An Introduction to Long Range Fishing, Part II

by Dennis Braid

Much of the research and development for these products was conducted on the dozens of long-range trips he has taken over the past 15 years. In part one, you will experience the excitement of long-range fishing through Dennis' eyes and learn just what these remarkable fishing trips are all about.

The moment you step aboard a long-range boat, a feeling of adventure overcomes you. Maybe it's the boat's enormous size and the huge bait tanks, or the hustling of anglers feverishly arranging tackle boxes and loading equipment. Racing fans love to hear the words "Start you Engines!" But for me it's the skipper's announcement - "Folks, we're out of here - heading south to the giant tuna grounds!" It marks the beginning of a thousand-mile journey and a week or more of pure fishing adventure. This is long-range fishing at its best and if you read Long Range Fishing - Part One in the fall 97 Issue of The Journal, you've got a pretty good idea what it's all about. Now, we'll delve deeply into the fish you'll encounter, the techniques used and the gear needed- the nuts and bolts of what makes these trips so incredible.

When discussing gear, understand that I can't mention every brand, so I'll recommend those I know perform from personal experience. (Keep in mind, I am obviously partial to the products I manufacture.) You can interchange rods, reels, lures of the like with other brands, but keep on thing formost in your mind - Long-range fishing will tax gear beyond your wildest imagination. Rods will be over-stressed and reels will see more work in 10 to 16 days of fishing than most see in an angler's life-time. Quality is a requirement, not an option.

Most long-range boats will provide a tackle package to cover the different fishing situations and some will even waive the fee if you're flying in from areas of the country outside California. However, if you're like me, you'll want to fish with your own gear.

Long-range trips will encounter wahoo, striped marlin, dorado, yellowtail, grouper and a host of other bottom dwellers, but the targeted species is the mighty yellowfin tuna. Let's get a feel for the techniques you should know and the tackle you'll need broken down by species.

Tackle & Techniques For Wahoo

Wahoo really put medium size tackle to the test. They are the fastest fish that swim, hitting speeds up to 60mph. They can peel line off a reel so fast you simply can't believe it. On long-range trips, wahoo are encountered in greater numbers than anywhere else on earth. They are intense predators, great fun and are caught using three techniques - live bait, casting jigs and trolling.

Live-Baiting

You'll need a conventional reel capable of handling 40-pound test like the Penn 545 GS, my preference. Other choices include the Model 113H Senator and Shimano's TLD20. If the 113 is an older model, upgrade it with a one-piece frame. If any reel is new, look inside for excess grease, clean it out and apply a light spray of CORROSION X to improve casting ability. Rods must have plenty of backbone and lifting power. The Penn Sabre CTS665C (20- to 50-pound rated0 or CalStar 865C (15- to 40-pound rated) or GFGR700M (20- to 40-pound rated) are good choices.

Braided Spectra backing has become very popular for long-range fishing on all reels including these outfits. Five hundred yards of super-thin, 50-pound Spectra backing leaves enough room for 100 yards of 40-pound mono on top. To join backing to mono, use a Bimini Twist in both, simply connecting them loop-to-loop. The reason for the backing is you never know when "Big Mo" will hit. I've been baiting wahoo when a big yellowfin came from out of nowhere and turned a simple 15-minute angling exercise into an hour-long battle.

Bait rigs very with the type and size of the bait. Preferred hooks are the Eagle Claw 118 Mags, Mustad 94150 and Owner SSBs. The baits are usually four to ten inch sardines or mackerel, referred to as "Greenies," caught daily on Sabiki rigs. Wahoo have the sharpest teeth of any fish in the ocean, so cable leaders are irreplaceable. Short 18- to24-inch lengths of coffee-colored cable with a hook crimped on one end and a welded ring or barrel swivel on the other is sufficient. For small to medium sardines and small mackerel, 1/0 or 2/0 hooks, 40-pound test cable and a #5 swivel are used. For medium to large baits, 3/0 or 4/0 hooks on 50-pound cable and a 1/0 swivel or ring. For the largest baits, 5/0 and 6/0 hooks on 80-pound cable and a 1/0 are needed. All crimps must be neat, and loops snug, but they must allow the hook to swing freely. You'll need lots of these when the wahoo fishing is hot! Presentation is very important, so practice casting. Wahoo are fastidious eaters. When they chop bait in two, they almost always come back for the other half, so give them a chance to return to the bait. One afternoon we were constantly getting short bit. After finally boating a wahoo, we checked its stomach and found a complete skipjack inside in tidy one-inch bites.

