Hooks Used Fishing For Sailfish

One of the first and definitive moves that the authorities made in their policy towards sport fishing for billfish in Guatemala was the early adoption of circle hooks, and the banning of "J" type hooks for conventional fishing.This policy combined with a strict ban on killing billfish within the territorial waters of Guatemala has resulted in a renowned and sustainable billfish fishery off the Pacific Coast of Guatemala.

Although it is difficult to police given the resources of the coastal patrol vessels, it is peer enforced by both the sportfishing industry and the commercial fishing operations in the waters. The longliners operate outside the territorial waters and so are more difficult to enforce - but certainly the ban within the patrolled waters has given the fishery off Guatemala a distinct advantage over neighboring countries.

This was based on a substantial amount of data that has demonstrated dramatically lower mortality rates when using circle hooks (2%) versus standard J hooks (almost 50%). This data has held true also for Guatemala when studies have been done by the sportfishing fleet using circle hooks. J-hooks in the past have been utilized for conventional fishing - casting plugs, trolling and bait fishing.When fishing with these type of hooks, it is usually necessary to "set" the hook using a strong upward movement of the fishing pole which conducts a strong force down to the hook and so drives the point and the barb in to any available soft tissue.

As a consequence, if the fish has taken the bait past the bony elements of the outer mouth, there is a high probability of the hook catching and setting in soft tissue deep within the fish's gut or even in or close to vital organs.In the case of circle hooks however, instead of "setting" the hook by jerking the rod, the angler must apply steady pressure to the line, bringing it in slowly but steadily. If the angler jerks the rod to set the hook, the hook will often pull out of the fish's mouth and the angler will lose the fish. This is a technique that is somewhat counter-intuitive, and when faced with the thrill of a large billfish at close quarters is often easy to forget in the heat of the moment!

There are two basic types of circle hook available to fishermen and commercial fishing boats in Guatemala, the offset and non-offset. The latter have been used for over 20 years in the commercial Central America and Guatemalan longline industry - as obviously in the vast majority of cases the fishermen are not present when the fish is actually taking the bait, and so they found and developed a hook that was capable of self-hooking on a consistent basis in the rich fishing territory off the coats of Costa Rica and Guatemala. It was found that circle hooks and J-hooks displayed similar catch rates, but that 98% of fish were caught in the jaw with circle hooks.

Offset circle hooks however, carry a much higher mortality rate than non-offset circle hooks, as the offset itself leads to many of the problems associated with "J" type hooks - specifically having a propensity to catch and penetrate any soft tissue that it comes into contact with.A study by the Marine Resources Research Institute shows the deep-hooking rate of offset circle hooks is 23%, significantly higher than non-offset circle hooks and also have a mortality rate approaching that of "J" type hooks.

We have also moved away from "J" type hooks for our Guatemala fly-fishing rigs, essentially for the same reasons - now preferring to use beak hooks.

The "upturned beak" hooks have a little something in common with circle hooks that is worth mentioning here. Aside from the positive hooking mortality benefits that have made circle hooks so popular, they were also designed to pretty much work on their own in finding a soft spot to sink into, thus making hook setting not only unnecessary, but, counterproductive.

Using either style of hooks should always come with some very basic though counter-intuitive instructions (but it usually doesn't).The hooks with the "upturned beaks" share the same flaws/advantages (glass half full or glass half empty) as their circle hook relatives. This is where some changes in hook setting technique are required.

Setting the hook, especially aggressively, with this style hook will almost surely make the hook slide and miss initially, and oftentimes into a place where it's being firmly held by the strong grip of the sailfish and not embedded in the fleshy parts. It actually feels like you've stuck the fish well in most instances. However, a gradual tightening of the line with steady pressure almost always lets the hook find its mark. It's the same with "J" style hooks, however, the advantage in sharpness out of the box goes to today's upturned beak style hooks, and, they almost never straighten out based on the physics

Fishing for sailfish in Guatemala has been supported by some enlightened policy for many years that includes a complete ban on killing any billfish, and the extensive use of circle hooks. More information can be found here - http://greatsailfishing.com/.

Sailfish - Treat'em Right And They Will Live To Fight Another Day

The Billfish Foundation (TBF) has done a lot to promote billfish conservation and has been instrumental in shifting past catch-and-kill practises to Tag & Release in most parts of the world. We fully support TBF and Tag & release all billfish from our game boats, the only exceptions being a fish that is clearly a National or World record.

TBF have noticed an increasing tendency nowadays for some anglers to lift a billfish (particularly sailfish) out of the water to photograph the angler with his catch.

If you choose to Tag & Release, there are four very good reasons not to lift your billfish out of the water:

1. To state the obvious - Fish can't breathe out of the water and a billfish brought to the transom will almost certainly be, at the very least, 'out of breath'. If you lift the fish out of the water, you are starving the fish of oxygen just when it needs it most. Imagine running up a flight of stairs and then trying to hold your breath when you get to the top.

2. Fish have a protective coat of slime on their bodies that helps them fight infection and parasites. In hauling out a large fish and handling (even with gloves), you will inevitably damage or remove some of this coating.

