question for fluke bucktailers

[NoLimit]

I have never seen a line break when fluke fishing so it doesnt matter whether you have 10 lb or 80 lb.

Fluke are lost when they shake and the only way to keep that from happening is to never stop their forward motion, never lift them, and never let the net touch the tail.

If you have to wait a few seconds for the net, I have found that you should keep them moving forward in a lazy 8 pattern in front of you from side to side. So if you are bringing them in - dont stop when you reach the hull. Slowly turn them to one side and use the pole to move them round, out and back in in a wide radius.

[watchman]

thanks guys, I'm fishing 30# braid with 20# leader, no snaps or hardware. Been sitting in same corner every sunday for 15 years on the capt. cal and the mates are great. The problem I can have is with fish that surface outside the reach of the net, big fluke go where they want. What do you do when this happens, pull? give them slack? put your tip under the water? This is what has me stumped. watchman

[jigemup]

Don't panic, if your drag is set, keep enough pressure on the fluke, keep it below the surface, swim it around and lead it head first into the net.

[Reel Class]

There's a good amount of debate over the use of "heavier" braids vs. lighter braids here, all great points.

I do understand using the lighter gear to get away with the lightest bucktail you can possibly use, but my theory and the guys that have fished with me for years, at least most of them, are in the school of thought that they want to be as VERTICAL as possible on the smaller boat which tends to drift better than a 100' headboat, even in "zero-drift" conditions when I just have to pop the motors in gear to get some movement.

I think the one thing that I didn't mention in my original post and I ignored was that on a headboat, if you use the light spinning rods and the light jigs, you can cast it out and work the jig more effectively - from my perspective, on the 6 pack boat, that's basically null and void because A) a 31' will drift when a 100' will not, and B) there aren't 50-60 fares you have to contend with when tangles occur. This is indeed one reason to use the lighter gear - and if it works for you - so be it!

If I created any confusion w/ what I said (Tony - Palmer's tackle and others!) - I didn't intend to do so. Great discussion!

[PALMERS TACKLE]

These are the topics that make boards like this so great..Lots of info from some really qualified folks and The pro's who do it every day and see it all..
Couldn't agree more on the difference between a drifting 75' or bigger head boat versus a charter in the 30' range totally different movement and drifting conditions.
I fish the A Bomb in cape may --he has a 28' center console with a hard top he drifts fast but we do fish as vertical as possible. It is hard sometimes to adjust from casting out and bouncing back--like we do in belmar--to the straight up and down fishing down south for me..i much prefer working the jig back.
Now for surfacing fluke so far from the boat i think your tail walking fluke and a slower retrieve may help keep the fish under the water. Then a steady constant pressure with the tip up, no pumping of the rod..god i can't tell you how many guys think they are bluefishing!!!and loose good fish to pumping. Each time they drop back the give the fish a chance to shake a hookset
Second__Great discussion thread!!

[reason162]

Originally Posted by NoLimit

If you have to wait a few seconds for the net, I have found that you should keep them moving forward in a lazy 8 pattern in front of you from side to side. So if you are bringing them in - dont stop when you reach the hull. Slowly turn them to one side and use the pole to move them round, out and back in in a wide radius.

This is winning advice.

You can fight the fish perfectly, constant pressure, steady reeling, but that pause when the fish is right under the surface can be a killer. You can completely lose pressure at that point, since you can't reel up anymore and the fish isn't exactly trying to head to bottom. You must keep that fish's head moving, or the headshakes/backward swimming commences (followed by cursing, foot stomping, and sometimes tears).

-roger