Sailfish #2...getting Bigger

[fishnNauru]

Well we had a record breaking day in our little boat the other day...
First up we caught a 7kg YF Tuna (on a YF Halco Max)hotly followed by a 3kg skippy (on a small yellow squid w/double hook). then we did abit of high speed trollling and Elijah, my 5 yr old picked 2 lures, one being a chrome head silver skirt lure that we ran for abit before the drag went off and kept on going. we swung around and backtracked abit then the fish went straight down, which had me thinking it was a big tuna, but it turned out to be a 26kg sailfish. When he went down i think he go wrapped in the line and I ended up dragging him back to the surface by his tail. When i got him to the boat he was pretty much dead and had been hooked through one of his eyes...OUCH!
I had hopes of a release this time but in his state he was pretty well dead already, particularly down an eye.
During the fight he never jumped once which i thought was weird for a sail...but this is only my second so I'm no where near an expert.
The only thing in the sailfish gut was a long skinny trumpet fish 20cm long about 5mm diameter...he must have been hungry
The 36kg of fish is our biggest catch so far and all the fish caught was sold and eaten. The man who bought the sail fish calls it the "Salmon of the Sea" for it's pinkish and tasty meat.
Would a foul hooked or injured fish fight or act differently than a mouth hooked fish?
If they get wrapped in the line is it still possible to release them?
How do you guys determine if and when a fish will not survive after the fight?
What injuries to the fish do you determine to be fatal?
Any tips for us billfish novices would be appreciated.

[onerabbit]

The 36kg of fish is our biggest catch so far and all the fish caught was sold and eaten.
The man who bought the sail fish calls it the "Salmon of the Sea" for it's pinkish and tasty meat.

You live in Nauru?

I imagine that the laws are different there.

Was the 36kg fish fatally injured?

Why just kill a fish for money........??? I dont really care that all the fish was eaten,

If you are just going to sell the fish you catch you are just a butcher,
not a fisherman (angler).

Not just my opinion I think.
(perhaps this is why no-one else has posted on this thread yet,)

Muzz

[TimD]

Ease up Muzz

I'm sure there is bugger all rules in Nauru. They probably don't even have to register there vehicles so as if it would be against the law to sell someone a fish.

I know in Vanuatu most the charter boats keep the catch and sell them to the restraunts.


cheers tim

[Midnight]

When they come up tail wrapped it isn't a good start for them for a successful release, and yes being down an eye doesn't improve the odds of long term survival, but if you have a good go at swimming them next to the boat, you can normally get them going again. Just tow it by the bill, keeping the head underwater and motor along at around 4 knots. You will feel when he is ready to go.

Some fish have been revived and swam away after up to 20 minutes of swimming.

That is not to say that the nearest Tiger shark won't gobble it up in it's weakened state

[nigelr]

Sounds like a great time with the young fella and the fish did not go to waste nor was it fed to cats!
I'd warrant there would be more than one member here would like to be in your position as far as the fishing is concerned!

[fishnNauru]

Muzz - yes the 26kg fish was fatally injured...it had a hook though the eye, a 9/0 mustad to be precise, and I thought that warrated a fatal injury. But I am no expert and like i said that was the 2nd sail ever caught in my boat. I'm hopeful to do more catch and release esp with Bills, but I don't want to release a fish that is going to die so I can feel good about releasing it, I'd rather keep it and kill it quickly and humanely. I'm cerinly not out to destroy a fishery. If you want to catch and release everything go ahead. I catch what I can and sell it to a friends resturant, which is a help to them and I enjoy catching fish. Every fish i've seen caught in Nauru is eaten, so any I release will be eaten sooner or later, that is just life in the Pacific outside Oz.

Tim - Most of the fishing boats here feed their own families with what they catch or sell what they want to the Chinese Resturants or others. For many it is their job, for us it is fun and a good hobby. Fishing is like that all over the pacific, I guess as u've seen. Many locals keep the 10-15cm trevally too, which i hate to see, but this is their island and their fishery, and if it that for lunch or nothing, then I'd probably keep it too.

Midnight - I was unsure what consitiutes a fatal injury for a billfish...But I figured a hook though the eye probably was not a good start for the rest of the fishes life. We don't have many tiger sharks here that I am aware, mostly reefings the locals tell me. I'm for releasing healthy fish that have a good chance of survival, but releasing one that will likely die or not do well (as mine would not down an eye I reckon) just because "it's a sin to keep and billfish" attitude of some tree-hugger "anglers", I'm not for. Who knows how well a fish does after release? If it is going to die I'd rather it do it in my boat and be eaten and put to good use. Catch and Release is probably alot easier with a crew of 3 or 4 and a big boat also...not a 13 1/2 ft tinny and you and ur 5 yr old son! Do you think an eye or gill injury would be fatal to a billfish? Some seem to think they can survive anything, just so they can release it and appease their conscience for not killing a billfish.

