Fighting white marlin...

[arthurj]

I've heard of experienced guys using really light drags when fighting white marlin and sailfish, and I was just wondering about the techniques used to get the fish boatside as quick as possible. I've only caught a few white marlin, and blue marlin, which have been on 30's and 50's with anywhere from 12lbs of drag up to 20lbs. Several times I've heard that 4-6lbs of drag is preferred. I just don't see how a drag that light could ever stop a fish, or how you could ever apply enough pressure to move the fish. The whites we have caught peel off 14lbs of drag incredibly fast, it just seems that with 4lbs they would never stop. I'm sure boat handling is a key factor. What are the techniques you guys use to get a quick healthy release?
Thanks

[WAHOONBOX]

IT'S CALLED BLACK SMOKE

THATS HOW YOU GET ON THEM!


IF ONE CONTINUES TO TAKE HIS RIG IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION WITH A WHITE ON.....YOU WILL MOST CERTAINLY HAVE SOME LINE STRETCHED OUT

WHITES ARE SENSITIVE MOUTHED CANDY ASSES IN A WHAT....THEY FEEL THE PRESSURE OF DRAG , HEAVY ROD TIP....HEAVY LINBE SWIVELS ETC/....THEY USUSALLY LET GO


AND OF COURSE....THERE IS THE OL SUICIDE STRIKE WHERE THEY WILL HOOK THEMSELVES ON WHATEVERE YOU HAVE OUT THERE....REGARDLESSS OF ROD/REEL SIZE

IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN NUMBERS WITH WHITE MARLIN.....YOU MUST.....I REPEAT.....YOU MUST SACLE DOWN TERMINAL AND ROD/REEL TO "DINK" SIZE


TLD 25 IF AN EXAMPLE OF THE SETUP I HAVE CAUGHT THE MAJORITY OF MY WHITES ON IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.....MEDIUM BALLYHOO....& NO FREAKING SKIRT OF ANY KIND!!! 80 LB LEADER WITH 60 LB READY TO GO IN CASE THEY BECOME LEADER SHY .............

GOSH I WISH THE FIELDS BROTHERS WOULD CHIME IN HERE LIKE I HAVE BEGGED THEM BEFORE


PROOF OF POINT

TAKE A SURVEY:

ASK THE TOP CREWS FROM CARLOINA TO CAPE MAY WHAT THEIR GEAR SET UP IS WHEN TARGETING WHITE MARLIN

I BET 99 OUT OF A 100 WILL AGREE WITH ME HERE......DINK ROD...TLD 25 ...30 LB MAINLINE HI-VIS.......80LB TOP SHOT......WITH A 6-8 FT SNAP-ON 80 LB FINAL LEADER TO A SMALL ASS SNAP SWIVEL......7/0 SMALL ASS HOOK ...MY CHOICE IS MATZOU 7/0 O'SHAUNNASSEY....THIS IS A ONE DAY HOOK AND THROW IT AWAY AT THE DAYS END....

[Dick_Formula233]

7/0 SMALL ASS HOOK ...MY CHOICE IS MATZOU 7/0 O'SHAUNNASSEY...

Hey Box,

I watched your video, so I ran out and bought a hundred Eagle Claw 7/0 Circle Hooks.

Now you're telling me I shoulda bought O'Shaughnessy's????

[MikeFisher]

keep the eagle claws Dick.
but for tackle and drag and line and leader Box said it all.
i fish white marlin season at least 5 months a year, the last years they start even more early, prime time 3 months per year.
20lbs Penn intl reel, 20-30 lbs main line, 80lbs leader.
for whites i clip all lines on the outriggers, reels are in "free" position, no drag, you see the bastards anyways coming up in the spray in doubles/tripples and more, grab the rod but leave the damn brake open in"free" position, feel the moment he keeps the bait in the mouth, your skipper on the bridge should see that anyways and advice you, too, then close and set the hooks.
as the opposite to blue marlin the white does not sound/run away with all it's power he could, too sensible in their mouth, they feel every little movement you put on the line, we got 100lbs whites on 12 lbs flytackle in 33 minutes on may 5th this year without a boat chase, in case you have too much line out of course position the boat over him to pull him back up.
once he did a couple of jumps and been hooked for more than 15 minutes you can lead him, whites follow the directions you put on them with the rod, bring them alongside and grab the billy, there you have all the time of the world to get the hook off and let him go.

