Fight ’em off the Reel
Capt’n Jake Jordan is currently holding marlin school in Costa Rica. His students always do exceptionally well partly because Jake and his crew know where and how to find marlin, and because Jake really knows how to take the fight to the fish. Imagine hooking a blue marlin of 120 pounds in the open ocean as far as 150 miles offshore. How long does I take to land a fish of that size (and bigger) on a fly rod? Well in the open ocean for the average fly fisher, probably an hour or more. Jake’s students do in under 20 minutes. The secret lies in the fighting tactic. The fish is fought directly off the reel. The rod is pointed at the fish, and the drag set light. After the first run the drag is tighten just a bit. After the second run the drag is tightened more. Another run and the fish is basically exhausted. I have used this tactic for many years on king salmon in Alaska, landing fish in excess of 50 pounds on a 6 or 7 weight. Friends use it on wahoo along the south coast, fishing from their sea kayaks The only caveat is that the reel must be up to the job, and the angler must know exactly, as in exactly, how to adjust the drag with great precision. This is where I find the Hardy Ultralite and Fortuna reels to be so effective. From 0 drag to 29 pounds in less that one rotation of the drag knob. Easy to calculate drag at each point with a spring balance and then readily apply it as needed during the knock-down-drag-out fight. By the way, Jake and others, like Andy Mill, are now taking this tactic into the tarpon world with great success.
This is the critter they are after. Hook this on a 5-weight!
Greyhounding blue marlin. Notice position of rod.
Jumping marlin. Notice position of rod.
Crash, bang, boom. Notice position of rod.
Cranking–notice position of rod.