one of three red snapper and grouper studies being conducted right now by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). With a captain, a mate, six anglers and an FWC representative onboard, they have fished three of these fast-paced meat runs on September 18, 19, 20. Starling is confident they’ll boat their 36 snapper a fourth time on Oct. 1.

“Every fish gets harvested,” Starling said. “I mean, you go out and fish for 45 minutes, keep everything you catch and then come back.”

In a social media post on Sept. 23, Team Buck Rogers said their captains have carpal tunnel syndrome from filleting fish and that they’re running through their Ziplock bags. The anglers get to keep the meat and FWC keeps the carcasses for study.

In a press release, FWC indicated these studies are intended to collaborate with anglers to collect data on red snapper and test ways to reduce red snapper discards. Starling said he hopes they’re looking at the fish from his boats and seeing all sizes and ages of red snapper, which would be evidence of a population that’s healthy enough to allow more regular harvest opportunities.

Since 2011, NOAA has managed South Atlantic red snapper under an intense rebuilding plan with extremely limited federal seasons and bag limits. It has worked well, according to the many captains and recreational anglers who say they are seeing more snapper than ever. Continued strict regulations are a source of building frustration. This summer in the Atlantic from North Carolina through Florida, NOAA—through the South Atlantic Marine Fishery Council—allowed recreational anglers just a single day to harvest one snapper per person.

“Like you, FWC is frustrated with the current state of Atlantic red snapper management,” said Jessica McCawley, director of FWC’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management. “We recognize that people are seeing more red snapper than ever on the water. These particular EFPs try to turn discarded fish into landed catch and improve angler satisfaction by testing different management measures.”

How to Get an Exempted Fishing Permit

The trips Team Buck Rogers Charters takes with its clients are part of a program called FWC Study Fleet. FWC selects five charter captains every three months to participate by fishing Atlantic waters off northern Florida. To get in on one of these trips, private recreational anglers must likely be preferred clients of one of the captains selected.

For private recreational charter captains who want to get involved, eligibility details and enrollment information are available at myfwc.com. For instructions on how to apply watch this video.

There are also two programs that allow private recreational anglers to keep a few red snapper. The FWC Hot Spot Fleet program is for private Florida anglers who fish north of the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral. The SE FL Snapper Grouper Fleet program is for private anglers who fish south of that point.

“For years, FWC has heard that anglers want to directly provide data to improve the management of Atlantic red snapper,” said FWC chairman Rodney Barreto. “This is your opportunity to do so. Your participation is not just desired; it’s essential for these studies to be a success and improve management.”

Up to 200 private anglers will be selected for each fleet every three months by lottery. Each selected angler will be randomly assigned to a group, either experimental or control. There are different requirements for anglers fishing the two groups, and experimental group anglers will be allowed to harvest three snapper per day during official fleet trips.

All three fleet programs have three remaining application periods: Oct. 4-14, Jan. 3-13 and April 4-14.To learn more about these programs go to myfwc.com. For instructions on how to apply watch this video.

The post Harvest South Atlantic Red Snapper Now appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

I had just cracked open a drink when the fish came up. I set the brew on the bait tank, buckled in as a tuna slurped the bait, lifted the 80-wide Tiagra out of the holder and went to work. My beer was still ice cold when we gaffed the 192-pound yellowfin.

That short, effective fight depended on the 200-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, 40 pounds of drag and a true winch of a reel. But the gear doesn’t matter if you don’t use it right, and that means using its power to hurt tuna instead of yourself. I’m a big guy and I’ve caught hundreds of tuna over 100 pounds, but size doesn’t matter. I’ve seen little old ladies use the right techniques and catch fish much bigger than I ever have. My friend caught a 300-pound yellowfin on stand-up gear when he was 78.

Use a Harness and Pad to Fight Big Tuna

The key is a good harness and pad, and the ability to use it. One of my favorites is from AFTCO, designed by Greg Stotesbury. Stotesbury’s stand-up experience, like mine, is grounded in the San Diego long-range fleet. No offense, East Coasters, but most of you don’t know how to use a harness. Here’s how it works.

If you learn anything here it should be this: When fighting a fish, you should feel all the force transferred by the harness from the point of your hips down. You want the belt around your butt, not the small of your back.