i use. also 7/0 circles, i have to use all different kinds and brands i can get, sorrily only 1 shop on the island sells them(sometimes), i mostly rely on customers bringing me a couple of dozens in in change for bucks or extra cold beers.

bigger hooks or anything metal close to the ballyhoo will make them throw the bait away, they feel it right away.
for whites i use only deadbait ballyhoos or ballyhoos behind small lures on the short riggers(more as a teaser than the bait to hook them on), movement in the spray is the key-thingy to taget white marlin.
if you see only 1 white (40-50lbs) in the spray and get him hooked, don't take your other lines out right away and don't stop the boat right away, the 1-2 years old white marlin stick mostly together in groups of 2-5, if one is hooked(means eating to the rest of the gang) they show up and those 2nd and 3rd hitters strike mostly very wild, maybe some kind of macho behavior to show the first one that they can hunt, too.

drag on the reel at the moment of a white marlin strike will very often result in his disappearance.

good luck on your hunts.

[arthurj]

Thank both of you for the info.

This might give both of you a heart attack when I ask this but, lets say you had some plastics mixed in your spread, or you had a lot of plastics in your spread, rigged with j-hooks how would you set drags for the hookup/fight?

[WAHOONBOX]

Hey Box,

I watched your video, so I ran out and bought a hundred Eagle Claw 7/0 Circle Hooks.

Now you're telling me I shoulda bought O'Shaughnessy's????

Thank both of you for the info.

This might give both of you a heart attack when I ask this but, lets say you had some plastics mixed in your spread, or you had a lot of plastics in your spread, rigged with j-hooks how would you set drags for the hookup/fight?

HOLD ON THERE FORMULA ......THE CIRCLES ARE GOOD DUDE....AND YOUR MERE 100 INVENTORY IS ALL GOOD....BUT UNTIL THE POLITICIANS WHO HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHAT'S WHAT ....AND UNTIL THEY DECREE IT A LAW TO REQUIRE CIRCLE HOOKS.....I WILL USE THE RELIABLE DINK O'SHAUN J-HOOK.....BUT I WILL GO FULL CIRCLE WITH THE 2004 ONCE THEY HAVE FINISHED KISSING SOME ASSES DOWN SOUTH OF THE USA AND MANDATE CIRLES IN BILLFISH TOURNYS......NOW YOU HAVE GOT ME STARTED......J HOOKS ON ARTIFICIALS BUT NOT ON NATURALS......NOW IF THAT AIN'T ABOUT THE DAM BEST EXAMPLE OF WASHINGTON DC LOBBYING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF.......

I REMEMBER VERY WELL THE LAST BLUE ONE THAT ATE MY DOUBLE HOOK ARTIFICAL LURE....I CAN STILL SEE HIS EYE SOCKET HANGING OUT OF HIS HEAD AS HE JUMPED AWAY...

ALLOWING J HOOKS ON ARTIFICIALS IS JUST AS HARMING AS A J HOOK IN A NATURAL BAIT.....

IF WE WANT TO CUT DOWN ON BILLFISH MORTALITY....THEN LET'S DO AWAY WITH GPS AND LORAN.......I AM 100% CERTAIN YOU WILL SEE A MAJOR DECLINE


NMF: QUIT PICKING ON THE J HOOK


SORRY FOR THE RANT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


NEXT QUESTION:

WHILE I AM RECOVERING FROM MY HEART ATTACK....I ASK YOU BACK MY FRIEND: "AREN'T YOU FISHING FOR WHITES AND SAILS HERE? "

ON THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES....I SEE NO NEED IN FISHING FOR WHITES OR SAILS WITH ANY BAIT OTHER THAN A SMALL STRIPBAIT(BONITO-SKIPJACK) ...SMALL SQUID...OR SMALL/MED BALLYHOO

NOW IF YOU WANT TO ADD A BLUE MARLIN INTO THE EQUATION ALONG WITH YOUR WHITES AND SAILS.....THEN PUT YOU AN 80 OUT THERE IN DA SHORT RIGGER WITH AN ARTIFICIAL ON IT....

