How Much Is Enough

[Bayley131]

Thought id get everyones opinion here on how much line do you think you will need???

coming from a gamefishing background the norm is the magical 1000m mark...I came to this question though recently when spooling my brand new 37kg set up.. I had opted to go for a Tiagra 50w LRSA on a custom bent butt rod.

I didnt want the added weight of an 80w because fishing stand up in a 6 m trailer boat in some moderate sea poses enough trouble without a heavy bulky reel.

The intention of this set up was for marlin fishing along the NWS coast ( there are some Big Blues out there)

though now after spooling it up with 37kg tiagra line i realise that i have about 400m left from the 1000m spool..

which gives me aprox 600 on the reel. Is this enough ?

are the disadvantages of a bulky reel out weighed by the advantage of more line ?

our trailerboat is rather manouverable but a big blue can run a long way too .......

Bayley

Team Frigate

[Red]

Mate, i don't think 600m would be enough for big Blues if you plan on trolling lures. Should be sufficient for live baiting though. I've seen how fast a 300kg blue strips 37kg line.....had us down to 100m tops. Awesome fish

Cheers

Red

[Kiwi]

It is not just straight line distance but how fast the blighters can turn and go. You can have the line screaming out the back with the Blue greyhounding 200m off your bow in seconds.

This is why most use minimum 37kg with 60kg for the chair rods. Also having the maximum length possible

if you do a search you will find the most sucessful boats use full length leaders so as to not lose any lenght

from having a windon. it is better to be a bit over gunned and have a chance than to hook and land the big one than lose it through being spooled. The line strength does come into play considering how many do the death dive to the bottom.

All things to think about when the first screamer jumps on. As Dirty Harry said "Do I feel lucky today"

Rowan

[Dreamtime]

Depends also on the depth of water you will be fishing.

Just in case your quarry decides to go deep.

Cheers

Mariner

[Bayley131]

It is not just straight line distance but how fast the blighters can turn and go. You can have the line screaming out the back with the Blue greyhounding 200m off your bow in seconds.

This is why most use minimum 37kg with 60kg for the chair rods. Also having the maximum length possible

if you do a search you will find the most sucessful boats use full length leaders so as to not lose any lenght

from having a windon. it is better to be a bit over gunned and have a chance than to hook and land the big one than lose it through being spooled. The line strength does come into play considering how many do the death dive to the bottom.

All things to think about when the first screamer jumps on. As Dirty Harry said "Do I feel lucky today"

Rowan

Mate im not talking about fishing from a chair with 60kg tackle and of cause you want the maximum amount of like possible on your reel, but i made my choice on the fact that fishing out of a 6m trailerboat 600m on a 50wlrsa is more practical than say an 80w especially if the conditions are against you,

I think id be prepared to pay for another spool if it actually happened, not to dismiss the power at all of a blue

this rig would also be more versitile on stripes and tuna also.

[Sammy0884]

I would go for 1000m of your chosen line class.

[Kiwi]

Bayley,

I agree with you that the 50w is a far more versatile reel for the 90 % of the fishing done for smaller blacks and striped marlin.

I have several myself and also have a couple of 80w for when I go wide for the Blues.

This happens maybe 2-3 times a year. I am a big bloke so can lean back against the 80 safely but enjoy the 50 as a more easily weighted and worked reel.

I got my 80's because I was spanked by a double strike of blues a couple of years ago and could do nothing but watch as it happened. I wanted to give myself a better chance of getting 1 in.

I also fish solo a lot and the heavier line allows me a bit of freeway when things get hectic in the first few minutes of the strike.

Rowan

[warnie]

Bayley

How much line you do you think you need????......... Easy the whole lot of it!!!!!!!!!!!

Your obvious concern of course is to the fact that you stand a chance in getting spooled and may we say that there is a chance and doing the fishing that you are advocating in doing that invitation will always be there.

The way I read it you are referring to one 37kg outfit yes........So my question to you then would have to be. "What concern do you feel for the other four outfits when the time does arrives in that fish turning up".

For it seems to me that most times due to Murphy’s law regardless to in what position you think best to place it and what lure you think in best to run on it, That fish decides to take the smallest outfit all most every time. And if that fish was to get 600 odd mtrs of line off you on that 37kg then one would imagine it would do so decidingly easier on the 24kg or 15kg.

I reckon go for it!!! !!!!! Like what’s the worst that could happen that wouldnt most likely happen otherwise..

Cheers Warnie

[Ross Hunter]

Bayley

How much line you do you think you need????......... Easy the whole lot of it!!!!!!!!!!!

Your obvious concern of course is to the fact that you stand a chance in getting spooled and may we say that there is a chance and doing the fishing that you are advocating in doing that invitation will always be there.

The way I read it you are referring to one 37kg outfit yes........So my question to you then would have to be. "What concern do you feel for the other four outfits when the time does arrives in that fish turning up".

For it seems to me that most times due to Murphy’s law regardless to in what position you think best to place it and what lure you think in best to run on it, That fish decides to take the smallest outfit all most every time. And if that fish was to get 600 odd mtrs of line off you on that 37kg then one would imagine it would do so decidingly easier on the 24kg or 15kg.

I reckon go for it!!! !!!!! Like what’s the worst that could happen that wouldnt most likely happen otherwise..

Cheers Warnie

Warnie

You are right..Murphys law always prevails with these fish.. Over many years of catching blues I have had a few different scenarios, mostly unpredictable.

We spent 9 hours on 10 kg on a 200kg blue that never went deep but was visible almost all the time but never within tracing. We also caught and weighed a 300kg in '92 fish on 24kg that took 750 metres from the reel and that was with very aggressive backing up on a calm day. If it was rough he would have done us cold. The fact that the big fish turned and jumped back at the boat saved our bacon.We had the drag backed down to 2kg at one stage always, remember that you must reduce drag because of water pressure when there is mass exodus happening otherwise the line will break every time.

Blue marlin will either dog it out and not jump but go deep or go crazy and damn near spool you on the first run. The secret is to not run too much gear, four lures is almost too much You do not need any more, the key to catching these fish is getting after them quickly once a strike is encountered and the time that you waste pulling in the gear is generally when fish are lost. We pull two lures only when we are switching blues and they come up just as good and as regular. If you are keen to catch a blue then you must target these species, in other words if you decide to blue marlin fish then pull four 37 kgs and have the drags set one kilo under max.

Do not ever go to sunset drag setting as these fish have such speed that they can snap line really easy.

Another pointer never assume that all blues are caught over the shelf on Broadbill and Billfisher we have caught many big fish in 80 fathoms inc. Billfisher's 350kg Blue

Another pointer never spool reels up too high on the spool, if the angler pyramids the line when retrieving, that too will snap line

We spool up 6mm from the cross bars that extra 50 metres you get on will not effect things too much but a pyramid will have you crying.

It's funny with these marlin that sometimes they can be caught easier on 24kg maybe it's the extra hurt that is put on them on 37kg that makes them go harder, however when they go deep and either die or dog it out the 37kg especially a chair rod does make the lift easier.

Short stokers are much harder on the angler than a chair rod that's for sure.

Hope that helps

Ross

[Bayley131]

Cheers Ross

Yeah we plan to specificaly target blues a bit this year we are really keen to get one .

We will be running the two 37kg outfits and 2 24kgs, we are also set up for switch baiting which i believe will be valuable.

I put this post up to get some opinion and general feed back on my decision and it has proven to be a good read and some sound advice.

Cheers guys