What to do when outgunned?

[Big Jay]

Some of you who read my report remember that a little over a week ago we went toe to toe with a BIG blue. My biggest blue prior to this was a 300# fish that actually was caught and released on a 30# outfit.

Anyhow, we weren't targeting marlin. Fish was hooked on a 50# single speed outfit with 80# mono.

We handled her well when she stayed shallow. I got on the sticks and headed after her. Problem was: as the fight went on she got an angle on us. We couldn't move her. Tried everything. We were running 22lbs. of drag at strike and bumped her to full for the last hour of the battle. Leader came within 6" of the surface and she would either:

a) Go under the boat forcing us to pull away
b) Slowly/moderately dive back down (so big she just "walked" away at full drag)
c) a & b

It got to the point where we had to risk getting that leader. It was an issue of the fish's health and it cutting into our tuna fishing time. We were on her for 2.5 hours.

So what do you do in that situation? I mean...I just couldn't move her. Based on input from others and what we saw the consensus was about 700 lbs. possibly more.

[Deep C]

Jay
Big fish and light tackle is just another game. There are a number of approaches but it comes down to capitalizing when they make a mistake...
Since they have the upper edge as far as brute strength you'll never win a slugging contest. So, you gotta play the game. Use them against them...
Like all fights clear the other crap out of the way and shorten the distance between them and you as fast as you can... Thats where the similarities start to go away... If you turn the heat up, they're simply going to find a new gear and sulk... If however you work "with" them you can screw em to sleep before they ever knew it...
Line angle plays a huge role in it. Straight up and down and they're either gonna out muscle you or as you mentioned go under the boat. I often will stop the chase and let her slide away. Might even actually pull away someThat change in line angle allows you to do several things. It allows you to gently angle her back up toward the top... Often when the initial runs cool down you're gonna be able to find a pattern in her movements. Perhaps a circle or a determined direction.
Its here that she's actually made that mistake you can capitalize on... Don't back up and follow... Instead. Get around in front of her path and just go slightly slower than she is. In other words... Let her swim to you...
If shes circling get in front of her in that same circle... This we call corkscrewin her ... They don't seem to perceive the same level of threat if they are being pulled from in front as opposed to from behind. Point being... Get her up top and let her come to you...

[Big Jay]

Well there was a pattern. She would sit down in the current. Head facing away from us. We'd get her up then she would circle under the boat. We'd scoot away trying to cut the angle and get her head facing us. She'd then turn and just "walk" away under 30+ of drag.

There were lots of things that went wrong:

50# outfit for starters
No double line (we don't double line for tuna fishing)
Crew wasn't savvy on marlin. I am not that great either.

I guess it's just something you gotta learn from.

[Deep C]

Well there was a pattern. She would sit down in the current. Head facing away from us. We'd get her up then she would circle under the boat. We'd scoot away trying to cut the angle and get her head facing us. She'd then turn and just "walk" away under 30+ of drag.

There were lots of things that went wrong:

50# outfit for starters
No double line (we don't double line for tuna fishing)
Crew wasn't savvy on marlin. I am not that great either.

I guess it's just something you gotta learn from.

Again staying ahead is the trick. Let them do the work. Tim had one a little over four bucks and another nearing seven over at Bimini, both on 30w gear... With only two of us aboard we had the same issue when I'd pull off the sticks to go back and grab the leader. Once I'd grab, same thing, she'd get back ahead of the angle and slide under the boat. Had I been able to keep going ahead a nudge at a time to stay in front we could have got some better pics... Staying in gear though was too fast to drag her without popping the light leader...
But what the hell. In the long run you got the important part. The memory! The smiles on them faces and the whole game etched in their memories. Thats the part that counts and congrats...

[teddyp]

One of the problems you're going to face is the harder you pull the harder she's going to pull. Since you didn't have the heavy stuff out I would have backed the drag all the way down and run with her slowly getting line back. Its a hard thing to get someone to do in the heat of the battle. Running 15knts forward on a fish while the angle is in the corner cranking like shit while the reel has like 2 lbs of drag engaged. Its a cool sight but one you won't see on many non professional boats.

I would have had the young man sit down after 30 minute. Flip a cooler up or put the rod a rod holder. You're not tournamant fishing so who cares. His safty is the most important thing and having him faint or drop from heat exhaustion isn't a good thing. Getting your friend to say on camera "I'm Gassed" is priceless. Put the rod in the rod holder and slowly back the drag all the way off and see what the fish does. Let her come to the surface then run her down.

