So here is the million dollar question

[Riptide Charters]

How many 71.5-72.9" fish are gonna find themselves on the wrong side of the "OOOOPS dart" ?

"Gee it LOOKED like a 73" so I stuck it...... NOW WHAT!"

That's gonna be heard more than once if these fish are all +- 2" of legal.

How best to avoid this shy of dragging every poor fish into the boat for a tape check?

I'm thinking a small SS caribiner with 73" of tape attached. Clip it over the mainline and let it slide down to the mouth. If the fish is obviously longer then it gets the dart, shorter an in the water release, even up it gets a better measurement.

Thoughts? Opinions?

[gmoney]

I like where your heads at......

[southport05]

Yup!!! I think a lot of us are thinking the same thing Terry.

[silver sided]

How many 71.5-72.9" fish are gonna find themselves on the wrong side of the "OOOOPS dart" ?

"Gee it LOOKED like a 73" so I stuck it...... NOW WHAT!"

That's gonna be heard more than once if these fish are all +- 2" of legal.

How best to avoid this shy of dragging every poor fish into the boat for a tape check?

I'm thinking a small SS caribiner with 73" of tape attached. Clip it over the mainline and let it slide down to the mouth. If the fish is obviously longer then it gets the dart, shorter an in the water release, even up it gets a better measurement.

Thoughts? Opinions?

O.K NOW SOMEONE IS THINKING!!! IF YOU DART IT CHANCES ARE IT WILL DIE!!! Please use common sense and if there is any question get a tail rope on it and measure it.

[blackhullcharters]

Not so easy controlling a 72 inch fish boat side for a measurement !

[seaworm1]

O.K NOW SOMEONE IS THINKING!!! IF YOU DART IT CHANCES ARE IT WILL DIE!!! Please use common sense and if there is any question get a tail rope on it and measure it.

Chances are????? that thing aint a belly button ring you know......

It is going to be tough controlling yourself as the fish gets into sticking range, I know that personally I get a very itchy trigger finger once I get the opportunity to stick em. There will definitely need to be exersises in self control. Terry I've heard that idea before, and I think it should be just as important as to have one of those on board as the dart itself. Anything to help make life a little simpler

[Animal 1]

Just like the stickboats,we're going to have to be sure,before making the throw.Terry's idea is a good one.

[Riptide Charters]

Ive seen the clip/tape idea used in tourneys but have never done it myself in practice. Anyone done it before? I know its not gonna be exact with a moving boat and 200+ pound angry fish, but how close is it, from those that have done this method?

Does the tape lay out pretty well in the water? Maybe a little bit of weight at the end of the tape to keep fluttering to a minimum?

I really think this is something that anyone that gives a damn about the fishery should be thinking about. With no "trophy" fish for any user group its going to be critical.

[Mad Guineau]

Dog leash clip with 73 inch piece of flagging tape

[Riptide Charters]

Found these ideas online:

From the Billfish Foundation
The next vital step that many crews glaze over is taking a quick measurement of the fish. To speed up the process, use a floating tape measure to get a measurement. Lots of crews put a tennis ball or lure at one end of a tape measure to get it to pull out straight in the water.
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Sabiki Measuring Stick

After coming up with several different kinds of measuring devices during this past year's Bahamas Billfish Championship, I've thrown them all away in favor of my newest creation.
Oct 26, 2005
By Staff (More articles by this author)
After coming up with several different kinds of measuring devices during this past year's Bahamas Billfish Championship, I've thrown them all away in favor of my newest creation. The old designs work, but I didn't like the fact that I had to wind up the measuring line around the pole or tag stick I was using. I thought about using a conventional rod-and-reel setup, but I knew that sooner or later the measuring line would find a way to wrap itself around the guides on the rod. And since there's no time for untangling a mess when you've got a potential money fish on the leader, I scrapped that idea pretty quickly.

After thinking on it for a while, I decided to try a hollow sabiki rod like the ones used to catch bait. Sabiki rods don't have any guides and have a reel seat perfect for mounting a small conventional reel. (I wanted to use a conventional levelwind reel since it allows you to get line out quickly, keeping tangles to a minimum). I spooled up a Shimano Calcutta with some high-vis Dacron and mounted the reel on the sabiki rod. I passed the Dacron through the hollow rod and tied a floating lure on the end of the line.

Next I applied some Velcro tape to the end of the sabiki rod so it would stick to the fish's lower jaw better. I then pulled out enough line so that I could mark the Dacron with a permanent marker at 99 inches (the legal size limit for blue marlin) and one at 105 inches (the minimum size limit for the tournament I was fishing).

Now, when we have a decent fish up on the leader, I can pull the sabiki rod out of the holder and find out exactly how big the fish is by positioning the rod tip at the fish's jaw and letting out line with my thumb. The extra length of the sabiki rod lets you make a pretty good measurement even when the fish is trying to stay away from the boat. You can also attach the head of a release knife to the rod using zip-ties if you want to make it an all-in-one tool.

Walker Holcomb
Maitland, Florida