Harpoon/Flyer End Game

[Capt_John]

Those who know the animal know that swords are very dangerous at the end game.

Hmm, tough call. I think more injuries are caused by dorados/dolphinfish with a double hook-rig in their mouths than any other fish. That and the sliding wahoo plus bare toes. I agree the potential is there for a sword to be dangerous, but in terms of incidents they come a long way down the list for me. You know they're big and dangerous, and so when they come alongside, you take precautions, but a dodo on a lure ? Heave-ho, in she comes, ahhhhhhaaaaaaa fark ooowwwwwww eeeeee.

You know the drill

AMEN RODDY!! Mahi and double hook rigs are called 911 rigs for a reason.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Roddy,

Ca va?

As usual, a great, informative post. And you know that I sure agree on dorado and double hooks - anything on double hooks, but especially dorado and wahoo too. I write about that in every one of my books in chapters entitled "Double Trouble", which chronicle and even picture some downright horrible double hook wounds (most of which I don't dare publish because they'll have people running for the exits and barfing their brains out) and combination (yikes!) wahoo human hookups and bite events. I get into all kinds of trouble stating that I not only didn't use double hook rigs on my boats, I didn't allow anyone to bring them aboard, either. "One hook for the fish and one hook for the fisherman" is an absolute mantra to me, period!

As I think you know, once long ago down in St. Thomas I was connected to a large blue marlin via one 12/0 Sea Demon, part of the aircraft cable double hook rig that we used to use back then. I won't go into the gory and fortuitous details of how I escaped being yanked overboard and drowned by her, except to say that was the last time I ever used a double hook rig or allowed anyone aboard one of my boats to.

But what I was talking about with the swords was absolute, life threatening danger. Death kind of danger. I still believe that the swords are the most dangerous fish of them all. Yes, more folks come to woe with dorado and wahoos and probably even marlin, but those fish are encountered and dealt with to a vastly greater extent than those purple (preferrably brown) ones.

Having a hook jerked into and then ripped through your flesh by a 'hoo or dorado is a frightful experience, no doubt. And having the family jewels hammered up into the top of one's head by a big bull dorado using his "testicular targeting radar" is bad and hurts, but one swipe of that broad, sharp sword by those incredibly powerful fish can, in fact, be a virtual death sentence! I love ya, Rodski, but I stand by my position on swords being far more dangerous to those who don't respect and handle them properly. I'm out to help those who do mess with them to enjoy the experience, but not the potential horror.

And mako sharks? Encountered and dealt with by more folks than the swords, but still to a far lesser extent than the pelagics and generally for far shorter periods of time (seasons). In spite of that, I am horrified by some of the things that I see and read about people doing when it comes to the flying chainsaws! The laisez faire, "it's just another fish" attitude that some have about these fish sends shivers down my spine and as an author of the most shark books ever written by one man, I constantly worry about misinformed fishermen winding up getting bitten by one of those hellacious meat shredders, not only at the end game, but when a green one comes calling early in the fight to see who's messing with him and somebody plants a gaff in him, or he just decides to jump into the 'pit, which some have actually done.

Yes, double hook sets snagging fishermen by dorado and wahoo are a helluva lot more common, and a wahoo bite is nothing to sneeze at (the three fingers one lopped off a new crew on my boat once is ample proof of that), but while those bites are bad news, but a swordy bill slash or a bite from any size mako shark can be final!

So I think that we're all talking about the same thing - angler safety - but again, I stand by my attitude about the baddest of the bad boys and the biggest threats to fishermens' lives.

The bottom line is, we are all talking about the same thing - safety first, my friends. To me, no fish on the planet is worth having yourself or your crew or friend slashed up and being dragged around attached to a double hook rig, screaming and bleeding and maybe scarred for life. And when it comes to those fish that are armed with weapons that can not only hurt, but can gut and kill a person in a heartbeat, I make that caution an even stronger one.

Respect the fish and please be careful!

[Big Jay]

Fred, Roddy,

Excellent points. Double hook rigs are the thing of NIGHTMARES for me. I always imagine ending up with one hook in me and the other in a whole lot of pissed off gamefish.

I am without a doubt getting a harpoon soon. It just seems to be more effective pushing, rather than pulling. Simple matter of range.

I've always had the angler back off the drag with the flyer. Seems that the fish tends to go beserk for a short while. As a contingency plan, if the flyer pulls at least theres still something connected to the fish.

Safety is always a primary concern. And yes, i can definitely see the danger with swords. 3-4 years ago on another boat, we nailed a 120 lbr. on the overnight. I was on the road, mate was over zealous with the gaff and pulled a 120 lb. sword on board with the bitter end inches from my face.