In preparation, wear the harness before the bite. Wait until the fish is solidly hooked and pulling drag before you put the rod in the belt and clip in. Many fish are lost early when folks fumble with their gear instead of fighting the fish. Once you are fastened to the fish, attitude is everything. Stay calm and relaxed. Don’t let adrenaline and bad form hurt you.

How to Fight Tuna in a Fishing Harness

Proper form means good posture: Put your left hand on the reel to guide the line, with your right hand on the handle. Keep your back straight, and bend your knees enough to distribute the pressure across the tops of your quads and your backside.

Modern composite rods do all the work when kept at right angles to the rail. When the tip comes up, wind it back down. If you can’t turn the handle, switch the reel to low speed. Can’t keep up? Go to high speed. Don’t impart wild pumping motions. Instead, focus on the rod tip. Call out deep color when you see it, and wind the fish up to the gaff.

Safety Tips for Fighting Big Tunas

A couple of safety notes should be added. Every tuna is an individual, and where the hook ends up influences how the fish acts. Yellowfin tuna hooked in the upper jaw by the snout are notoriously squirrelly. You have to be prepared to react to the predictable and unpredictable, and that often means getting out of the harness.

Use S-hooks instead of clips to attach the harness to the reel lugs so you can get out quickly if necessary. And remember to back off the drag ­(gradually, don’t dump it into free-spool) when you need to get the rod out of the gimbal pad for maneuvers such as keeping the line out of the props.

How to Gain Line When Fighting Big Tuna

When you sit back and put on a lot of pressure, a fish will often run out high in the water column. Enjoy the fact that now the fish is on the losing end of the energy equation. This is the only time you can take a breather. When the fish stops, bear down on it. Try to get a turn on the handle, going to low gear if necessary.

Tuna will often respond to the ­pressure by diving in the direction of the boat, which provides you the opportunity to win back a bunch of line with no more effort than turning the handle. Be ready to go into high gear when the fish sounds, and take that easy line.

Once the fish goes into the final stage of the fight — straight up and down — it’s time to really put on the heat. Stay in one spot and keep the rod straight out from the rail. The tuna’s tail beats are reflected in the pumps of the rod tip as the fish circles — the more pressure, the tighter the circle. The tip of the rod will come up as the fish leaves the inside (closest to the boat) of the circle. That’s when you get those precious feet of line with several quick turns of the handle to bring the tip back down and keep the fish moving up. Don’t waste energy by stubbornly trying to turn the handle when you stop gaining line.

Most important, stay relaxed so you reserve the burst of energy and sharpness of mind that is usually called for at the end of the fight. Sometimes, a truly mean fish will say to hell with this and bust a big move. The telltale is an irritated shake of the head. You have to be ready to respond and follow. It’s usually over soon after that — one way or another.

The post Tuna Fishing with Stand Up Gear appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Our panga wallowed in a hefty Pacific swell just a few hundred yards off a rocky peninsula while the skipper used the engine to hold us in a position. The trick was to be safe yet close enough so that we could cast our lures into the sweet spot behind the heaving mass of green water. Balancing precariously on the raised foredeck, one angler launched a popper, an industrial-size lure subscribing a graceful arc. The second it splashed down behind the breaking crest of a swell, he snapped the spinner’s bail shut, and with stiff popping action, began plunging the cup-faced lure over the wave.

Moments later, the surface to the right of the popper boiled as a rusty brown shape suddenly appeared and inhaled the lure. The line came taut, the rod bent and — despite a nearly-locked-down drag — a cubera snapper of trophy proportions effortlessly ripped out yards of line on its first blistering run directly toward the reef.

As the angler reared back against the fish, a resounding crack reverberated around the boat. The rod had snapped about 12 inches from the tip, the line breaking in the process. Hero to zero in a fraction of a second. In disgust, the fellow threw his broken rod to the deck, loudly chastising its manufacturer for a poorly built product.

I’ve witnessed similar scenarios at numerous destinations around the world, noting that anglers often apportion blame on the manufacturer. Most often, though, I’ve been convinced that this has not been the case. But of course, suggesting that the fault might lie with the angler — who just lost a good fish, even perhaps the catch of a lifetime, and broke an expensive rod in the process — is not a good idea.

