FROM THE BRIDGE

With Captains Norm and Darrin Isaacs

These are thoughts and observations stemming from year upon year and hours upon hours of time on the bridge busting waves in search of big game action. Subject matter includes, among many other things, what not to do as a guest or a charter, head-etiquette, lure selection, tagging, circle-hooks and many more.

Big Fish Tactics

By Capt. Norm Isaacs

The big one got away! When it's a part of someone else's fish story, it's a shame; but when it happens to you, it's a downright crying, dirty, no-justice tragedy. Personally, I know without a doubt that the largest fish I've ever seen, let alone been hooked up to, sawed through 400 lb. test leader after a fight that lasted a little over 10 hours. We were never able to get a hold of the leader, but we had the double line on the reel at least 20 times. In 10 hours, we never once pulled the fish toward the boat. We could get line on the reel fairly easily after the first three hours or so, but only by backing the boat toward the fish, never by pulling the fish toward us, and that was with 60 plus lbs. of pressure on the drag quite a bit of the time.

The fish seemed to have a distance of about 30 feet that she was comfortable with. Anything closer than that was out of the question. She appeared so unconcerned about it all, that it wouldn't have surprised me if she had started feeding during the fight. In addition to a new respect for the power of a really big marlin, when we parted company she gave us back everything we had started with except a small fish looking lure made by Greg Brown, my crewman at the time, one 10/0 stainless hook and about 3 feet of leader. The lure got a proper burial at sea, like most good lures. The hook and the small piece of leader stayed with the fish.

Laser Spine Institute

Anyone out there that has caught our shows that are currently airing on Fox Sports Network nationwide has probably noticed a LSI billboard. I’ve been asked a number of times what LSI has to do with big game fishing. If you have a minute I’ll tell you. LSI stands for Laser Spine Institute. They have a clinic in Tampa, Florida and have just opened another one in Arizona. If it weren’t for these folks I’m not sure I’d be able to be out chasing the big game fish as I have for so many years. I’m guessing there are a fair number of people that are in a similar situation to where I was prior to going to LSI. I’m sure you have heard the old saying “if I’d known I was going to live this long I’d taken better care of myself”. Well, that’s me. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of fun in my life so far but some it comes at a price. As a kid I use to think it was a real kick to jump out trees on rodeo bulls and seconds later landing somewhere yards away in a wad. Out of high school it was professional baseball and then about 30 years splashing around offshore. Along the way I enjoyed car wrecks, motorcycle wrecks, plane crashes, a bar fight or two and I even got run over by a train in which 13 others in the bus didn’t survive. The point is that I beat myself up pretty good to the point that about a year and a half ago my lower back finally rebelled. I had excruciating pain from my lower back, down my right leg and into my foot. There was no comfortable position for more than a few minutes and I was only managing about 3 hours of sleep at night. After a year or so this gets really old.

I had problems off and on over the years but this time it was different. I tried massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, steroid injections and everything else I could think of to no avail. After a year of trying I was to the point I could barely walk and I was in a ton of pain all the time. The doctors told me surgery and fusing a couple of the vertebra together was probably the only thing that was going to work for me. Fortunately I stumbled across the LSI website. (www.laserspineinstitute.com)

I was very skeptical to say the least. What I saw and heard on their site looked too good to be true but out of desperation I gave them a call. From the first conversation I felt a twinge of hope and after a couple more conversations the possibilities looked even better.

I’ll cut to the chase. About six weeks after first contact I went to Tampa to have a laser procedure done on my back. There is know way I can express how great the entire experience at LSI was. From initial contact to end result – nothing but outstanding. I arrived at LSI on a Tuesday for tests, paperwork and a meeting with the doctor. Wednesday they did the laser procedure. I got off the operating table after an hour and a half with a 2 inch horizontal incision in the middle lower back. Time in the recovery room was minimal because I was sedated but conscious throughout the procedure. The doctor had me walk a little right then and there and 75% of the pain was gone. Later that evening I walked around for 30 minutes or so and got the first good nights sleep in over a year. Thursday I went to rehab at LSI which mostly was instructions on some exercises. Friday we checked out of the hotel and went home. A week later the pain was 90% gone. After a month I had no pain, I was back on the boat and back to swinging a golf club again. By the way my golf game still sucks but at least it doesn’t hurt to play. I can stomp around out in the woods looking for my ball with my ego being the only thing that's suffering.

