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Saltwater Fishing
Saltwater fishing is almost a separate phase of angling. It is highly specialized, demanding on tackle, and requires that the sportsman know a good deal more than the fundamentals. And it tends to be expensive at times. If you own your own boat this will come as no surprise to you. If you have to charter an offshore cruiser each time you want to lock horns with a marlin, tuna or sailfish, the price per trip will run even higher than for the man who averages out the costs, over a season, for his sportsfishing.
I'm certain that anyone who is seriously interested in trying his hand at big-game saltwater fishing already is familiar with marlin, tuna, sail and shark. Possibly the most important subject pertains to the highly specialized fishing tackle that is used, its terminology and classification.
Nothing gives the novice more trouble than understanding the jargon of the saltwater fishing game. For instance, what do the pros mean when they call for a 3/0 reel?
Many years ago, certain American manufacturers decided to designate reel sizes by a series of code numbers such as 16/0, 14/0, etc. This was an excellent step, but unfortunately it did not find acceptance with all manufacturers. In fact, European concerns stuck to their systems of basing size on diameters of the reel plates. There, we would have an 8-inch offshore reel or say, a 10-inch reel. The major saltwater big-game fishing reels, you will find, are marked from 1/0 to 16/0. There are certain special reels, most of which fall in the category of the smaller-type "bay" or bottom-fishing models. They may be known by model names such as the Penn Long Beach. Most of these reels were designed and marketed with special types of fishing in mind - we may find that one has an unusually high gear ratio and perhaps another is designed to handle extreme pressures from spooling monofilament on a reel. But once again, let me say that most of the deep-sea anglers who fish for tuna, swords and the like favor big-game reels which fall into the 1/0-16/0 classification. They have been specially designed to withstand the runs of big fish, and 16/0 signifies the largest American reel available-designed to spool line of 130-pound test and up.
Braided nylon and Dacron are almost impervious to saltwater. Originally, they had too much stretch for serious deep-sea anglers. On a long line, hooking qualities were quite poor. In recent years, though, this has been partially corrected in the case of nylon and greatly immproved in the case of good quality Dacron.
When it comes to smaller game fish such as blues, bonita or small school tuna, I prefer monofilament. And for only one reason-its near-invisibility in the water. In a chum slick, with nervous fish around the boat, there is little doubt that mono will take more fish by far than any other line. In this particular case it is invisibility that brings results. Apart from this, monofilament is ideal on spinning reels with the lesser pound-tests.
Fishing Tackle
January 3, 2009
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Although some trollers use a stainless steel snap at the end of their leaders to facilitate changing lures, many saltwater anglers find it better to make direct connections, either by twisting the wire leader to the lure, or by attaching it via a clinch knot to monofilament leaders. Keep in mind that the less hardware you use the less conspicuous is the connection, with fewer parts to fail at a crucial moment.