Admittedly, on a few rare occasions, I’ve felt that rod breakage probably resulted from some manufacturing defect. For example, many years ago during a trip I hosted to Norway, five anglers had each purchased identical four-piece travel rods specifically for the trip. Yet within a few short hours of fishing on the first morning, four of those rods had snapped. Each had failed in the exact same place, leaving little doubt that the rods were at fault.

Like most anglers, I have my own ideas and theories about how and why rods break when fighting fish, but rather than speculate, I sought the insight of leading industry insiders and ­experienced fishing guides on what causes rods to break under stress.

Three Reasons Fishing Rods Break

Trey Epich, a former product-planning manager with Shimano, cited the three causes of rods breaking in use:

1. The rod has been somehow damaged in transit or handling (in a way that doesn’t show);
2. High-sticking while fighting a fish;
3. Mismatched tackle, as when an angler fishes too large a reel or with line too heavy for a given rod.

Epich elaborated: “When fighting fish with an appropriate tackle system that matches the intended species, an angler should never have to wonder, If I pull too hard, will my rod break?” Epich mentioned important points to consider when choosing tackle. “Make sure your reel’s drag setting, line weight and rod ratings are all in alignment. For example, you shouldn’t try to fish a large saltwater spinning reel at a full drag setting on a rod that is rated for up to 30-pound-test. Also, I see anglers who have loaded relatively small reels with very thin, very strong braided lines that are way above the maximum rating for their rod.”

Too often, even knowledgeable anglers, in the excitement of battle (especially toward the endgame), hold rods skyward, an action known as high-sticking. Perhaps more rods break at that point than in any other in-use ­situation. To avoid that, Epich said to keep your rod at an angle between 45 and 60 degrees when hooked up.

The biggest cause of rod breakage invariably is misuse or mishandling, according to Justin Poe, formerly of Shimano and Accurate Fishing, but currently director of rods at Pure Fishing. “Oftentimes rods are broken before they’re broken.”

As examples, he cited a rod hitting a ceiling fan, being dropped against an immovable object, or allowing a sinker or jig hooked in a rod keeper to bang against the blank during the long run to a fishing spot. “While none of these things might leave a rod broken in an obvious way, as soon as the fibers expand or contract at the damaged spot during a fight with a good fish, that rod snaps.”

Christopher Cathcart, engineering manger at Pure Fishing, explained that “you’ll typically see a manufacturing defect show up pretty quickly, either when casting or fighting a fish. If a rod has been used for several months of fishing and then suddenly breaks, typically that’s related to something other than a manufacturing defect.”

Understanding Fishing Rod Failures

How rod breaks appear, Epich said, can reveal the cause of a break. However, with rod materials, “we don’t see a lot of variance in breakages between materials other than a rod with heavier graphite contents will have a more sheared/shattered break, whereas one with heavier glass content will have a more splintered break.

“When we see rods that have broken into three or four pieces, that’s an indication that more force was applied to the rod than its maximum intended breaking strength. When we test our rods in a ‘hang down’ test for break strength, they almost always shatter into several pieces,” Epich continued. However, “when you see a rod break 12 to 18 inches from the tip, that’s a result of high-sticking.”

It’s pretty easy to identify why a blank has failed, Poe agreed. An impact hit will leave a small crater on the blank. Many rods are clear‑coated, which helps protect the blank from impact and UV exposure, but also helps impacts show up, as a hazy spot, likely to be close to the break. “I’ve never seen a rod break into two pieces in testing or on the water from the pull. When the rod is overloaded, it will break in three or more pieces, unless there has been an impact.”

Adding Strength to Fishing Rods

“Fiberglass rods are typically stronger than carbon (graphite) rods,” Cathcart said, but they don’t have the ­sensitivity or weight savings. Therefore, carbon rods give you some advantages over glass, but they require more care because they are more susceptible to damage and breakage due to the nature of the material. Advanced materials and resin systems help bridge this gap, and we use some of these today in our rods.”

In fact, most rod-makers add ­materials in the manufacturing process to strengthen blanks. For example, Shimano uses what it calls its Spiral-X and Hi Power-X technologies to prevent breaks that might be caused by previous impacts. “In addition,” Epich said, “both of these blank technologies add to the torsional rigidity of the blank and increase compression strength, which lead to less blank ‘ovalization’ and breakage.”

