Learning to billfish on small boats

[Jer]

Learning to billfish on small boats
By Bill Pino

The teasers were set within feet of the transom. A single plug teaser rolled through the ocean 30 feet a stern of the 26 ft Pro Kat and the long riggers were pinned in place waiting for a sailfish or marlin to pop up and eat it. My buddy Alex stood at the starboard gunnel and Al watched the right baits. The marlin didn’t give us much warning when he popped up behind the plug teaser. Alex grabbed the left long just as the pin popped and all of a sudden the line was leaving the reel at a blistering speed. 45 seconds later the 300lb blue marlin put on a show that left us a stunned. I watched from the front row at eye level thinking to myself, how cool it is to be learning how to fish for these guys on a boat similar in size to mine.

I get quite a few calls and emails from people that say the want to learn how to billfish with circle hooks. That was actually the impetus behind the World Circle Hook Tour. We wanted to create a platform that would take anglers to the places where they had the best chance at multiple shots at billfish and learn rigging techniques from the pros that do it everyday. I developed a small questioneer and sent it off to the interested anglers to see how I could best fit their desires. The one question that was almost unanimously equal in answer was what size boat do you fish from. 90% of the people that answered said 25-35 ft vessels. The bells went off and the call was immediately placed to my friend Jody Elswick at Buena Vista Sportfishing Lodge in Iztapa Guatemala. Jody and I discussed the possibilities of having his seasoned captain and mates teach us how to billfish from a platform similar to what we fish from at home. Jody was more then accommodating and we set some dates to bring down some anglers for some serious rigging, angling, boat handling and fun.





The Set Up – The first thing that Capt. Marciel discussed with us was the boat set up. Obviously our 26 ft cat boat doesn’t have the 30ft outriggers and 23ft transom that the battle wagons have, so we had to set up a spread that was simple, enticing and fit within the confines of our wake pattern. Our spread consisted of a Squidnation Pink teaser chain on the right side set in a clean pocket of water that seemed to be consistently present. The left teaser was a single Moldcraft black and yellow 4 eye plug and the center teaser was a Pink and White Squidnation Semi-soft medium chugger set about 35 ft behind the boat. Our baits were medium ballyhoo rigged with floss on #8 Eagle Claw 2004 circle hooks on 100lb clear ande mono leader on the long riggers set about 10 feet behind the center teaser. Waiting in strategically placed rod holders in both corners of the stern were two Shimano TLD 20’s rigger with medium ballyhoos and the baits placed in a bucket with enough saltwater to keep the wet. In the rod holder on the helm chair was a Penn International 50w with a large ballyhoo on a SQUIDNATION mini chugger. We would only deploy this rod when a marlin showed itself on one of the teasers. Next to the 50w we had two tld 20s with small ballyhoo and circle hooks. We had these rods at the ready to place in the water as soon as a fish was hooked. The outrigger teaser lines had loops tied into the main line at measured distances that would allow the captain to hand line the teaser in quickly then loop the line around a cleat to keep the teasers hanging in the water when a fish was raised and hooked. This avoided us having to completely boat the teasers which saved quite a bit of time.



The Fishing – The key to successful small boat fishing is having every man know his job when a fish would appear in the spread. The small confines of our cockpit doesn’t allow for much moving around. The angler would immediately grab the appropriate rod when a fish would appear in the spread. The mate would man the center teaser to keep the billfish enticed but not allow it to grab the teaser. The back up angler would grab the second rod and watch his bait, not the primary anglers bait. The Captain would scan the entire spread looking for other fish and monitor the teasers. As the angler hooks the fishing the captain would be begin to loop back around in the direction of the fish to entice other billfish into the spread. The captain would clear the teaser that is on the side of the boat in which he is turning. If another fish would appear in the spread the process would start all over. The key to success hear is consistency. If the anglers, mates and captain each do the job every time then the process almost becomes routine, but still exciting, and very few words need to be spoken.

