By Louis Cahill
A lot of bonefish are broken off in the first few seconds of the fight.
One of the most common problems for new bonefish anglers is managing the whirlwind of fly line created by the fish’s first blistering run. If left to its own devices that line will find something to wrap around. Maybe your real seat or reel handle or even your head. Whatever it finds, these powerful fish will break off immediately when the line comes tight.
It’s a situation that’s easy to avoid, once you know how. Once you strip set on a fish, just separate your hands by at least three feet and let the line slip through your fingers, keeping pressure on the fish, until all of the line is all out. Then you can use the reel to really put some pressure on the fish.
Watch this video to see how it’s done.
Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Like the short, sharp “guide” articles. Very useful this one in particular.
I would add one more good tip I learned from guides: After you strip-strike, don’t watch the fish. Keep your head down and watch the line until you’ve cleared it, then look up and watch the fish run.
Good one!
Great tip.
Out here in SoCal our “bonefish” are called Corbina.
I’ve only hooked one so far, and when it made its first run my line came up out of my stripping basket in a big clump and jammed into the first guide, breaking the feesh off.
This tip is just the thing to keep that from happening again!
really great tip!
lost a big permit in Cuba in last march just because made this kind of mistake