Landing Big Fish With Small Gear

If you enjoy light tackle angling in saltwater, there will come a day when an unexpected beast of one species or another attacks your lure or bait, and you’ll be faced with a battle in which you’re out-gunned and under prepared. It’s inevitable, and it’s also one of the reasons why fishing is so dang fun – you just never do know what you’ll hook up with. This picture is a great example: a family sat at anchor over a reef in 20 feet of water, bottom fishing for croaker with light spinning rods and eight pound test line. I happened to be jigging close by, when one of their K-Mart-style rods doubled over and something far larger than a croaker ate their shrimp. I watched and photographed as they struggled with the 50-pound-plus black drum for 45 minutes, finally brought it up to the boat, and… seconds after this shot was captured, snapped off the line.

That huge tail you see to the lower right in the picture belonged to a monster black drum.

What could these folks have done differently, to make the catch? Truth be told, not much. They put up a good battle and actually caught a second big black that they hooked up with on this micro-gear. But there are a few specific tips to keep in mind, when you’re out-gunned. To get that huge fish into the boat, always remember:

1. Be patient and let the drag do its work. Whatever you do, don’t feather the spool or increase drag pressure with your finger. That’s a sure-fire way to break the fish off, even if you don’t apply too much pressure. A big fish like this can shift from regular into overdrive with one kick of its tail, and if you’re increasing drag pressure even slightly, that sudden increase in force can snap the line. If you feel that you do need to increase the pressure, do so by incrementally turning up the drag setting bit by bit – not by touching the spool.
2. Don’t chase the fish with the landing net. Again, patience is key. You need to wait for an ideal opportunity when the fish is positioned perfectly and you can scoop it head-first without hesitation. Try chasing a big fish with the net and it’ll escape every time – starting the tug of war to get it back to the boat all over again.
3. Don’t grab the rod above the grip, to try and increase leverage. That’s the one mistake we can see the angler above making. He got lucky, but when you grab a rod above the grip when there’s this much tension on the line, it can snap. Modern rods are incredibly strong as long as you allow them to arc as they’re designed to do. Interrupt that arc, and there’s a good chance that rod will break.
4. If you’re at anchor and you can pull the anchor up, do so. This will not only allow you to chase the fish and prevent getting spooled, it’ll also eliminate the need to maneuver the rod and/or fish around the anchor line if it circles the boat.
5. If you don’t have a net big enough for the fish and you intend on keeping it, make an insta-gaff. A large bucktail or jig head duct-taped to a mop handle makes an amazingly effective gaff which can hold a shocking amount of weight. Just use plenty of tape!