not too much that it might break the gear.
It’s OK to lose some line initially but once you
have the fish’s head turned in the direction
you want to go it will generally succumb to
the pressure and follow. Try not to cause any
sudden movements which may startle the fish
and cause it to bolt in whatever direction it
thinks is safe. Once in deeper or safer water,
you can ramp things back up and try and
back in control of the fish.Chasing fish
We all want to hook a massive fish that puts up
a terrific fight, pulling hard and taking line.
If you’re stuck on the shore and the fish bolts
off taking lots of line, all you can do is watch,
worry and add more pressure. Sometimes this
will pull the fish up but usually it results in
something letting go.
While it can be exhilarating having line
smoking off your reel from a blistering run,the more line you have off your reel the
greater the chances of trouble. Lots of line
out adds a great deal of strain on the whole
system through water pressure. This stresses
hook holding points, knots or any other
weak points. Keep the length of line
between you and the fish as short as
possible. In a boat you can chase a fish
down to achieve this. There’s an art to
chasing fish in a boat because if you’re the
one fighting the fish you’re relying on
someone else to save your fish. If you’re
driving the boat, then you’ve got your
mate’s hopes in your hands.
In some situations, you can reverse the
boat onto a fish to shorten the line up.
Unless you are an experienced boater,
I would not recommend this practice. It can
be very dangerous because it can make waves
break over the back of the boat and cause
capsize, especially in outboard powered
vessels. The safer option is to chase a fish by
driving forward. However, you don’t want to
drive straight at the fish. Instead, you want
to keep an angle between the boat and the
fish that gives you space if the fish changes
direction. An angle of between 10 and 11o’clock is about right. Remember that you
aren’t trying to defeat the fish at this stage so
you don’t want to get too close. You’re trying
to manage the amount of line between you
and the fish while it tires out.Landing gear
Once you’ve successfully overcome all of the
above hassles and have the fish relatively
subdued at the side of the boat, the next
thing to do is land it. To stand the best
chance of landing big fish from your boat
you need a system in place to safely get the
fish into the boat. Whether this involves a
gaff, net or grips doesn’t matter. Just ensure
you have a system in place and know how to
do it. Some fish – such as marlin – are too
big to be landed safely (for you and the
fish). In this case, you need to know how
to “leader” the fish alongside the boat and
remove the hooks or lures using pliers or
cutters while it’s still in the water.
The thrill of hooking a big fish from your
boat is matched by the satisfaction of getting it
aboard or watching it swim away after release.
Follow the above basic rules and you should
enjoy more success out on the water!76 | fishingworld.com.au | March 2015
The fish is close to the net and
the angler can easily drop his rod
if it decides to run under the boat.
LEF T: This doesn’t look good
... The fish is under the boat
and heading along the hull. Line
breakage is imminent.TECHNICAL: CONTROLLING FISH