When a fish would appear on the rigger teasers the captain would immediately gab the teaser which is being in attacked and pulls it away from the billfish. The angler would grab the pitch bait rod and put the bait in the water in front of the sailfish. The secondary angler would be at the ready on the long rigger rod on the same side. Many times when teaser fish is missed he the fish would fall back to the long rigger bait. Chances of catching that missed fish is slim if the crew just stands around watching the primary angler hook his fish when the fish is hooked and there are no signs of additional fish the captain will call for the lines to be cleared. The mate clears the center teaser and the secondary angler would clear the additional baited rod as the captain would clear the rigger teasers. All the rods that are cleared are always placed in the same location. Captain Marciel has rod holders up front on the bow of the Monkey business to keep them out of the way.







The end game on a small boat can be tricky and dangerous but with enough precaution and a safety first minded crew the release can be safe and effective. The key to small boat releasing or landing of fish is to not crowd the mate or angler. The mate should handle the fish with a good pair of gloves and try to avoid maneuvers that will make him imbalanced. The angler should back off on the drag but still remain focused as the mate wires the fish to the boat. As the mate leaders the fish the angler should reel up the slack so the line does not wrap around anything or anybody. Most mates now carry a leader cutting tool that is safe and effective. These tools are better than knives because the blades are protected so inadvertent cutting is difficult.



Small Boat billfishing can be extremely rewarding and exciting. The best way to learn how to fish for these beautiful fish is to get hooked up with an operation such as Buena Vista Sportfishing Lodge in a place like Guatemala where anglers can get multiple opportunities and get a season’s worth of experience in a 7 day trip.

Buena Vista Sportfishing Lodge is an all inclusive lodge with vessels from 26 to 37 feet. The lodge has an ultra professional staff and knowledgeable crews that will put you on the fish day in and day out. Dollar for dollar you will get more billfish for your bucks and have one hell a great time.

The summer season - Dec-April is filling up fast and I highly recommend people call 1-866-399-3277 get secure your dates to this winter billfish paradise.

[Carson Mac]

the Monkey biz. Jody's 3rd boat and the boat I cut my teeth on for the most part. Loved going down there and fishing on the boat that I had so many hatteras/OI memories on. Great read Bill. Thanks. Really wish I could get the boys to look past the meat because hooking bills is so gratifying. Another thing to add is you have to be attentive on a small boat. If you don't have a tower it is exponentially more diffucult to catch the pointy noses sneaking in. If your in the cooler grabbing beers and fooling with rigs, you will miss 75% of your bites. Got to get back down there soon.

[mario_veg]

could you post a diagram of the position of the lures/teasers

[Swami]

Great article there Bill!!

[Fins&Feathers]

Thanks Jer for the great description on what each mans duties are on the hook up and end game.

I really like the idea of tying loops in the teaser main line

Keep it comming

[paul708]

good job with the write up.
thanks for sharing the info.

[Pargon]

This is a picture of a Black that my daughter caught. The boat she was in is in the background. We've caught fish up to 800lb. from pangas. Great boats, two moving parts, motor and Captain.
Unfortunately the fish was wrapped and died, we would normally have released.

[Jer]

Thanks Jer for the great description on ...

Bill Pino (Squidnation here on SportFishermen.com) wrote the article, I only published it

[C-Note]

Ahh the monkey business I know that boat or Iused to know it. Many good times cant beleive that thing has been running for over a decade. If I knew then what I know now...

Great article I hope they are doing well in paradise.

[FAT CAT MX]

Good explanation of small boat tactics. That's pretty much how we do it here in Baja too. However, we usually pull armed lures instead of pure teasers in order to catch the dorado, wahoo and tuna that are also available. But, we do prefer to drop back live or dead bait to billfish, as the number of fish that reach the boat for release is much better.

I'm fanatical about everything being put back in its proper place every time. On a small boat, it's a safety issue.