4 hour battle

cranker789

So I went out of dania today and had a four hour battle with what I thought was either a sailfish or marlin possibly? I was exhausted after 4 hours on the kayak going back and forth with this fish. Never caught a sailfish so I’m not sure what they fight like and definitely never caught a marlin. Maybe foul hooked sail? Not sure what could be that strong. But after four hours I thought I’d cut the line or put more pressure on him, so I gave it one last shot and tried pressuring him in and he jumped and the line snapped near the hook. Was bottom fishing for mutton with about 30ft leader of 50lb mono in 165ft straight off pier. 

lemaymiami

What did you see when it jumped?

cranker789

Long billfish. I saw it underneath the kayak a a lot but it was too far to get a good look. I was looking for the big dorsal fin, but didn't see it. Stripes with big eyes, white lower body, blue upper. I was convinced it was a sail at first but didn't think sails battled that hard. It would also be difficult to foul hook with a 6/0 circle. Bait was live goggle eye. Don't know if marlins are in that shallow? or feed near bottom?

It was doing circles under the kayak for a lot of the fight when it wasn't pulling me through ft Lauderdale. Not a lot of big runs but slowly taking line most of the time. Almost robotic.

conchydong

Probably was a Sail. Pound for pound they can pull as hard as a Marlin but are usually much smaller. Sometimes you can finesse them with a lighter drag as the harder you pull, the harder they pull especially when they are bull dogging.instead of surface running/jumping.

krash

Maybe could have been a big tuna.

cranker789

Ahh ok, yes it was probably a sail. Just never heard of anyone in a 4 hour fight with one. I mean this fish was still strong after four hours of heavy drag with a penn battle 6000. I don't know how long it could have gone on. I was beat. Really sore today, and bruised. I still think it was the smart thing to do to give up the fight, i had to pick up my dog, the fish was taking me farther and farther from the pier, and i was exhausted... 

The Cat's Eye

i have caught a few marlin. One was a blue on 30 lb mono but not from a dead boat. My vote is a marlin. 

lemaymiami

Small marlin.. in a paddle craft you just can't put enough heat on one to make much of a difference.  I'm betting that the last half of the fight he was just towing you around and not taking much drag at all... That's a problem you face when you're out in deep water and can't anchor to be able to really pull on him.  A good big tarpon will do you the same way if they won't jump... You just won't be able to tire him out.  If the fish hadn't jumped I'd have guessed an Allison tuna (what we used to call them years ago - now they're called yellowfin tuna...).

krash

Sounds like the old man and the sea story....

cranker789

I'm starting to think marlin as well.

Here's what fwc says about blue marlin, "This may be the ultimate of the big game fish - the one Hemingway so often wrote about. Serious anglers rig heavy and expect to fight a marlin for 4-6 hours." 

They also say they grow up to 1400 lbs, though i doubt this fish was more than 200lbs. 

And fwc on sailfish, "Blue runners, pinfish, mullet, scads, ballyhoo and squid attract cruising sailfish. Sailfish are known for their fast runs, acrobatic jumps and head-shaking attempts to throw a hook. Sailfish tire easily and should be revived after a long fight to ensure their survival. Most anglers release these fish."  

This fish did not really head shake much, if at all. Would have loved to get a photo of it but all i have is a video of my reel screaming after 3 and a half hours. I'll never forget that fish, hope he lives long. 

The Cat's Eye

 Lemay is correct that fighting a big fish from a kayak is problem since you really can't put much pressure on the fish. My Blue Marlin was hooked from a Mexican Panga with a 3/0 Sealine and 30 lb test. We let in run drag so many times i lost count. If we were in a dead boat it would have spooled me on the first run.  Finally got it to the boat and released it. Fight was about 2 hours plus. i sight casted live bait to it when i saw it following a lure we had out on 50 lb line. On another day I released two striped marlins. One was big and took 2.5 hrs on a 6/0 Senator and 50 lb mono.

cranker789

Wow that's awesome, strong fish. What did you do from the Panga to slow it down? That's a small craft. I do have a 2.5 Suzuki on my kayak, only had a liter of gas with me though, is there anything i could have done to put more pressure on the fish? 

krash

Maybe it was that navy sub, when I was in them they did not jump.