You'll need a quality light-tackle rod belt for 'hoos. My Braid Sailfish model #30175 is a perfect fit. A good pair of boat sneakers is a must for sure footing as you chase these bad boys around the boat.

Casting Jigs

This is one of my favorite types of fishing - bar none! It's an exciting and productive way to catch these streaks of bluewater lightning. You can use the same reels you have for live-baiting, although longer casts are required. Rods require lighter tips and are longer, usually seven feet. A CalStar 700XH or Sabre CTS670HC (30- to 80-pound rated) will get you in the zone. The same 40-pound test line is fine, however, 50 allows you to apply additional drag pressure.

The traditional wahoo jigs are solid metal types made by Salas, Tady, Hopkins and Seastrike, and they still have their use. Their drawback is that wahoo often bite them and run without getting hooked. Only after the fish gets within gaffing range will you notice the jig gripped firmly between its teeth, and the hook swinging freely outside its mouth. The wahoo then opens his mouth, the jig falls out, the fish swims away, and the angler goes nuts.

Several years ago, an enterprising angler took a six-ounce egg sinker, glued some tinsel to it, rigged it with a hook and a short cable leader, called it a "Wahoo Bomb" and knocked the Hell out of the fish. Bombs are now commercially available, and Braid offers several designs from three to nine ounces. They cast a mile and hook-up percentages are greatly improved. Bombs of six ounces and above are used for dropping back. Bombs come pre-rigged and some include a tail spinner blade for extra flash. Popular colors are black/purple, purple/pink, blue/white, black/red and green/yellow.

Only five or six rods are trolled at a time off these boats, and a drop-back situation occurs when a wahoo is hooked on the troll. The common practice is for other anglers to cast jigs or Bombs off the port and starboard corners of the stern while the boat is still moving. After the cast, line is then free-spooled for five to ten seconds, the reel is put in gear, and the jig wound back to the boat as fast as you can. The only problem is if 25 guys are doing this and a fish is hooked that runs across the stern. Boy what a mess!

Wahoo in these waters run in packs. Often by waiting a minute or so and casting off either side of the boat a hook up will occur without dealing with the pack at the transom. Casting distance doesn't always matter - so wing it, drop it back, put the reel in gear and crank like Hell. If you didn't get bit, allowing the jig to sink deeper will help determine the depth where they're holding.

Wahoo often hit a jig right at boat-side. When you get slammed, continue to crank. DO NOT raise the rod to set the hook! This is a hard temptation to overcome, but it's the worst thing you can do. Keep winding and let the fish set the hook or you'll never catch one on a jig. This technique will work on wahoo in any ocean, but long-rangers developed it and they've gotten real good at it.

On a safety note, when retrieving a jig always slow it down and pause before lifting it out of the water at the end of a cast. Don't crank right to the boat and lift it immediately for the next cast. I've seen wahoo come over the rail chasing a jig, flying into galley windows or literally jumping into bait tanks to get them and on rare occasions injuring anglers.

Trolling Gear

After 25 years, trolling from long-range boats has been refined to a simple process. A typical outfit consists of a rod that also doubles as your 80-pound tuna stand-up outfit. A five and a half- or six-foot standup rod like the CalStar 6460XH or a Penn Sabre CTS6460XXHAR are fine. It should be all roller guides, not that necessary for wahoo, but a must for tuna. This is lever-drag territory and two-speeds are preferred. Penn International 50S or 50SW or Shimano Tiagra 50W are standard fare. I fill mine with 500 yards of 80- or 100-pound Spectra topped with 80-pound mono. This is a little heavy for wahoo, but yellowfin to well over 100 pounds liver there, too.

Big swimming plugs are the best trolling lures for wahoo. Sizes may vary and colors may differ, but I'll bet the house on plugs every time. The Braid 909 and 910 Speedsters and medium and large Marauders in black/orange, dorado, skipjack and yellowfin colors work for me.

