Fishing Ski Basics - Hooking and Fighting Fish
By Craig Stubbs
So, you are paddling along drifting between thoughts when the magic happens, your rod bends double and your reel screams off! Your first instinct must be to take five or six strong paddling strokes and set the hooks properly in your fish. By now your reel should be singing its sweet “Couta music” as your fish turns and runs.
Now is the time to grab your rod out of its holder, flick your ratchet off and enjoy the fight. It is important to get your other line and bait out of the water to avoid getting the two lines tangled together, so use your spare hand and whilst leaving your other rod in its holder. Bring in your line as quickly as possible whilst still maintaining pressure on your hooked fish.
Game fish have a very distinctive way of fighting, initially they will take off and run hard, after that first run you should be able to turn your fish and start gaining line but beware of that second run that normally comes just as the fish sees your ski. This is a time when the majority of fish are lost, as anglers tend to get very excited and tighten up on their drag at just the wrong moment, causing that sickening feeling of a snapped line or pulled hook just as the fish takes off again.
After that final run, it is just a case of tiring the fish out around your ski until it is tired enough to be landed. Tunny and Kingfish normally fight in a totally different manner, initially they take off on a strong run, but soon after, head down to the depths, and if the fish is of decent size, its here where the fun starts. You will need to put maximum pressure on the fish and every time you manage to turn it you need to put that line onto your reel, these fish are extremely strong and unrelenting and will make you sweat for every inch of line and are a truly great adversary off the ski. A tactic that works well is to use a short pumping action with your rod, and gain line one turn of the handle at a time. Catching Sailfish off the Ski can also be a great thrill, your key to success being that you make sure of a proper initial hook set. Once hooked they are tremendously acrobatic, but they do tire themselves our relatively quickly and after the initial furious action they are rather easily brought alongside the ski for release. With all their acrobatic qualities and lightening fast runs, you may find you loose a lot more than you will land, but they are a great thrill to hook none the less.
Article Courtesy: ESA
