You’ve read all the trace articles, tied all the right knots and put out the best bait into the most likely looking spot and it’s produced exactly what you have been looking for. A pull from a trophy fish! Viskoors takes over and you hammer the hooks home as the fish takes string you lock up the drag and pull it hard to the side. You brag to your mates that this fish will come out without its teeth as you pull as hard as possible. No sooner have these words escaped your mouth and you feel the first tinges of fatigue in your lower back and arms. Your fish arrives in the shore break and your mates are yelling to pull it but your arms are too tired and the fish washes around in the shore break dragging your line over mussels and barnacles. Pop! Your line parts with a sickening feeling as your first triple digit fish makes off. Your mates console you “it just wasn’t your day” but perhaps had you done a few things differently you may have been our winning catch of the month compo instead of sulking in front of the TV.
The Bite.The first step and probably the most difficult in any fight is not to panic. When you feel that first bump adrenaline kicks in and at the first sign of a take the urge to hit the fish is almost uncontrollable. Rather wait, keep the rod tip up and as the fish swims off let it pull your rod flat then slowly wind into the fish. As the line comes tight simply lean back into the fish and lift the tip about 1.5 feet. With sharp hooks this will be enough set the hooks and not run the risk of jerking the bait from its mouth and missing the hook up or busting the line off with a sudden jerk.
If you are using a circle hook then the procedure is slightly different. This is just my personal method but makes for a good guide for any beginner. When the fish picks you up drop your rod tip slowly towards it keeping in contact the whole time. You don’t want the line hanging slack in the water. Put your thumb on the spool and engage free spool controlling the line as the fish peels line off. I generally count to 30 at this stage which equates to about 10 seconds since invariably your counting instead of the usual 1 2 3 4 5..... tends to become something along the lines of12345678910! If the fish stops at any stage now WAIT! Many fish will do this as they stop to manoeuvre the bait into position to swallow. When the fish moves off again or you reach 30 engage the clutch and start retrieving line. When it becomes tight slowly lean back into the fish, lifting your rod tip about 1.5 feet at the same time.
At no stage should there be a violent strike or “hit” on the fish. This makes for good video shots but not for a good hookup. During this whole procedure you drag should not be locked or even overly tight since this could result in a bust off as the fish wakes up at the prick of the hook. The above steps are even more important if you are sliding. Most of the time your slide will not have reached the stopper ring and any wild striking will almost certainly result in a burn off.
The Fight.Congrats you are now hooked up to what may be your PB fish. Now is not the time for heroics or macho drag locking. Let the fish take line and if there are no obstructions between you and your fish drop the tip and straight stick. Your fish is now fighting not only your drag but also the weight and drag of your line in the water while you sit back and conserve your energy.
If you have hooked yourself a real screamer your first impulse will be to tighten the drag as it runs. Whatever you do don’t do it! As the fish runs the drag pressure actually increases when the line diminishes on the spool. This means you may start off with a drag of 5kg on a locked full spool but by the time you reach the dying few meters your drag has spiked to 10kg!!! This in combination with the drag of 600m of line trailing in the water could just part you off. Check out REEFMAN'S article for an experts explanation.
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=5889.0 Many species of fish will swim out then turn around and swim back at you often picking the line up and biting through the leader. This is why I would advise that the moment your fish starts to slow down you start pulling to ensure that should they stop and turn they won’t have any slack to pick up on.
Now is generally the time when the fish will make its decision as to whether it will arc left or right. Why is this important you may ask? Well more often than not it is impossible to land the fish at the spot you were sliding or throwing from. This means that you need to have somewhere safe to land your fish and preferably 2 places, one north and one south of your spot to allow you to land the fish regardless of which way it runs. Obviously this is not always possible in which case if the fish runs the wrong way you will need to put on some serious pressure to turn him the right way.
While the fish is taking its first run it may also be a good idea to try and get some height on the fish. Sand dunes, Transkei hills and even rock outcrops are all good options. The advantage of the height is less of your line is in the water due to the steep angle which means less chance of being cut off. It also means that the fish will be fighting to not only swim away but to swim down. The last point doesn’t have a massive effect but every bit helps. A fish in the upper water column will have less chance to cut you off.
Now that your fish has turned you need to start the hard graft! The entire fight you need to be actively working the fish towards your landing spot. If the fish stops swimming you need to be pulling it towards that spot. A very good tactic is to straight stick and walk backwards then jog forwards recovering line as you come towards the fish. Another option is to stand in one spot and wind your line tightly onto the reel pulling it to its maximum stretch and then wait. The line will return to its unstretched state pulling the fish in a little at a time. All these tactics will save your back and arms for the end of the fight. Bear in mind that when you rest the fish rests and it will recover twice as fast as you!
When the fish gets close is when things get a little tricky and in most cases a little sweaty. You now need to keep your rod tip up and pull! Keeping the rod tip up will help keep the line clear of snags. Pulling at this stage doesn’t mean aimlessly pulling to recover line but to get the fish in line with the gulley where you want to land him and then turn his head and keep it coming! Now is not the time to cry about painful muscles or cramps the end is near! Now you can finally crank up your drag a bit to turn the fish and keep him coming. Just don’t lock it up and make sure that it will release smoothly if the fish decides to make a last dash.
With such a short distance between you and your fish there is no stretch in the line to absorb head shakes or sudden lunges so be wary of putting too much pressure on the fish. The balance between getting the fish where you need it and not busting off will come with experience. If you are fishing off the beach it is a good idea to walk as far back as possible. 50 meters of mono compared to 10 meters has a lot more stretch and can help absorb those head shakes and avoid hook pulls or bust offs.
