With the advent of the spectra line(s) and extreme performance reels in the past few years, there are many big game species now available to light tackle anglers.
For example, bluefin, large yellowfin tuna, billfish and especially deep water bottom fish are now within reach of very compact stand-up tackle suited for the task of bringing almost any sized game fish to the boat.
One of the obvious advantages of using the spectra (braided) line is the capacity of line on the spool. This capacity has some requirements that demand the attention of the serious angler. First and foremost, particular attention must be paid to how the foundation, or the first few hundred yards of line, is packed onto the spool. This is not something that should be attempted without the equipment that can deliver the proper amount of drag to create the perfect base or foundation. Without this base, large fish that require serious amounts of drag, can easily bury the line (peeling off the reel) down into a loosely packed base of line, if improperly loaded. This will instantly result in a line failure, or break-off.
There is a new breed of saltwater cowboys, now, that are into jigging and popping with spinning tackle, and live baiters and trollers that are catching some huge fish on conventional tackle that appear to be undersized equipment for the job. My hat is off to these guys for doing the homework to refine this new age of equipment. Being from North Carolina, we are certainly no strangers to large fish such as bluefin tuna, billfish and large bottom fish, nor are we strangers any longer to the equipment required to handle the fish. Recently, one of our native sons, Capt. Bob Earl, South Chatham Tackle, developed the proper tool for loading this base of braided (or mono) line onto conventional or spinning reels that eliminated the problems of days gone by and busted off fish. This new magnetic tensioned line winder can pack the base of line onto the reel at up to 12 pounds of drag. This accomplishes several things at once.
1) Now we can use the (ergonomically correct) small reels that are light weight, built for extreme service, and have the line capacity for the target species. And;
2) A harness/bucket combination can be easily adapted utilizing the correct harness-to-reel hardware that can handle almost any big game fish on stand-up gear due to the no stretch braided line.
The braided line does not allow a fish to turn it’s head in the opposite direction of the boat, and kick away like monofilament line does. Basically, if you can keep the correct tension on the fish you can have it swimming in smaller and smaller radiuses behind the boat. This makes the fight shorter, the fish greener and healthier at the boat side. In turn, it can be the difference between a photo or mount of the fish of a lifetime, or the sinking feeling of disgust and cursing usually associated with that moment of all in the cockpit from a busted off fish.
Here’s your tip of the day: Don’t shoot cheap shells in the duck blind, and don’t wonder if your reel is properly spooled with the fish of a lifetime on the other end burning line off with serious drag!
Do it right the first time. Check out this new amazing tool for serious big gamers on my website, or directly at www.southchathamtackle.com.
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