GETTING RUBBED OFF! Fact or Fiction?

[T1]

Hi All

Thinking about the amount of people that say they got 'rubbed off' when fighting a fish...

Is it really the case or is it that we don't like to admit to ourselves that our knot was crap on that occassion (we all have the odd failure...)? I know I have never blamed anything i've lost on being 'rubbed off' due to a number of factors when you consider the circumstances and physics of it all. Mind you that is not to say that doesn't happen but does it happen as often as we believe or led to believe?

Consider this... When you're running a long leader and all you get back is your main line, you would have to be inclined to say that your knot or main line failed. When you get most of your leader back, it would also be a distinct possibility that your knot at the hook/jighead failed or you were clean bitten off.

To be rubbed off, the physics don't really add up that well! You're on top of the water (at least a metre or so from the surface to your rod tip), and your line attached to the fish (to get rubbed off) is on the bottom. Does the angle of your line lend itself to being rubbed off as for this to happen, your line would have to be running horizontal and parallel to the bottom. A fish perhaps may play dodgem cars with the reef but a 'bigger' one will be firing in a straight line just above the bottom.

Again, it's not to say it doesn't happen but does it happen as often as reported??

Take Care T

[trueblue]

Don't think there is any easy answer for that.

I'm pretty aware of what my braid looks like if it let go on the knot at the Leader, and I'm pretty aware of what my leader looks like when the knot at the hook let go. I had plenty of experience at that before I changed knots and learned how to tie them properly.

I know that I have been 'rubbed off' on reefs etc when fishing near big bombies and shallow ledges and the fish has gone over / around it, but the line normally tells that story - all chewed up and damaged from rubbing over the rock / coral.

Bite offs are normally straight away, so if it wasn't a bite off, or a knot failure........


Cheers

Mick

[T1]

Hey MICK

I think the exception in the main is probably the one you've mentioned and that is where you are fishing over big bombies but i'm not sure that these exist around Moreton Bay? Certainly in the Whitsundays that is the case though...

Take Care T

[NAGG]

Just look for the curly end of your line or leader ....... If you have it.... your knot has failed ! Clean cuts or abrasions = beyond our control (more or less). NAGG

[cuzzamundi]

you'll normally have some fraying just before the spot where the line has been severed - always a sign of being rubbed off. if you get a pig's tail, then your know has failed. we get rubbed off all the time by submarines around the place.

cuzza

[djboyd]

If you think that you can't get rubbed off in the bay you are living in an idealistic world. Take a look around the shallows at mud island.
Whether it be the tiddlers that will take you around a rock before having a feed to hide from prey or the 4 kilo snapper that i have pulled from 5ft of water. Take a look at a big fish pulled from the shallows, there will be patches of scales missing from the fish, this is caused during the fight due to the fish trying to snap the line during the fight. Reef fish in general do not sit up a metre from the bottom and run in a straight line. they will fight like the clappers until you get them up that metre, then your job is made easier with no bottom to contend with.
If a fisherman can't tell the difference between knot slip and a rub off he can,t call himself a fisherman can he?
But a lot of blokes fall into the category of the old saying,
"CAN'T LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STOREY" hey

[Pistol_P]

I love getting rubbed off....

[Jeremy87]

bet you do Pete, The wello drop off doesnt have the same sought of structure that peel or mud or saint has its quite easy for relatively small fish to do you with ease around the right sought of coral.

[Pistol_P]

bet you do Pete, The wello drop off doesnt have the same sought of structure that peel or mud or saint has its quite easy for relatively small fish to do you with ease around the right sought of coral.

......A bit sad...but someone had to say it...

[trueblue]

Hey MICK

I think the exception in the main is probably the one you've mentioned and that is where you are fishing over big bombies but i'm not sure that these exist around Moreton Bay? Certainly in the Whitsundays that is the case though...

Take Care T

Hutchies, flinders, smiths, curtain, mud, scarb, harry's reefs etc, etc, etc - and pylons all can take a large toll of rub offs if thats what you want to call it. High tension line meets sharp object and tries to turn a corner

Bricked.......

cheers

Mick

[imnotoriginal]

You can be rubbed off on gill rakers and the rough skin of some species of fish. Rocks and stuff in the water, particularly when fishing for jacks, cod etc.. can cause a rub off. Jetty fishing, I've been rubbed off plenty of times. I know the strength of my knots, and you can often feel when the line is being frayed by friction, it is distinctly different to just the normal pull of line, and in heavy mono you can hear it really well.
Joel

[Adamy]

Whew... At first I thought this was going to be a really dodgy thread!!

Hey T... remember that day you took your mate Pete out to Wello and we (George and I) were there as well? That day we in the boat were on the Wello (king island) side of the ledge, I had a squire or snapper grab the placcy which was being floated mid-water, the thing ran and kept running towards Moreton, as it got closer to the ledge I felt it dive, the line connected with the structure and ping it was all over - took about 5 seconds. I wouldnt say it did it on purpose although it may have - I just think it was a natural consequence of the fish diving towards the bottom and the line connecting with the top of the ledge.

When I retrieved the line it was all scratched up - no pig tails, no clean bite offs - So yeh I'd call that a "rub off" and probably not an isolated incident - which is as you say one reason you use 16lb leader and not 10 as I was using that day.

In my opinion being rubbed off is totally different to getting bricked - as when you get bricked the fish swims into a hole and stays there resulting in a "snag" although I guess there is always the possibility that you could get rubbed off while the fish is trying to "brick" you!

Good luck this weekend - and hope you dont get your own question answered!

Adam

[Scalem]

Hmmm...

I have not really taken account of how many times my leader comes back looking like a half peeled banana..... But I guess that when you fish with braid you will feel that classic " Oh Buggar, he's stuck his head in the coral" kinda feel before that all too familiar PING...

I'll pay more attention next time T, and if I see you at Wello today ( yep, as usual can't sleep before a session) when I hold up my fingers, it's not because I am making a rude gesture, it will be the number of times I have been rubbed off.

Scalem

[Poodroo]

The title should have been "Getting Rubbed off!Fact or Friction?" I actually know when I am going to get rubbed off because I can feel it when the fish is taking a run and can feel the rubbing through the braid and rod. After losing the fish I then wind in and have to put a new trace on because of the bad fraying. Rarely have I experienced a knot failure but it has happened to me. Usually it is where the braid and leader are tied together.

Poodroo

[Noelm]

a lot of drama occurs when the line touches the dry and hot gunwhale rubber on your boat, just for kicks try this little "trick" at home, get some 24KG (50lb) or so line, tie one end off or get some one to hold it, pull the other end to get some tension on it, then get a simple old handkercheif (or a bit of dry rag) and rub the line quite rapidly while applying some pressure with your fingers, while it is under tension, you will be amazed at how little it takes to "melt" the line through (a good party trick for fishermen)