A strategy used by Accurate places a high-modulus carbon tape around the entire blank, forming an “X” pattern. This both strengthens the blank and makes it durable and impact resistant, Poe said.

The Multipiece Fishing Rod Factor

Multipiece travel rods bring up a separate set of precautions for anglers because “if the ferrule joints are not fitted together correctly, it would be like hoping for the best in your PVC ­sprinkler pipe when gluing it in at only half depth,” Poe said. “The ferrule is designed to envelop the joint, giving it all points of contact for stability. Often, if these don’t fit right, when the rod flexes, you’ll hear what we call ‘rod knock,’ which is the male end rattling around within the female end of the ferrule.”

Poe added: “This will eventually wear out the inside of the connection. As long as the ferrules fit well, a multi-piece rod is just as strong as a one-piece—some would even say stronger—provided the ferrules are located at the proper points. Some argue that ferrules create hard spots that hinder the action in multipiece rods, but I think the technology today is so good that most anglers would never know a rod was multipiece [from the action].”

Cathcart agreed that “multi-piece rods have a reputation for being weaker, but if designed properly, they can be very strong.” He cites modern multipiece fly rods and also some saltwater jigging rods that have detachable sections with the rod sliding into the top of the handle sections. “Rods like these see a lot of pressure, and they hold up just fine,” Cathcart said.

Jigging Rods Face Maximum Stress

A rod built strictly for optimal performance or sensitivity, where strength is secondary, might be more susceptible to breaking when mishandled, Poe maintained. But most rods are built with multiple layers that vary in number, thickness, orientation and material, Cathcart said, to improve performance while making them stronger.

Jigging rods in particular seem to be routinely subjected to maximum stress. Cathcart said that “these rods see a lot of stress both when working the lures and also when fighting fish. You need a rod limber enough to properly work a lure, but strong enough to land a fish. For this reason, the design of the rod is very important.

“You’ll see many modern jigging rods with a slower action in the rod blank; this allows the rod to flex more toward the middle and back end when under a load, which helps spread out the load along a longer portion of the blank. It also makes working lures a little easier.”

A Fishing Guide’s Perspective on Rod Strength

Capt. Skip Nielsen started his guiding career way back in 1973, and you can still find in him on the waters in and around Islamorada, Florida. Nielsen’s clients routinely caught 100-plus-pound tarpon along with huge sharks and grouper. So how do today’s rods compare with those used when he started fishing?

“Back in the day, the good-quality one-piece fiberglass rods were pretty hard to break. When graphite rods came out, they broke fairly easily. I was always on a quest for a stick that would not break trying to pump up a large grouper with 50-pound line,” Nielsen says. “Rods tended to break when anglers were fighting fish straight up and down: It’s all about the angle.”

Capt. Rick Stanczyk, of Bud N’ Mary’s Marina, said: “Today’s rods are incredible, but there are still do’s and don’ts. The biggest cause of rods snapping, in my experience, is due to angler error.” Not surprisingly, Stanczyk then cites high-sticking because that “puts the pressure in the tip part of the rod as opposed to the backbone; this causes the more-fragile tip to snap.”

And, Stanczyk points out—as industry insiders noted above—anglers can easily load reel-and-rod combos with thin braid much stronger than is intended for the rod. And the temptation to do so is clear: That line fits on the spool well enough and casts easily on the lighter rod. However, this ­situation can be tough on rods.

The post Why Fishing Rods Break appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Once leader material reaches a certain thickness, knots become an imperfect means of connecting hooks, swivels and lures, and creating loops for attaching snaps. From about 80-pound-test and up (be it monofilament or fluorocarbon leader line), knots don’t easily cinch tight, grow awkwardly large, and might unravel. Crimps, on the other, offer a solid and streamlined grip.

As with knots, crimps represent a critical connection between you and fish, and so they must be created using the proper crimp sleeves, tools and techniques. To learn more about this, we talked with Capt. Shawn Rotello, owner and operator of Night Runner sportfishing charters in Kona, Hawaii. Rotello targets blue marlin, yellowfin tuna and wahoo, as well as ulua (giant trevally) in the lee of the Big Island. Here are his tips for creating good crimps using a hand crimper.