How effective are skipjack and yellowfin colored plugs? About three years ago, I was fishing the Clarion Islands on the EXCEL. We had been trolling wahoo all day, when I pinned on a large sardine and cast straight off the stern after the boat had stopped. The bait got hit, and I managed about three cranks on the reel before I saw a 15-pound yellowfin jump. No real surprise, but the 300 pounder that cleared the surface and inhaled it in midair really got my attention. I went home after that and designed the skipjack and yellowfin color pattern. They've proven quite effective on wahoo and tuna. Trolling plugs are rigged on three feet of 49 strand cable. Use an offshore loop and a single crimp at the lure and connect a 4/0 swivel on the other end. Set trolling drag pressure at 30 percent, which provides a solid hook set. The best place to position your plug behind the boat is on the edge of the white water of the wake, only 30- to 40-feet from the stern.

Light Tackle for Wahoo and Dorado

You'll need a 30-pound stick for mid day fishing when the wahoo get finicky and for smaller dorado. The Penn Sabre CTS665C (20- to 50-pound rated) or a CalStar Grafighter 700L (15-to 30-pound rated) matched with a Penn 535 or a Shimano TLD15 are fine. This outfit can also double for "making bait" (jigging mackerel). Long-range boats get into very big dorado, fish in the 25- to 40- pound and larger class, and the heavier 40-pound wahoo live bait outfit is great for them.

Tackle For Striped Marlin

On long-range boats, marlin is an incidental catch. While skippers rarely go looking for them, if they pop up, fine. The amazing thing is they always seem to pop up sometime during the trip and often in substantial numbers. You can use light gear, but it's not usually recommended. I generally fish them with 60-pound tackle, pull on them, watch them jump and run and then bust them off at the boat. When a large pack of marlin is encountered, any bait in the tank is fine. I watched a guy pick up a squashed sardine off the deck, put in on a 9/0 hook and just dropped it overboard. Two hard-charging stripers made a beeline for it under the boat. This fishing is a thrill a minute, but does not require a whole lot of skill, which makes it a lot of fun. For trolling, bring your favorite marlin lures capable of trolling at 12 knots.

Tuna - The Main Course

Yellowfin are the primary target and depending on the duration of the trip, can vary from schoolies to world record size fish over 300 pounds! You'll need several outfits to cover all sizes and techniques. Even on shorter trips, tuna can range to 200 pounds, so you'll need almost the same gear required on 16-day trips.

Small Tuna Gear

For 25- to 40-pound yellowfin, the same gear you use for live-baiting wahoo is fine. No leader is required, however, the trend has turned to using circle hooks. Those offered by Eagle Claw, Mustad, and the new Super Mutu's from Owner are my favorites in 9/0 or 10/0. That sounds large, but size ratings for circle hooks are different.

Medium Tuna Gear

When the fish are running 50- to 100-pounds, switch to 60-pound gear. The CalStar GF765L (30-to 80-pound rated) or the Penn Sabre CTS660XHC (40- to 100-pound rated) are excellent. An International 30SW or Shimano TLD30 gets the job done and two-speed models reduce angler fatigue. Tuna require a good rod belt and harness, the Braid Brute Buster belt (#30900) and bucket harness (#30950 or #30975) fit here. With 60-pound test you can tie the hook direct or use a short length of fluorocarbon leader if the fish are line shy.

Heavy Tuna Gear

When the fish are running 100- to 200-pounders, an 80-pound outfit is called for. The wahoo trolling outfit we discussed will do the trick with nothing less than a 50W two-speed reel. For rods, the CalStar GF760M (40- to 100-poound rated), 6460SHA or the Penn Sabre CTS6460XXHAR are fine. Use 500 yards of 100-pound Spectra backing with a topshot of 80- or 100-pound mono. Remember, use a two Bimini Twist/loop-to-loop connection. I've never had one fail in over two years.

Unlimited Tuna Gear

Most regulars on 16-day trips, which encounter the biggest yellowfin, bring an unlimited outfit based on an 80W, two-speed reel. When the tuna are running over 200 pounds and can reach into the high 300-pound range, the heavier gear is necessary. Fill the reel with 1,000 yards of 150-pound spectra and 300 yards of 130-pound mono. Rod selection can become limited, but try the CalStar GF760H (50- to 130-pound rated) for sheer power. My personal preference is a custom four and a half-foot blank I built in my shop. It allows me to apply 50-plus pounds of drag with less effort than a longer rod. The down side is on long-range boats, the line sometimes rubs against the hull when the fish are close. I've used this system on charter boats fishing for bluefin and it works great, having tagged and released 40 giants over 200 pounds, eight over 40, and two over 500.

