Gmans intro to Casting to Big Game Fish

[gman]

Gloves – In order to cast far you must load the rod, which means extreme stress will be put on your hands therefore gloves are basically Keep in mind when selecting a pair of gloves that you should get them tight fitting and find a pair that is light and has a protected finger. They come in every color. Hint of advice make sure you order a size larger if you are planning on buying an overseas brand, as they tend to run very small



POPPING GLOVE COMPANIES

Zenaq
Smith
Fisherman Brand
Jigging Master
Ocean Revolution (in development)


Belts –Its important to use a low profile belt while casting so it doesn’t get in your way. Most of the Japanese jigging belts ride higher in waist but you can lower them personally I use a lower belt for leverage

SEVEN SEAS



FISHERMANS FLAT BELT



JIGGING BELT COMPANIES

Seven Seas
Fisherman Brand
Jigging Master
Hots
Ocean Revolution (in development)
Smittys

Split ring Pliers

Split ring Pliers will make your life easy and will also be able to serve duel purposes as in cutting braid, leader and changing poppers. I would strongly suggest keeping your pliers in a sheath on your fishing belt connected with some type of tether so you don’t lose them over board

SPLIT RING PLIER COMPANIES

Duo
Duel
Fisherman
Ocean revolution

[gman]

RIGS - You should always bring two setups, one pre rigged with a popper and the other pre rigged with a swim bait. If you get broken off or the fish aren’t biting the lure you can alternate between the two without losing bite time. This has saved me on more than one occasion.



SCOUTING - Most of this style fishing is done on center console boats in the run and gun style, which means you, will drive around all day looking for pods of tuna to cast to. It is important that you all help looking for fish in different directions so you can be more efficient with your time.

CASTING – We all get excited when we see fish busting but it is important that we try to be patient and read the tunas direction and cast in front of them. You may not get many shots so you need to make teh best of it

KEY - Do not leave you lure dangling in water feet from the boat as both yellowfin and bluefin have a tendency to follow lures right up to boats edge last year we lost many shots as we stopped popping to early and fish actually came up missed popper and hit boat

[gman]

TIP – remember when fighting a big tuna … line either comes off the reel or on the reel. No resting if you’re resting so is the tuna. Max pressure equals shorter fight time

Fighting with a spinning rod and reel and no harness looks hard but with the right technique you should be able to fight even the largest tuna for extended periods of time without severe trauma. The biggest mistake made is to pull with your arms.

LOCKED ARM TECHNIQUE - Lock your support or non reeling arm straight and high on grip, then bend backwards with your legs and waist this will reduce your fatigue. Similar to using a harness but instead of straps your locked arm is the leverage point. Think of using your arms like a brace/lever instead of a joint, if not it will kill you on long fight to pull at the elbow. Whenever you pull back use both arms locked out NOW when you start to tire use ... one arm high BUT this is KEY pull with the other from the reels HANDLE not the high arm, this can help you get your arm back



I was fighting a 200 pound yellowfin in this sequence and at no time did i feel really fatigued with close to 25 pounds of drag and 30 minutes of fighting time







FIGHTING ANGLES - If your feet are at the 6 o'clock position and your head is at the 12 o'clock position your fighting range should be from 8-11 o'clock. Shorter more powerful strokes on big fish. With stripers and smaller tuna your fine From 11-12 o'clock you are actually working against your self because you are creating slack you cant catch up with which means the fish has room to wiggle





STYLE OF FIGHT - In the beginning of a tuna fight I believe in sticking it to the fish as hard as I can with heavy drag to se how it reacts, it will either come up quick or become what some of us refer to as a demon fish. Either way if you get on them quick you can determine the style of fight.

[gman]

I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to fish with some of the worlds best in casting and jigging, I take no credit for anything displayed here other than it is a recap of what many many people have taught me. My hope is that this may help integrate a really great style of hardcore extreme fishing into your trips that will land slob tuna's on your deck

Before I forget all products listed here are available from the following companies, as most of the jigging tackle is hard to find

Anglers Pro Shop http://www.anglers-proshop.com/index.php

Kilsongs Jigging world http://www.jignpop.com/

Ocean Tackle International http://oceantackle.net/

Cape Cod Tuna Season cant come quick enough

Tight Lines Glenn aka Gman ..........

Sami & Huge Bigeye on Popper

[gman]

Results speak for themselves, personally I have caught about every species of fish on poppers, it is a fun way to catch and always keeps me coming back for me.

The strike is so violent and there is nothing like watching a 200-pound bluefin or yellowfin detonate on your lure

Enjoy the read

[shoefish]

So I just killed the morning following this thread as you were putting it up....dude.....this is frigging awesome. Thank you for taking the time to put such a thorough guide together- you're a great embassador for the jigging/popping crowd.

[fishinmagician_IV]

Thank you for taking the time to put this in words and pictorial excellence, and sharing it with us! Thanks again!!!

[gman]

So I just killed the morning following this thread as you were putting it up....dude.....this is frigging awesome. Thank you for taking the time to put such a thorough guide together- you're a great embassador for the jigging/popping crowd.

Dan we all know you dont work anyway 3V baby ahahahah thanks for props my man we will be fishing soon enough

[gman]

Glen keep them coming, looks great! I'll have to read it fully when finished work today. Awesome work once again.

One thing though....you should chasing BFT right now instead and save this for a rainy day. LOL

See you on the water someday!!

I gave up a tuna trip today for something more important! But writing this makes me feel like I'm there

[Anders]

I was just about to start spending money on buying jigging stuff and now you tell me I have to have two different stellas, one for jigging and one for popping????? Am I in the right place? They will foreclose on my house not because I lost a job but because I took up fishing.

Great post and hopefully when I save up some money I can use the information in it.