John McKroid

 That sounds like heavy gear for a 4-hour fight on a Sailfish.  As already pointed out, the less they jump, the longer the fight takes.  Getting them to jump looks cool, plus tires them out quickly.  The only species I have kayak fought that long on were Sharks.  My longest of many Sailfish fights was about an hour for a tail hooked fish.  The circle hook could have lassoed the tail.  Many of the sails I have taken on kingfish rigs just have the stinger lassoed on the bill.  Being that you have yet to take your first sail off the kayak, The possibility of it being a sail increases. That weekend one boat had a yellowfin and a White Marlin straight off Ft. Lauderdale(those guys should have played the lottery).   Maybe you did have a Marlin?  Sure would have been worthwhile to have landed it as I don't think anyone has done it off a kayak in SE Florida.  Many years back during the first Extreme Kayak Tournament in the Bahamas, a White Marlin was taken, and a Blue was fought for about 12 hours before the angler gave up.  I find when the fish has to tow the kayak, it can wear them down quickly.  If you throw a sea anchor out, it could help increase the pressure on the fish.  I prefer to chase the fish down and keep the minimal line out.  Being that you have an engine, what was the concern?  Your dog could have waited for an event that might have made kayak fishing history as the first Florida mainland marlin off a kayak.    

cranker789

I think if I knew it was a marlin I would have kept fighting a bit longer, but not sure how much longer I could have gone on for. Ive been wondering the last few days why I decided to try to end the fight all of a sudden, and I think it was being exhausted, and the sun was getting to me. As well as inexperience, I wasn't sure what the fish was and have never fought something so long. Believe me I would have loved to have landed the fish, but I'll be wiser for next time. 

John McKroid

Situations like that are when a 2-speed reel can be a lifesaver.  The lower gear just makes it easier to wind in.  During long fights in a kayak, once the fish goes deep, the reel can be put in low gear and slack is taken in every time the kayak dips into the trough of a wave.  This cuts down on the number of times the rod needs to be lifted to gain slack, thus expending less energy. 

cranker789

Ive only ever used spinning reels, but I think my next reel will be a conventional. I'll have to do more research on the different kinds and how to use them.

John McKroid

cranker789 said:

Ive only ever used spinning reels, but I think my next reel will be a conventional. I'll have to do more research on the different kinds and how to use them.

I learned to fish in Southern California.  In SoCal, people start out with spinning gear, and once they learned how to cast a conventional reel, they rarely use spinning.  Learning to cast and retrieve the line on a conventional reel is a skill, and as a deckhand on the headboats, one could pick out the skilled anglers over the newbies based on the tackle they brought on the boats.  Coffee grinders were for beginners.     

The advent of braid line has changed that for some nitch types of fishing.  When I moved to Florida, it was a big shock to see many professional guides that never learned the skill of casting conventional reels.  On the kayak, one does not need to cast much -  a bait can be distant from the angler by a few strokes of the paddle.  For the same pound line, a conventional reel can handle larger fish for longer fights than a spinner.  It's a worthwhile progression.

krash

One thing you can do with a hard fighting fish,  pulling you around n your kayak, is deploy a drift chute.

fmoe

A 5gallon bucket will work if no drift chute is handy.

The Cat's Eye

cranker789 said:

Wow that's awesome, strong fish. What did you do from the Panga to slow it down? That's a small craft. I do have a 2.5 Suzuki on my kayak, only had a liter of gas with me though, is there anything i could have done to put more pressure on the fish? 

The panga had a 50 hp outboard manual rope start. We would stop the boat and let it run until my 3/0 Sealone reel was about to be spooled. Then we would chase the fish to regain line and repeat the above over and over. Finally after about two hours the fish was boatside. I wanted to relaese the marlin but my captain begged me to let him boat it. He tried for about 30 minutes to wrestle it into the panga by grabbing its bill. One time the fish picked him several feet into the air.  Atter he tried about 20 times to flip it into the boat,  i tightened the drag and brole the leader off at the hook. He was not happy. 

I don't think you could have put pressure on the fish from a kayak. Even if you dragged a bucket or a small sea anchor your line might get wraped up on whatever you dragged.  Although none of the three marlin i realeased did not circle the boat like the two yellowfins i landed. 

John McKroid

The Cat's Eye said:

I don't think you could have put pressure on the fish from a kayak. Even if you dragged a bucket or a small sea anchor your line might get wraped up on whatever you dragged.  Although none of the three marlin i realeased did not circle the boat like the two yellowfins i landed. 

I think you might be surprised by the amount of pressure one can put on a fish with a kayak.  500lb Black Marlins have been landed (leader touch) off the kayak in Panama.  The movement of the kayak dampens the shock on the line.  When I fish wreck AJ's, I sometimes use a 100lb braid to stop them.  I have pulled groupers out of the wrecks with it.  As long as the rod stays pointed towards the bow, the kayak is stable and won't flip.  If my rig gets snagged on the bottom, I will exert the necessary pressure to break it off, even with a 200lb leader.