Pick the Best Sleeve Size

First, make sure the crimp sleeve is properly sized to the line, says Rotello. “If the sleeve is too small, the line won’t fit inside; if it’s too large, the sleeve might not crimp tight enough to keep the line from slipping,” he explains. Hi-Seas makes it easy by labeling the packaging for the crimp sleeves to fit specific pound-test ratings. You can also match the diameter of the sleeve to the diameter of the leader. Each should be labeled on the packaging for the sleeves and leader material.

Aluminum Versus Copper Sleeves

Crimp sleeves for monofilament and fluorocarbon come in two styles: oval aluminum and double-barrel copper. Anglers debate on which is best, but Rotello offers this advice: “I tend to use the double-barrel copper sleeves for leaders of 130-pound-test and less, because they seem a tad more gentle on the lighter line.” For 150-pound-test and up, the skipper uses aluminum sleeves. For thicker leaders, the sleeves are correspondingly larger, and the lighter aluminum material keeps the weight down for better lure and live-bait action.

The Sleeve Length

Crimping sleeves come in two sizes: short and long. Short sleeves are a better choice for lighter leaders and/or line-shy fish. The long sleeves are better for heavier leaders and situations in which the crimp will not be visible, such as inside the skirt of a trolling lure or within a rigged bait.

Melt the Tag End

Rotello recommends this step before actually crimping: After you’ve threaded the leader through one end of the sleeve and back through the other end of the sleeve, pull out about 3 or 4 inches of the tag line. “Use a lighter to melt the tip of the tag line,” he says. “This creates a blob of material on the end of the tag line that helps prevent it from pulling out of the crimp.” Once it is cool, pull the end of the tag flush with the end of the crimp.”

Don’t Kink the Loop

This tip applies to loops crimped without thimbles or other chafe protection. As you are tightening the loop, avoid making it too small. It should be just large enough to prevent the loop from kinking.

Match Diameters

The jaws of a crimping tool such as the Hi-Seas Deluxe mini hand crimper have multiple indentations known as dies. This allows for crimping different sizes of sleeves. Match the size range stamped next to the die to the inside diameter (ID) of the sleeve. For copper sleeves, use the ID of one of the barrels. For oval aluminum sleeves, use the shortest inside dimension.

One or Two Crimps

With a long sleeve, crimp it at least twice, once each about 2 to 4 millimeters from the ends of the sleeve. With a short sleeve and a thick-jawed crimper, there is usually not enough room for two crimps, so just crimp once in the center. “It is important not to crimp too close to the end of the sleeve, as this may damage or nick the leader line,” Rotello says. “Leave enough room so that the end of the sleeve flares a bit.”

Perfect Pressure

If you don’t crimp a sleeve with enough pressure, the line can slip out. Too much pressure can damage the leader line and cause it to break. A quality crimping tool such as the Hi-Seas Deluxe mini hand crimper comes calibrated for applying just the right amount of pressure to create secure crimps that do not damage the line.

Chafe Protection

Chafe protection such as thimbles or tubing keep the leader loop from wearing thin while trolling or battling a fish. “I like to use chafe protection when fishing marlin,” Rotello says. “This is especially important around the hook since a marlin’s bill and mouth are about the same as 60-grit sandpaper.” As with crimp sleeves, thimbles and chafe tubing need to be matched to the diameter of the leader line.

The post How to Make Good Crimps appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

People who complain that South Florida doesn’t enjoy a change of seasons don’t fish the annual fall mullet run.

To anglers from Stuart to Key Largo, nothing signals that fall has arrived like the migration of these baitfish. Silver and black mullet move south in enormous schools along the Atlantic coast, all the while dodging a host of predators such as snook, tarpon, jacks, sharks, Spanish mackerel and bluefish. October marks the prime time to fish the mullet run, both offshore and inshore.

The Live-Bait Game Plan

Anglers never know what they might catch from one cast to the next. They don’t even need live mullet to catch the gamefish species. Half a mullet, topwater plugs, spoons, and soft-plastic bait imitations can be as effective if not more.

Capt. Chris Murray, of Stuart, usually nets several dozen mullet wherever he sees the baitfish pushing water. After catching bait, he cruises around until he spots another mullet school. Then he closely watches to see what the baitfish are doing and what’s feeding on them.

Tarpon often jump completely out of the water, then come crashing back into the middle of the school. Snook hang below the school and suck in mullet with an audible pop. Jacks charge into the school and send mullet flying.