80 LB GEAR.....23 LBS OF DRAGOLA AT THE STRIKE POSITION......BUT DO NOT EXPECT TO CATCH A WHITE OR SAIL ON THIS INLESS THEY GO SUICIDAL ON YOU....

[Dick_Formula233]

keep the eagle claws Dick.
but for tackle and drag and line and leader Box said it all.

Thanks Mike... I was just pullin' Box's chain

20lbs Penn intl reel, 20-30 lbs main line, 80lbs leader.

We're using TLD30II's with 30-lb Diamond, 8-lb strike drag, and 80-lb leaders. Some of the guys here will drop down to 60-lb leaders.

for whites i clip all lines on the outriggers, reels are in "free" position, no drag, you see the bastards anyways coming up in the spray in doubles/tripples and more, grab the rod but leave the damn brake open in"free" position, feel the moment he keeps the bait in the mouth, your skipper on the bridge should see that anyways and advice you, too, then close and set the hooks.

As you can see in my signature picture, I have no bridge. That really makes it tough! I troll a spread of 5, four naked ballyhoo w/circles on the riggers and flats, and plastic behind a bird on the dropback. I set the drags and clips on the 'Hoo's just tight enough that the baits won't pull line or pop the clip. If a clip pops we try to jump on it ASAP point the rod at the fish and go to free spool until we feel the fish.

The center rigger is usually a 50-W pulling an artificial, with the drag set near strike, around 20-lb.

[Dick_Formula233]

IF WE WANT TO CUT DOWN ON BILLFISH MORTALITY....THEN LET'S DO AWAY WITH GPS AND LORAN.......I AM 100% CERTAIN YOU WILL SEE A MAJOR DECLINE

Hey Box...

That will do the job all right! LMAO

I was just messin' with you about the 2004's

[MikeFisher]

hi Dick,
that does not sound that different to what i do here.
even many skippers in the area fish 6 lines wet, i prefer myself also the 5's.
sorry for the flybridge answer, i did not have your signature in mind while writing.
i normally put for white marlin naked ballyhoo on the long riggers and a small lure ballyhoo combo on the short riggers, the rod for the center line i keep always on the bridge, a naked ballyhoo on, line is also in a clip on a small rigger on the bridge.
the main idea of keeping the center line(mostly that bait is swimming close to the long rigger baits) on the bridge is the fact that we often get smaller blue marlins up during white marlin season, in that case we try to tease him closer to the transom where the mate has to throw fast a konahead of a 50+lbs line/rod, mostly a 80. from the bridge you have the best visibility to do so.

to Box:
i love those posts, specially when he's jumping to the politicians, still laughing.

on natural baits i only use circles, on the artificials for blue marlin i still use only J-hooks on the big lures, strong drag on, they strike right on the bait and in the very most occassions they get hooked right away where you can get the hook out again after the fight, no sensible players like white or sail.
of course with j's you should never give a billy too much time to eat, you would get them more dead than alive alongside.
there's no reason for artifical baits on white and sail, for j-hooks neither.
of course i can only speak for myself, not for the whole fishing world, but the few whites i got hooked on small lures been accidents, i will never change my ballyhoos and flying fishes for any plastics on whites and sail.

tight lines

by the way:
that boat on the signature does not need a bridge to be a beauty.
be proud on it

[arthurj]

Wahoo,
Yep, I failed to say that I fish the Gulf of Mexico! We get a mix of everything, and I am still such a novice that I am constantly switching from ballyhoo to plastics, back to ballyhoo, then plastics. My most recent trip, this past saturday, we had a sail try to eat a 12" plastic with a 9/0 hook, he was on for a few jumps then he came undone. The only billfish I have caught have been on artificials, BUT... that is probably because I haven't had the patience to pull a bunch of ballyhoo. I am just a fence rider right now, damn, maybe I'll go pull some ballyhoo next trip! I am just torn between plastics and ballyhoo, to tell you the truth it is driving me crazy!