Big Game Fishing - Jigging - Popping worldwide

Hi Uwe
Someone has to start.....so it looks as if it's me.

I know a very small number of anglers, normally those that are extremely wealthy, seem to get some form of buzz out of using ultra light line tackle. And if you look through some of the IGFA records you'll see records for a 72.5kg Black Marlin on 1kg test and a 333.5 on 3kg, then a 260kg Atlantic Blue Marlin on 2kg.

Hardly to my mind sporting challenges or sporting tackle though. Does it not just demonstrate that the angler can keep the line reasonably tight, although that doesn't normally matter, and that they employ superb crews and utilise boats that are often capable of planing in reverse? And, for every time they get their name in the record book, how many other fish have they killed? The norm would be to let the fish swallow the hook. You surely can't strike a Marlin on those ridiculously light lines. And what happens if the line breaks through water pressure alone, with that fish towing around a 20' heavy trace and perhaps a hundred metres of line?

So you've gathered not my idea of fishing!

If then we look at sensible tackle for Marlin, and most pelagic species, I prefer to use balanced tackle on a 5 - 1 basis, tackling say a 400lb Marlin on 50lb class tackle or, if I'm expecting fish in the 700lb plus range, then I'll use 130lb class. That gives the fish a sportfing chance to escape but also an angler the opportunity to get the fish to the boat quickly without stressing it unduly so that it can be released. For species like Jacks though, and especially Tuna, I'd prefer to base that on say 3 to 1.

To some extent that governs the way I like to fish. For 50lb class or lighter I would wish to fish stand-up whereas for 80s and 130s I prefer to fish with a bent butt in the chair. For the stand up fishing I don't use a specialist harness for 30lb class tackle and lighter but, for 50s, I like using something like the New Zealand Black Magic harness with a short bent butt on a specialist stand-up rod.

As for reels I tend to use two speed reels for 20lb class tackle upwards.

And for rods I tend to use stiffer rods, sometimes one line class up, whether for trolling or bait fishing and whether stand-up or in the chair. I personally don't favour these specialist stand-up rods where the tips bend over dramatically, effectively reducing the rod's length.

I thought that they'd be best illustrated by images but I'm having problem adding them. Has the file size now been reduced to 20Kbs?
Dave

Hi Uwe
Why should I even be considering this? I've got so MUCH tackle! Any more and I'm sure my wife and I will have to move to a larger house! (Currently there're the two of us 'rattling around' in a 4 bedroomed house.)

And I keep promising my wife that I'll actually sell some tackle. Certainly, given the quality of tackle on the game boats I fish from, my 50s and 80 are surplus to requirements. (I can remember the days when the boats in the Canaries were equipped with old Penn Senators and I used to have to take rods, reels AND a selection of lures with me.)

So what do I already own? The fly gear's probably easier to describe because, other than two Thomas & Thomas rods and one Sage, all my rods are Loomis - 7 weight through to 16 - and my reels Abels. (The 4 and 4.5" are all anti-reverse.) Then, for light tackle game fishing, the rods again are all Loomis - spin rods for 6, 8, 12 and 16lb class and a 10/20lb spin rod blank that I have had made up for casting with a Shimano Calcutta 400. (I've had some tremendous fish on that last set of gear.) In terms of the heavier trolling gear - 12lb to 80 - the rods are all custom built on a variety of blanks and the reels are, with a couple of exceptions, wide 2 speed Penn Internationals. The exceptions - the 12lb International is only a single speed model and for 30lb class tackle I still retain my old Fin Nor Lite. All the trolling rods are equipped with Aftco rollers, except the 80 which has very expensive Fin Nor guides.

So despite the pressure from my wife to sell some tackle what might I be tempted to buy? I guess I'm (possibly) quite tempted to try some of the 'extreme' popper and deep water jig fishing using Shimano Stella reels and super braid lines. So perhaps................
Dave

Just back to my comments about wanting to investing in some of that quality tackle that they use for these styles of fishing. These are a sample of the types of fish they target - Giant Trevallies, Dogtooth and Yellowfin Tuna AND even Sailfish.

So firstly Panama and some more of Panama.

Then Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, and Christmas Island, in the Central Pacific south of Hawaii.

Now Rodrigues Island, close to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and Kilwa, Tanzania on the East coast of Africa.

Finally the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

But seriously there're many more in the English Trips section of this specialised Spanish forum. Perhaps you can see why this style of fishing is something I want to try!
Dave

Quoted

I fish with popper in freshwater, but there I only can catch fishes which are robbing on the surface (is this the right word?) of the water.

Striking is I think the word you're looking for Uwe.

What do you target in freshwater on poppers - Pike (Esox lucius)?
Dave

We mainly fish light tackle tournaments here in Brisbane which are 6 & 8 kilo line class. Our main target is the smaller Black Marlin and sailfish, mostly in the 80kilo bracket. We have heavier striped and blue marlin here (up to 400kilo) we stick mainly to the smaller species for speed of capture and tagging results.
I prefer my old ABU game reels on 8kg stand up short strokers. I do have many shimano TLD's and Penn reels as well. Hate the Penns, because they are too noisy, with the anti reverse dogs.
Shimano's are good, but I still love my ABU 20's and 30's
Capt Kevin 'K.C" Carpenter IGFA

Hi Kevin
And welcome to the forum.

I can recall seeing the Abu 20 and 30s, but never owned any. Were they not Swedish made prior to the company's aquisition by Garcia?

The TLDs were also great light tackle reels but, most of the time now, you see them relegated to just a bait catching role.
Dave

hi there
my favorite rod- reel combo is the penn 80 VSW and the italcanna cayman 80 lbs short
with an bent-but ( stand-up)
TL
wolfman