Thanks again guys for all your input. Each to their own and in obedience to the laws of the land they fish around.

[Midnight]

Mate, I have absolutely no problem with you keeping the fish. And it is good to see it eaten, not killed just to weigh in a tournament and then dumped at sea for the sharks to eat. But I'm not here to get into that argument either.

There is a better than average chance that your fish probably would have not survived the day. Tail wrapping really buggers em up. Was the fish basically non responsive when you got it boat side? They eye injury would probably not be fatal, but it would hinder it's feeding. Being exhausted from the tail wrapped fight, if it didn't just die from exhaustion after you let it go, it would have got sharked that day more thn likely anyway.

The key to good releases is, short fight times, minimum time boat side I.e cut the leader if the hook can't be easily removed without the fish beating itself up against the boat, and always keeping the boat moving. Around 3-4kts should see the fish happily swimming along side and keeps water going through it's gills. Grab your lure and slide it up the leader into the boat and just cut the leader as close to the hook as you can. Try to avoid a length of leader still on the hook that will end up near the fishes eye. If you can't cut it short, leave it long enough to clear it's head.
Learn to rig you own lures and use hooks like SL12s or similar that are cheap and will also rust out. Then you won't be so worried about getting your hooks back.

Good luck out there mate, you seem to have a pretty good fishery there, so enjoy it while you are there.

Cheers,
Myles

How much drag are you fishing on the outfit you caught the Sail on?

[Volvo]

Key to their survival first an most is not to bring em out of the water..Had that happen to me just to take their Pic and both just spewed up and died, Very sad as they are a beutifull fish and far as eating them??they taste crap!!..Enjoy the fight ,mget tehm close to the Boat to put a smile on your noggin and let them go is my advice..
Cheers

[captain rednut]

hey nauru well done with your sailfish capture that's a great experience for your young fellow and a day he will remember forever, you cant avoid a fatality sometimes these things happen in the wild, after all im glad someone enjoyed eating it. dont let anyone turn you off posting your terific stories and wonderful times with your young bloke.
cheers cr

[fishnNauru]

Midnight - I run all my lures on cable wire or single strand wire, and have thought about cutting the wire if the hook was going to be a pain to get out on the next one. Thanks for the idea.

Yes as far as I could tell the fish had little to no fight at all left in it when it was boat side...tail first, that's is what made me think it was dead already. I do try keep the fight times short, all my reels run 80lb braid and strike drag is ~20lb and full drag is about 40lb. As I was high speed trolling, the drag was just enough to stop the line coming off the spool at high knots, but when he hit the line was ripping off and kept on going even when I got turned around, an bumped up to strike drag, so I upped it to full to slow the line leaving the spool too quick. I'm not sure how much line left the spool (as the lure was way back HS trolling too) but seeing it rip off quick made me think I was going to get spooled...even though I prob had at least 250m of line left on it...it was one of those oh no moments that probably was abit of an overreaction.

Volvo - each to their own, but battered, and fried with chips sail is a top feed I reckon, though Wahoo is my fish and chip preference. Some Nauruans like sail, some don't but any fish caught here gets eaten. Like i said my friends resturant sold out of my 1st 20kg sailfish and chips in a day.

Capt Rednut - Thanks. Elijah my 5yr old is a full on fishing nut. He'll fish with me as long as i want in the boat then come home and fish off his top bunk with string and whatever he ties on the end as a lure. He's always full of fishing questions about lures, fish, fish diets and sizes etc...I've created a monster He will tell u he's quite the lure selector, his picks accounting for our 11kg wahoo and 26kg sail. He is quick to remember his successes and not his failures when his picks didn't catch anything We have a good time and enjoy shareing our successes, even though some disagree with what we call success. I enjoy catching all fish, and have great respect for the bigger ones especially, but a fish is a fish and I'm not real sure why everyone seems to get their nickers in a twist about keeping a billfish here or there. I don't plan on making it a habit, but is not the end of the world that some make it out to be. The Webmaster/ownder of another site told me not to post any more stories of any more dead billfish. Oh well, you can't please everyone

[timgraham]

Well done. Read this article about a Sailfish being caught from the rocks a few days ago
http://www.gamefishinghub.com.au/blo...tern-australia

[onerabbit]

I catch what I can and sell it to a friends resturant, which is a help to them and I enjoy catching fish. Every fish i've seen caught in Nauru is eaten, so any I release will be eaten sooner or later, that is just life in the Pacific outside Oz.



I dont really care that you keep fish to eat,

I get upset that you publicly anounce that you kill fish that you intend to sell.

When I have enough for my own needs, I stop fishing..not try to cover my fuel bill.

It is a moral objection, not a legal one.

Muzz

[fishnNauru]

Muzz - Thanks for the Lecture on Morals. You have yours, I have mine, and I'm not forcing mine on you, or ciriticising you for yours but u seem to be pretty happy on your high horse criticising mine.