3. The billfish's skeleton is designed to support the fish in water - not in air. If you haul a sailfish over the transom and try to hold it up, you are probably causing internal damage which may later kill the fish.

4. A thrashing billfish in the cockpit? Are you nuts? It's just going to injure itself and maybe you too! If the fish is so exhausted that it can't kick, lifting it out of the water and starving it of oxygen is likely to be the last straw.

We have, in the past removed a couple of sailfish from the water for photographs. We don't do it any more. Nowadays, we photograph all billfish in the water after the fish has been tagged and the hook removed. Photos are a wonderful reminder of past memories for our guests and even more so to see their catch gently swimming behind the boat before release. We recommend you consider following the advice of The Billfish Foundation not to remove your catch from the water.

The whole point of Tag & Release is to gather scientific information for future conservation purposes and to release the fish unharmed. If you haul a billfish out of the water, you are damaging and possibly killing the very thing you are trying to conserve and protect.

Not much sense in that is there?

Adrian was born on the island of Cyprus and graduated to his first rod & reel at the age of five. Having fished around the world from the Arabian Gulf to the North sea and English Channel, he finally settled for the tropical waters of the South Pacific around the island of Kadavu, Fiji Islands. Director of Matava Resort Gamefishing, he skippers 'Bite Me', the resort's 31ft DeepVee Gamefishing vessel and thoroughly enjoys exploring the light and heavy tackle fishing around the island and Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef. An IGFA Certified Captain, he advocates tag & release and is a keen supporter of the IGFA and the Billfish Foundation.

Adrian Watt
IGFA Captain
info@matava.com
http://www.Matava.com
http://www.GamefishingFiji.com
http://www.GameFishingFiji.blogspot.com

Reviving Billfish - Tips You Need to Know When Releasing Sailfish, Swordfish, and Marlin

Last summer we had an unfortunate incident with a swordfish we brought to the boat.

It was about 8:30pm and we had been set up for about 45minutes when we had our first bite, the second balloon at 150' baited with a dead squid started to scream. My brother Rocky was on the rod and the instant he pushed the drag up to strike, which on our rods is set at 25-30lbs of drag, the fish stopped and Rocky cranked the fish in effortlessly. Less then five minutes later we had a small swordfish boat side. We couldn't see the hook and since this fish was brought to the boat so quickly we didn't want to put this green fish through any trauma.

Rocky handed me the pliers and I clipped the leader as close to the swordfish's mouth as possible. The swordfish kicked away and seemed to be fine, then less then a minute later on the other side of the boat we spotted the swordfish belly up. We pulled in the drift anchor and moved the boat to the swordfish. Rocky grabbed its bill and brought it along boat side. I put one engine in gear and Rocky held the fish's bill underwater in the hopes of reviving this small swordfish. After a minute or so of attempted reviving, the swordfish just became even more copper colored, stiff and lifeless. We realized there was no hope of reviving this fish so we brought him in the boat. Once he was in the boat we inspected the fish and the hook which we decided to cut was just a little bit inside the corner of its mouth and not bleeding what so ever. Since this fish was brought to the boat in minutes and received no trauma from the fight or from us upon release made us believe that this fish must have had heart failure.

Incidents like this are rare, especially when the fight time is kept to a minimum. But, they do happen and it reminds us that even though we are conservation minded and try to practice good catch and release, there is always a chance that a caught fish will not survive after being released.

There are many things we as fisherman can do to try and ensure a healthy release for any billfish we catch. For one, whenever we get a green billfish to the boat which we are planning on releasing simply cut the leader as close to the fishes mouth as possible and as quickly as possible. Holding any large billfish along boat side is one of the most dangerous things we can do in the sport of fishing. When a mate leans over the gunwale to hold a boated billfish, especially on a boat with high freeboard, he or she can seriously injure themselves and the fish. Billfish struggling along boat side often damage their eyes, bills and gills banging against the side of the boat. This is why simply cutting the leader as close to the fish's mouth, is much safer for the fish and the people on board.

Any attempt to remove the hook from a billfish can do much more harm then good to the fish. Poor attempts to remove the hook from a struggling fish can cause sever bleeding and bruising to the fish. So, unless you have a smaller billfish at the boat and you can clearly see that de-hooking the fish will be an easy task due to where the hook is placed, simply cut the leader as close to the fish's mouth as possible, it will have a much better chance of survival.

In the event you try and de-hook a smaller billfish, attempt to de-hook the fish while its head is underwater. Once a billfish's head is above water it will violently thrash its head.

When you are about to release a billfish if it's not struggling to get away, is not lit up and has a copper color, grab the fish's bill holding the bill and the fish's head under water then put the boat in gear so water will run through the fish's gills. Once the fish starts to kick on its own or starts to struggle, gently let go of the bill and let it swim free.

Never consider a billfish dead, always try to revive the fish as it may just be exhausted from a long battle or unconscious from lack of water (oxygen) running through its gills.

TightLines,

Captain Vinnie La Sorsa
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter
http://www.GoodFellasCharters.com

http://www.Go-Sportfishing.com