Marlin fishing... hooks or no hooks???

[Tailchaser1]

I've had a tough time this year with the marlin. We are consistantly raising and hooking fish but have had a really difficult time getting them to the boat. Drags are set correctly (from waht I have been told) and the pressure is always on. Hooks are always sharpened and we use a variety of them.. from singles to doubles to wired doubles ect. I am thinking about just taking off all of the hooks all together and concentrating just on the drop back. For all of you marlin fisherman out there, I would like to hear your input.
Tight lines,

Derek

[frijolitos]

put a mop head out behind the boat with some parachute cord and a bit of bungy for shock, and when the fish hits it with his bill and gets caught up in it, calmly pull him in hand over hand up to the transom and affect the release. not really the purists way of billfishing, but it works

[?? fisherman]

Your post indicates (just my hunch) that you have probably been getting jig fish. Truth is, jig fish come off alot when fishing marlin.

My preference is single hook rigs when pulling the jigs for marlin although you will get tons of varied opinions on this. The best most exciting and by far fun way is to throw a bait to a tailer,sleeper or feeder and watch them light-up and inhale the bait.... theres nothing much better!! Second to that would be a drop back bait.... those would be your two best bets for keeping a marlin hooked and getting him to the boat.

You must be doing something very right to have already had your share of raising marlin and getting them to bite, my suggestion would be to lossen the drags and have someone watch the jigs intently and AS SOON as a fish is spotted in the jigs or a quick zip is heard (due to the light drags) get a pre rigged and in the tank drop back out to the zone (not past it!) and be ready to do battle. Also make sure you have a swivel on your dropback so as you dont have a nasty tangled mess when the time and opportunity arises.

Good luck!!

The unknown fisherman

[af dreamer]

I think if you were in mag bay and raising 30 fish a day the hookless deal is OK.Up here it is like hunting with a empty gun.We drop a bait or 2 whenever we get jig bit as there are sometimes more fish in the pattern.Remember there is NO blind jig strikes,only ones that wernt seen.If you can have enough people,have someone in the cocpit all the time,someone on the bridge watching the jigs a couple more in the glasses.We have been lucky the last few years with jig fish that stick.One other thing,we dont punch the throttles anymore,just continue at trolling speed untill you get a bait in the pattern.Also dont take the rod out of the holder untill there is a couple hundred yards of line in the water,the belly keeps pressure on the hook.We only pull single hooks up here and not too large.Below on the blues we pull doubles.FWITW.Tom

[tap]

One thing I like to do is troll with Softheads (I use Moldcrafts) because you can almost use them like live bait. That is, troll with a very light drag and because the lures are soft the marlin will usually mouth them for a pretty long time. When the fish speeds up and turns then put the drag on strike and set the hook with the rod at a low angle. This increases your chances of getting a hook lodged in the corner of the jaw where it is not going to come unbuttoned (similar to when you are using circle hooks with bait). I also prefer single hooks. With a tight drag the hook may stick quickly but in a bad, hard spot and once the action starts can be shaken out.

Tony Pena
"The Roving Angler"

[Mo Betta]

There is alot of great dope in this thread. Thanks for all of the information.