Obviously, you need a powerful belt and harness. The Braid Power Play belt with contoured leg pads and matching bucket harness are designed for heavy-weight tackle and monster fish. They have been tested by some of the world's leading anglers over the past two years and proven to be outstanding for really big tuna.

Anglers have different ideas about drag settings with unlimited gear. Not everyone agrees, but I believe if you're fishing heavy tackle you might as well pull on it as hard as it permits. If you've got gear that will put that much hurt on a fish, use it!

At strike, the pre-set should be at 25 percent of the line rating. When a fish makes a series of extended runs, the drag lever should be increased between them when you're retrieving line. Don't be afraid to back off early in the fight if the runs are hard. Just remember, it's at the end of these battles where a lot of anglers fall short. Even on long-range trips, experienced anglers can lose more than half of these big fish that are hooked.

Rigging For Yellowfin

With heavy or unlimited tackle, I make a 10-foot double line with a Bimini Twist and attach it loop-to-loop to a 25-foot wind-on leader using 200-pound test at night with a circle hook. For early morning and daytime fishing with live baits I use 150-pound test leader. If the fish are spooky, tie the hook directly to the running line or drop to lighter leaders. This is different from the commonly used rigs, which consist of a Mustad 7691 in 8/0 or 9/0 on a three-foot mono leader, tied to the running line with a swivel. A wind-on system solves several problems associated with this type of setup. Pre-wind-on, we lost 60 percent of the big fish at the boat where the intense strain would cause leader knots or crimps to fail With a wind-on, once a wrap of double line is on the spool, I can apply maximum pressure to the fish without a failure. Using wind-ons, I have not lost a single big fish at the boat, a dramatic improvement.

The wind-on system is great for night chunk fishing with 200-pound leader, but a swivel is needed to prevent line twist. I designed a rig with a swivel attached directly to the circle hook for this purpose. The swivel and hook are imbedded in the bait with only the top half of the swivel exposed with no other hardware in sight.

Most long-range boats chunk all night because it is the most productive way to catch really huge yellowfin. It can be boring if nothing is going on. But then there are times you'll be on deck fishing by yourself, talking to a deck hand, and just when you're about to give up, a 300-pound plus tuna the size of a nuclear sub will move into the boat lights. There is no fantasy that can match the reality of one of these fish eating a chunk bait almost within arms reach. When this happens, the reel is in free-spool and your rod is pointed in the direction the line is disappearing. If the fish is moving in a direction other than straight away from you, the last place you need a rod is locked into the belt and harness. Push the drag to strike and hold on tight. No set is necessary with circle hooks, the 30 pounds of drag will do the job. Once the fish feels the hook and drag pressure, the fun really starts!

Fighting Monster Yellowfins

Fighting these brutes requires a skill and technique that only experience can teach. It requires you use your body weight with the bucket harness and belt as a counter balance to the force on the other end, with your knees braced against the gunnel of the boat.

You can practice at home by getting set up in your belt and harness and hooking in the rod and reel. Tie off the line to something solid, set the drag and get into a semi-sitting position leaning back against the drag of the reel. This is how you use your weight to counterbalance the pull of a big fish instead of your back and arms. You're in this position when the fish is running and you should be relaxing as much as possible, conserving your strength. When it comes time to gain line, rise up and take a half-wind on the reel, then lean back to allow your weight to pull the fish closer. Continue this procedure as quickly as the fish allows, trying to turn its head and keep it coming toward you. If it runs, drop back into the sitting position and rest. The more you feel comfortable allowing your weight to counterbalance the fish, the less you will use your arms and shoulders.

Hooking and catching giant yellowfin requires a tremendous amount of patience and determination. It also requires time at the rail, paying your dues. Without this dedication, you won't experience the thrill and sometimes agony, of fighting these brutes.

While sitting there on the fourth day at anchor listening to the line ripping off Fred's reel, the guides almost screaming under the strain, I catch a glint of gold out of the corner of my eye as his rod and reel goes flying into the beautiful dark purple water. Fred stood there with an astonished look on his face and I could see that he had just flat-out forgotten to wipe the sunscreen off his hands and the bug tuna had ripped the $1,000 rod and reel right out of his grasp. So, if you ever come out this way for Big Mo, I can guarantee you one thing - there's not only a giant yellowfin out here with your name on it, there is the possibility that it's got a pot of gold attached!