[Big Jay]

One of the problems you're going to face is the harder you pull the harder she's going to pull. Since you didn't have the heavy stuff out I would have backed the drag all the way down and run with her slowly getting line back. Its a hard thing to get someone to do in the heat of the battle. Running 15knts forward on a fish while the angle is in the corner cranking like shit while the reel has like 2 lbs of drag engaged. Its a cool sight but one you won't see on many non professional boats.

I would have had the young man sit down after 30 minute. Flip a cooler up or put the rod a rod holder. You're not tournamant fishing so who cares. His safty is the most important thing and having him faint or drop from heat exhaustion isn't a good thing. Getting your friend to say on camera "I'm Gassed" is priceless. Put the rod in the rod holder and slowly back the drag all the way off and see what the fish does. Let her come to the surface then run her down.

She went through more guy's than a cheap stripper lol. We sat him down on the cooler for round two.

I gotta admit though. I am no marlin expert. I am good at getting them to eat my tuna lures though. Which brings me to another point. They always come up on my flats. Always...

I did manage to get right on top of her really quick early on. After that she wanted to part of that game. My first mate never leadered a big fish before and for his safety I put him on the sticks (he runs his own boat). Figured the best bet for everyone's safety in that situation was to go with him on the helm and me going for the leader.

Funny how both you guys mentioned slacking off and giving her a little longer leash in the hope she comes up. I'll definitely try that again.

We actually did sit him down Teddy. Here's a vid of her just deciding she wanted to go lol.

[gameover]

Jay, if your flats are getting bit thats a great sign....

I have a single diesel and 80% of my good bites are on the flats...

In that case guys say only run heavy leaders 130-160 on the flats.

I swear by 80-90 flouro but we mostly fish for the yellofin, and I'm scared to go any heavier.

I think you did had a good battle considering the situaltion, pretty work there is nothing like a ******* fish with a bad attitude and some balls to go with it...

[Patudo]

Good point by Teddy about how the angler was fighting the fish. He was in a good harness and belt set up and it looked as though he should have been using the harness to his advantage more. I admit this is easier said than done because a couple years back I was in a fight with a 400 lb black on 30W stand up with 50 lb line and it was our angler (the boat owner's) first big fish. He was totalled after the fight. But with 50w stand up/80 lb line on a really big fish it's critical the angler use the harness setup as effectively as he can, not just to avoid getting wasted but to put as much heat on the fish as possible. It is hard work cranking on a tough fish with a single speed reel though. Earlier this year I had to fight a foul hooked fish of not over 300 lb on an 80W chair outfit that refused to go into low gear, and I just could not believe how difficult it was. After we finally got the reel into low it took just five minutes to whip it.

I reckon if you were able to get within touching distance of a 10 foot leader on several occasions, all things considering, you did good. You would have got the leader with a longer leader, maybe even if you had a double line. The leader length and strength you were using, 150 lb test, is not too dangerous to the wire man. In that situation, have the best boat handler on the helm - the best chance of getting the leader to the hand of your crewman. You will almost certainly not be able to lead a 700 lb fish on such a light leader, so once it is in hand, just hold tight and the leader will likely break where he has chaffed it near his mouth. He'll swim away with just a hook and a foot of leader (if that). But, given the size fish and the gear it was hooked on, losing 10 feet of light leader and a little bit of line isn't a bad outcome.

If you're targeting them definitely go heavier on the leader and use a longer leader. But if the objective is to target tuna go with whatever gets the most tuna bites and accept the fact that you will have some extra difficulty on a blue marlin.

[Big Jay]

Gameover...That is REALLY light leader. Even for tuna trolling. I would be using 100# minimum. Preferably 120-150#. On the edge they don't seem to care much on the troll. Inshore targeting BFT's I would run 120 fluoro.

Patudo...yeah I think if we had a longer/heavier leader the battle may have ended differently. Tuna fishing has been great up here. If we happen to do well next time on tuna, I'll be tying some double lines and sending the big baits/lures out. Those I have rigged with 300# Momoi. Not 530# hard but still double that of 150#

[babalaza]

There's a nice thread over this issue on SCMO, I'll look into it when I'm done studying.