Murray likes to fish live mullet on a 7-foot, light- to medium-action spinning rod with a 4000-size reel spooled with 20-pound braided line. He usually attaches a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader with a 3/0 circle hook and clips an indicator float to the leader, which allows him and his anglers to keep track of the bait.

“I vary my leaders. I like to actually start lighter,” Murray says. “Normally I rig up two that are 25-pound, two that are 30, two that are 40. When I know what kind of fish are there and what kind of heat I have to put on them, normally 40. If they’re short snook, 25 or 30 is fine.”

When drifting or slow-trolling, he hooks a mullet through the upper lip and casts it to the edge of a submerged oyster bar, which snook, tarpon and other species use as ambush spots. Murray then opens the bail of the reel and slowly lets out line.

Jacks Are Wild

On one trip I took in the St. Lucie River with Murray and Anthony Javarone, we cast out, and moments later I felt my mullet get very nervous. Suddenly violent splashes erupted, and whatever had scared my mullet nailed Javarone’s bait.

Following Murray’s instruction to let the fish swim for a few seconds before closing the bail and reeling tight, Javarone hooked up to what turned out to be a 15-pound jack. The fish took Javarone from one end of Murray’s bay boat to the other before it finally tired.

“Those big jacks are great practice for people who want snook and tarpon,” Murray says. “They’re a guide’s best friend. They just give you every chance to develop your rhythm.”

When jacks, tarpon and Spanish mackerel successfully raid the schools for a meal, they often stun and maim a few of the baits, which fall to the sea floor. That’s when fishing a mullet head on the bottom can be extremely effective.

Snook on Artificials

Fishing around the rocks at the mouth of Stuart’s St. Lucie Inlet, Capt. Greg Snyder uses a D.O.A. plastic shrimp to catch all sizes of snook. He fishes the shrimp on a spinning outfit with 30-pound braided line and a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader.

“They use the rocks as a trap,” Snyder says of the snook. “The bait hits the rocks and gets confused, and the snook take advantage of it.”

Let the shrimp drift with the current and be aware of any taps or hesitation in the drift, because that means a snook has taken the lure. “Let the tide do the work, and keep in contact with the shrimp,” he says, “because you need to be able to set the hook when they eat.”

Why would a snook eat a shrimp when mullet are abundant? I posed that question to D.O.A. luremaker Mark Nichols. “During the first of the mullet run, the fish are all over the mullet,” he says. “But after three weeks of eating mullet, they’re ready for something different.”

I witnessed that fishing with Nichols in the north fork of the St. Lucie River on the last half of a falling tide. His flats skiff was surrounded by mullet and rolling tarpon, but after we threw some D.O.A. soft-plastic mullet imitations such as a Bait Buster and a TerrorEyz without a bite, Nichols switched us to D.O.A. glow shrimp.

Standing at the front of the boat, we waited until a tarpon rolled within casting distance. Then we cast the shrimp just ahead of the tarpon. Instead of steadily twitching the shrimp back to the boat, Nichols advises working it slowly.

“You want the shrimp to go down,” he says. “Then snap the rod and jerk the shrimp sharply, but don’t crank the reel and move the shrimp away. You want it to stay right where the fish was.”

Picture it in these terms: Here’s a shrimp, slowly sinking in the water. Suddenly it jumps up, then sinks right back down. The next time it jumps, thinking it might get away, the tarpon eats it. Using that technique, Nichols and I enjoyed about two dozen tarpon bites.

“I think it’s just easy for them to eat a shrimp,” he says. “They have to work hard to catch a mullet. It doesn’t take anything for them to catch a shrimp.”

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Two other advantages of fishing an artificial shrimp around a mullet school: Bait stealers don’t peck at a plastic shrimp like they do a live shrimp, and Nichols can fish his shrimp exactly how he wants.

To make a D.O.A. shrimp more appealing to a fish keying on a school of mullet, Nichols fishes it below the school or on the edge of the school. That makes the shrimp look vulnerable, which makes it an easy target.

“If you’re not catching fish with a shrimp, you’re fishing it too fast,” Nichols says. “No matter how slowly you think you’re fishing it, fish it slower.”

The post Fishing Florida’s Fall Mullet Run appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.