Blue Marlin questions

[Glenn W]

your better than me but, i only fish single hook's. i like it simple. and i always get the rod before he does. sometimes they just get a bill wrap with the hook and i think guys think its hooked. ive only caught a few but since ive grabbed the rod i havent missed one. also i always try to take it away, not drop........kitty taught me that. she never wants to play unless im takin it away.

You've been exceptionally lucky then---

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

I would have given a response if I felt real comfortable yet. I hope to get some more thougts.

We too had shots at Big Rock and failed. Double hooked rigs with tag lines. Got a great hook up on WM out of box. Then 0 for 3 on catches on BM. Got two hook-ups one minute drag pull and gone. Another looked like a good hook-up then fish did the windshield wiper and through the hook.

I have tried fishing half drag and full strike drag on the strike. Years ago the full strike drag with single hook rigs seemed to work well.

Yet just had a great hook-up on half drag double hook and catch. Same day had a half drag hook-up 2 minute fight and hook pulls.

Really thinking about going to single hook...

We switched to singles did much better. Sometimes i think they Blue Marlin hit so violently they get snaged on the bill and as soon as they stop running away from the boat the angle changes and poof they are gone. Technically never hooked not much you can do there.

[Razorback]

[QUOTE]We switched to singles did much better. Sometimes i think they Blue Marlin hit so violently they get snaged on the bill and as soon as they stop running away from the boat the angle changes and poof they are gone. Technically never hooked not much you can do there.

I think that is what happen on our biggest fish last Big Rock she hit like a fright train never jumped and just melted away line at blistering pace, I grabbed the rod got the man in the chair and looked down at the spool and could see the knot. There was no chaffing of the leader at all makes me think she got snagged in the bill. I think I am going to rig with 500lb 49 strand cable with a double hook. Still don't know about the drag setting at strike I think I have read on here in the past that 25 pounds was a good setting.

[Phat Mann]

I would agree with dropping the drag down with a ton of line out.

It seems with lures you know fairly quickly if you have a fight on your hand or not.

Sure love those pitches on the teasers.

The question was HOW much drag on the strike? Any preferences?

[Deep C]

Theres gonna be a zillion answers here and all of em are probably right. What I found I like best is to set the reel strike at 22lbs but my hook up stike is 17 poinds. This after years of trial and error. I have run as high as 26 and as low as like five. With the heavy we had stainless hooks and our ratio was terrible. We saw frame by frame on old 16mm film that the hook was straightening and then springing back. We went away from stainless and heavy both.
The light stuff was better ratio running the drag up after the bite. Still was having a tough time sinking it though. At 17 off a tag line we have had our highest ratio... Thats us. Does not mean anyone else is wrong...

[FISHY TRISHY]

drag:
if you can't figure out the drag in your clips .... rubber bands are the way to go, especially if you need a quick solution to your flat line poppin out too much grab the line at the end of the rod tip put the rubber band round it and secure the rubber band to the reel handle. when i've got 80 lb test line i set my strike drag to 22 lb drag, i basically set 1/3 drag to whatever test line im dealing with, while im trolling i have the lever half way and after the fish is hooked and running i slowly push that lever up to strike depending on how fast he's pullin line off. and if all else fails get ready to get wet when you back down. unless its a tournament tho theres nothin wrong with keepin the drag light and workin the shit out the angler !!!!

hooks:
single hooks are the way to go .... its safer that way .... theres nothin worse then to have an angry fish at the back you get one hook out and then have to worry about that hook loose round your arms trying to get the next one out. i suggest investing in the southern tuna hook by mustad .... always stays sharp and its in line with the fishing line so you dont really have to put much into setting the fish when he's on. that and the southern tuna hook has an impressingly thick shank for the purpose of the tension to set itself into any fish.

[FISHY TRISHY]

heres what im talkin about ..... in the first pick the top hook is a normal hook but the second one is a southern tuna and you can see the difference between the two. another tip is to slide a heat shrinkage tube where the hook is crimped to the line .... not only does it secure your rigging, but it keeps the crimp from corroding and it helps protect that rigging from the sand paper marlin bill. it also keeps the hook straight in the lure while at trolling speed.

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

I would agree with dropping the drag down with a ton of line out.

It seems with lures you know fairly quickly if you have a fight on your hand or not.

Sure love those pitches on the teasers.

The question was HOW much drag on the strike? Any preferences?

We started using a higher drag setting 18-22 lbs at strike (not on the button) if you know what i mean then ended up backing down to 12-14lbs at strike then increasing as the fight went on or decreasing on a long gone to hell and back run. Also noticed the fish didn't seem to dive as often with lighter drag for what it's worth but there comes a time when you gotta put the heat on one to. We usually set it on the button at 24-26 lbs and get 40 or a little better at full on a 80. So i'm fishing 12-14 lbs now.