When fishing off the rocks it’s up to you to make sure that you use the right angles to pull the fish away from snags and keep your line clear. Once again this will come with experience.
Landing the fish.This not something you as the angler have to worry about but as a buddy to the guy on with the fish of a lifetime bear the following in mind.
Believe it or not R&S is a team sport! It is your task to make sure that the angler is safe. Watch the water for your mate and watch your mate. When you are on to a big fish we all tend to forget the danger of certain situations so if your mate starts eyeing out a new ledge to pull from that looks a bit suspect it is your responsibility to make sure that common sense wins over viskoors.
The moment anyone goes tight with a decent fish the decision needs to be made whether you all need to reel up your lines to assist or if some people can hang onto the remaining rods while 2 guys go along to land the fish and assist the angler. After making this decision one person needs to grab all the relevant tools. You should take the following:
Side cutters
Hook remover
Gloves (if you use them)
Gaff
Tagging kit (if you have one)
Camera
Tape measure/marking sticks
WATER!
It sure sounds like a lot but you won’t need to have everything on you the entire time. It’s more to make sure that it is all easily accessible.
Coming back to the team aspect. Ensure your angler stays well hydrated during the entire fight. On a 45minute fight dehydration won’t be an issue but after 5 or 6 hours it becomes a major issue. It is much easier to maintain hydration during intense physical exercise than to rehydrate so make sure you get the angler to drink from the start.
Throughout the fight assist the angler when needed by holding the line clear of rocks while walking and little things like that. Don’t forget to snap a few pics of the deep burn!
As soon as the fish gets close you now need to swing into action. Avoid pulling the fish by the leader since this can cause you to tear the hooks out. Always have one person watching the water! When you decide to grab then fish do so by the tail and lift it slightly pulling as you walk it out backwards. Lifting the tail makes it harder for the fish to swing around and bite you since they are angled down. Use the swell to assist you in moving the fish don’t try and drag it by yourself without any water to support it.
When you decide to grab the fish don’t hesitate and don’t let go! I have taken a clout to the head from a 30kg sandy and believe me that little fish hurt enough!
I cannot stress enough at this stage how careful you need to be. You are dealing with dangerous animals at close quarters and stressful conditions. Watch the water and beware of the fish. There is more than one case of people being washed off the rocks landing fish and cases of people being “bitten” by their catch when a wave rolls the fish and angler together in the shore break. BE CAREFUL. No fish is worth a life and this holds true for not only you and your buddies but also gillies who are sometimes encouraged by anglers to land fish in absurd conditions by the promise of extra cash. Once again BE CAREFUL!
GaffingThis is and will always be a controversial subject. What follows is merely my own uneducated opinion so please don’t hang me out to dry for it. The gaff has no place on the beach. A steep shore break may be tough on you but the lactic acid build up caused by exertion is outweighed by a huge hole pierced into the fish.
Most KZN points do not need a gaff to quickly and safely land a fish and once again IMHO the gaff can be left at home. Moving south to the Transkei we begin to find spots where a gaff is definitely a good option. Some places are impossible to land a fish at without one and not using one will cause more damage to the fish as it is bashed by massive swells against rocky outcrops. A well placed gaff used to guide a fish into a landable spot will do COMPARATIVELY little damage to the fish. If you are going to gaff a fish do so only in the dorsal fin area and just through the skin. Some folks advise you to gaff the fish in its mouth but after watching a recent show on National Geographic where a large raggie somehow swallowed the gaff I would advise against this.
Handling your FishOnce your fish is out speed is the name of the game. Pose for a few pics if the fish isn’t in too tired. Assess whether you can remove the hook or if cutting the trace would be better. Either mark the fish with sticks on the beach or measure it quickly with a tape measure on the rocks. Now get the fish back and make sure it swims off strongly.
Always support the weight of the fish. The fish is not designed to support itself out of the water since they are always supported by the buoyancy of water. Never place a fish on hot or dry rocks or sand. Keep the fish as close to water as possible since this will limit the damage you do dragging it around. Never lift a fish by the tail only.
Never flip a flatfish over. This WILL kill it.
Never stick your fingers in the spiracles of a fish. You wouldn’t like me touching your lungs so don’t poke your fish’s lungs. Apparently a good cure for this problem is to put your fingers in a raggies mouth?
Never ever hurl a fish back by its tail. You may think this is obvious but I have seen it done.
Avoid grabbing a fish by the nose and stretching its mouth open to show off its teeth. We aren’t stupid we know it has teeth! Although sharks do bash their noses into crevices on a reef and use it to stun prey they do also have very sensitive organs located in their noses called ampullae of lorenzini. Although it’s unlikely you could damage them why run the risk of doing so?
Never sit on your fish! It’s amazing how many people actually do this.
When handling rays beware of their spines located at the base of their tails. The smaller rays can arch themselves and jab your hand even though you were nowhere near the spine. If you do get spiked immediately pour some meat tenderizer powder into it. This will to some extent denature the proteins in the venom. You can also submerge the wound in hot water, as hot as you can possibly handle. Seek medicinal attention ASAP
Smaller raggies and cow sharks can in fact arch their entire bodies and reach their tail. This means that despite being nowhere near the sharp end you could walk away with a nasty bite.
When handling fish and removing the hooks beware of fish which roll and squirm. Your main culprits are hammers, hound sharks and spotted gullies. Nothing worse than having a 10/0 in your hand with a rolling fish twisting it all over.
Well there you have it. A short guide to getting your trophy fish out. I am by no means an expert and much of the info here is what I have picked up from my time with those who do know their stuff. I’m just fortunate enough to have the time to put it all down. If I have missed anything please add to it!
