Bigger Fish

[Sea Draggin]

Urban Legend - getting a fish in fast saves it from being burnt up.

Unfortunately folks, it just isn't true. The fish that the buyers consider "burnt up" are muscled in within 10-15 minutes @ 50lbs of drag on 130's.

Fish that are allowed to play out a little longer on lighter drag always rate a little better when it comes time to grade them.

Sorry to crush everyone's beliefs.

Don't believe it? Then ask the folks at kashiko. If that were true, every long line fish caught would be burnt. Think about it.

[kitebuz]

We talked about a cut-off time before our last trip out in the event that we tied into something we couldn't land on Tiagra50's in a reasonable amount of time in hopes not to kill a fish uneccessarily.

The idea was that if we had not boated a fish in 150 min. (2.5hrs), then get it as close as possible and cut it off. Not sure if this helps the fish or not, but seems like a reasonable approach.

We ended up going 90 min. on a fish that I started to think was over 73". We had boated our fish for the day, so had the drag locked down from the word go, and I was thumbing heavily. Ended up turning the drag up to the highest I could w/out getting pulled over (still have to test what I had it at, but it was enough to hurt). Turned out it was a mid-60" fish that got fouled hooked at the pec. fin. Wish we had cut if off sooner (had the leader close a couple times), but I'll have to chalk that one up to experience.

[aloop]

What about using 50's to try and haul in bigger fish, 500 lbs and up? Heard someone say to clip a ball to the rod then toss over and chase it around. A thought that came to mind is that there are always a lot of boats out around everyone and there are high chances of interference from those boats whether trolling, sitting on anchor or drifting.

[fmoore]

What about using 50's to try and haul in bigger fish, 500 lbs and up? Heard someone say to clip a ball to the rod then toss over and chase it around. A thought that came to mind is that there are always a lot of boats out around everyone and there are high chances of interference from those boats whether trolling, sitting on anchor or drifting.

I think I've read about that being done on marlin, but I feel like that's like tossing a thousand plus bucks straight off the boat. But that's just me. Check out doglover's thread, "You can't stop a tuna." He said he's chased fish as fast as 11 knots. Seems like there's no need to go as far as to toss a setup overboard if you're on top of the boat handling.

[54bullwinkle]

Fish that spool you and pop at the arbor will not survive. Was out Friday catching YF's about 60lbs and some bigeyes moved through the fleet around 11 am and bunch of guys got spooled. Those fish are all dead.
I fish braid with a mono top shot that tests below my backing. Popped fish has 30 feet of mono or less. I think the fish still has a chance, and I keep my braid.

[54bullwinkle]

P.S. GREAT THREAD

[AlloyToy]

Just a side note again on what an important part "knowing what you are doing" plays in this game...

I saw two guys 3 weeks ago loose 3 fish throughout the day at the boat fishing live bait on the SWC. He had 80's on bent butts in a well made stand-up harness .... the guy at the helm had no freakin clue which way to turn, which direction the fish was running ect.... All we could here was him screaming at the top of his lungs and swearing at the guy at the helm.....it was a comedy show.....

My point is that you can have the boat and all the equipment but need an experienced crew on board to play this game.
AT

[backman]

likewise - I have 130 braid and a 100 topshot which I palomar to the snap swivel or swivel. The palomar is perhaps a 90% knot and if something is going to break; either that or a line nick in the top 20 or 30 yards is liable to be the weak spot.

I've seen bare metal three times; twice on dead boats; one w/ a reel failure on a marlin - in 2 out of the 3 cases; locking down the drag popped the line at the bimini/offshore swivel.

In the 3rd case we stood there like dummies at 0-dark thirty while a bluefin, presumably a giant, spooled us in Hydro.

What I really hate is when you have bluefish mixed in with the bluefin - you have a bluefin tight on a bar and a bluefish hits the snap swivel, cutting you off and leaving the bar in the bluefin. You lose 100$; the bluefin likely loses its life.

I'm all ears on how to defend against that one.....

[Big Jay]

The issue with fish being burnt from 50 lbs. of drag comes from the water not passing over the gills. Sea Draggin is right.

Lactic Acid is formed through anaerobic metabolism. This happens when there is not enough oxygen in the bloodstream. Remember, fish use their gills to process dissolved oxygen from the water. When the fish fights 50 lbs. of drag, there by slowing its forward movement down, it's unable to pass water over the gills. That's why we "swim" bft's with swim hooks to preserve the meat. It allows the fish to switch back off of anaerobic metabolism to aerobic metabolism (using oxygen).

Lactic Acid is what ruins the meat and kills the fish. There's a middle ground of course. Use too light allowing the fish to fight too long accomplishes the same thing as muscling them to the boat with 50 lbs. drag.

[turbor2]

I think a bluefish snapped at the swivel and cut us off last week at the SWC! I hate Bluefish!