Hand line?

[Flying Roast Beef]

Ok...question for you tuna chasers. What are you talking about when you say hand line? No tuna I've ever tackled, (Baja & San Diego), could be caught with what I'm picturing when you write hand line. No chance.

Thanks! FRB

[Orca]

All you ever wanted to know (compliments of Pilar):

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultim...;f=21;t=000304

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultim...;f=21;t=000307

[ 09-29-2002, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: Orca ]

Hand lines are like mainlining heroin for tuna addicts. Pure rush! No rod between you and the fish. Just #36 nylon cord. :smile:

[Flying Roast Beef]

Ok...either I'm missing something or you guys are insane. We caught yellowfin in Baja that pulled hard enough to make the spools of our jigmasters explode after landing fish. Granted this was using 15 and 20# mono at depths that might as well be forever. I know it was the stretch that killed the spools (and made us all switch to aluminum by the way) but what I'm getting at is those fished pulled way too hard for even thinking about a hand line. Are you guys actually using these on serious fish or is this strictly for the little off-shore albies?

[fish assassin]

When you talk tuna in Oregon you are talking Albacore
(the OTHER white meat!). And I guess you'd call 'em
the "little offshore albies". Biggest one I've ever
boated on a handline was 43 lbs. Fishing tuna in
Oregon is a *lot* different than fishing for yellowfin
off the Baja.

The single biggest difference between fishing Albacore
compared to yellowfin is the numbers. When fishing
Yellowfin off the Baja, we caught bigger fish, but
not nearly as many. Fishing Albacore is so much fun
because you can get numbers like 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 ...
fish a day. It's got it's own type of excitement!

P.S. The largest Albacore I could find a record of
was 78 lbs.

-assAssin-

[Flying Roast Beef]

OK got it. Wasn't trying to step on anybody's ego with "the little albies" thing. I just find it amazing that even they can be caught with a handline. We caught albies off San Diego and they were tough fish too. The fish in Baja...no chance....thanks for the answers guys!

FRB,
I landed a 5'4" butt on a handline.

[Threemuch]

FRB-
I know where you are coming from, but I think you are wrong. Lots of very large tuna can be landed with handlines. Just don't stop the boat. Even VERY powerful fish can be landed easily if you don't let them turn. If the boat keeps moving, handlining in 30-50 pound albies is not hard. Maybe bouncing them in at the end is challenging, especially if you have alot of freeboard, but pulling them in is easy.

Slow the boat down and stop, allow the fish to turn, and they will rip your arms off. Keep their head in your direction, they can only swim one way, right at you.

Very large tuna are (were?) jackpoled. This commercial method involved standing on a rack in the water with a 10' bamboo pole, with 18" of wire and a chicken feather and hook. You would slap the feather against the water and sling the resulting fish over the rail. They would tie two or three or even four poles together to land big fish, 200 pounds plus. If you don't believe me, check out "A Tribute to Tuna, And to the Men Who once fished from racks."

http://tackledirect.com/tunatribute.html



That said, I think it's a shame to land fish on a handline that you could fight rod and reel. But I have said that before.

Assasin, the largest albacore ever landed was 90 pounds even by Don Giberson, October 21 1997 in Santa Cruz, CA. Disqualified by IGFA due to the use of the standard "tuna hook" dual hook, which they view as commercial fishing gear. He was fishing solo no less. Don gave me tuna fever when he took me out albacore fishing on his 27 Sailfish just a year earlier. IGFA is a lousy good old boys club. It's OK to fight from a chair, but if you use a tandem hook you are out.

KB

[ 09-30-2002, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Threemuch ]