There you go -- in the LSI advertisement they say “get your life back” and that is exactly what they did for me. I know there are a lot of folks out there hurting from back and spine problems. If you or someone you know is one of them before you start slicing and dicing check out the Laser Spine Institute in Tampa at www.laserspineinstitute.com. If you end up going to LSI I’d appreciate it if you would let me know how it's working out.

Thanks, Capt Norm Isaacs

We've all heard about it, and most of us have had it happen to us, so what (if anything) can be done to prevent it? I recently received a letter from Ron Akana of Waipahu, Hawaii. Ron is a regular viewer of “Big Game Fishing the World” when he's not out fishing himself, and it was his letter that stimulated this bit. Ron explained in his letter how after a three hour fight, he and some friends had broken off a beast on 130 lb. test. The fish had hit a resin jethead that was rigged on 26 feet of 300 lb. test leader with a stainless 12/0 hook. After an hour, they had 13 feet of the leader but couldn't hold it. After two more hours with the fish "under and around the boat," the mainline parted with a subtle "tick", not the resounding "crack" that we've all learned to know and hate.

Ron's question was what could he have done differently to catch the fish. Well, Ron, about the only one who might have that magic, works-every-time answer would be one of those fellows who has been fishing offshore for six months or so and has figured it all out. We've all run across a few of those guys. I've been splashing around out there for more years than I'd care to count, and I've frequently discussed the subject with guys who have been at it as long or longer than me. The consensus is that sometimes the fish wins - period.

The way you described the line parting would cause me to be a little suspicious. If there is any flaw, no matter how tiny, a big fish will find it, even a small nick that might not have been there when you put the line out. The fish even could have swam back across the line during the course of the fight and put in a little scuff that took some extreme pressure to become a problem.

A technique that has occasionally worked in the situation that you described is to let out a little line, if necessary, in order to be able to maneuver the boat to where the pull on the fish is from a different location. This usually takes several, if not a bunch of, maneuvers. Pulling hard from one angle, then quickly making the change and pulling hard from another angle is a tedious, back-and-forth deal, but it can pay off. I don't know whether the fish gets confused, tired or careless, but this approach has shortened the fight on several occasions.

Keep in mind that it is not always the fish that gets confused, tired or careless, evidenced by the reality that it's not always the angler who wins the battle. Given the fact that there are many on this planet who have not, and never will, have the opportunity to engage in the battle, you're already a winner just to have been lucky enough to have been there.

Tight Lines . . . . . Norm.

Back Deck Basics

By Capt. Darrin Isaacs

DRAG
When the day comes that all your efforts have paid off and there's a big blue marlin jumping away with your favorite lure and all your string, one of the many things that needs to be considered is the fact that as the spool diameter decreases, the drag will automatically increase. So at some point, you're going to have to back the drag off or risk breaking line. We use all lever drag reels, and to aid our anglers, we put back-off marks on the reels. I simply use a black marker to indicate the spot on the reel where I want the angler to back the drag off to in case of emergency. And, if I want to change it -- a little 409 and it comes right off.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
One of the things that should be done after you catch a fish is re-stack and check all the line the fish had off the reel. If the angler has done a perfect job, it will sometimes be hard to know how much line to check. But, in most cases, it will be pretty obvious. There will be crisscrosses and pileup's of line, both of which you don't want waiting for you under 100 yards of line. While I'm re-stacking the line, I use my thumb and forefinger to feel the lines as I'm level-winding to try and catch nicks and abrasions -- because if I don't, the fish will.

DIGNITY SAVER
A great application for soft or rubber lures is baiting and switching. I am definitely one of those who believes that the more natural texture of the soft lures helps to keep the fish around and aggressive until you have chosen which tackle and bait you wish to pitch to the fish. A disadvantage to the soft lures is that it's possible, if you don't have a large enough backing, that you could pull the leader right through the lure's head. Because of the soft and pliable texture, the hole going through the center of the lure will stretch enough to pull something small through, especially if there's a 500 lb. marlin clamped onto your lure and you're trying to pull it out of it's mouth to tease it up to the back of the boat. So what we do on the SUNDOWNER, is put a stainless washer on the leader behind the lurehead so that there's no way the fish is going to rob us of our lure and dignity.

MORE ON DRAGS
Once in a while you'll notice trends in how the marlin are feeding. If they are really attacking, I will have strike drag on all the reels and will try to set the hook as soon as possible. If the fish are feeding less aggressively, we will back the drags off to where there is just enough resistance to be sure that you'll never backlash on the bite. This will let the fish get its head turned and its momentum going away from the boat, which does not take long -- a second or two. I'll then push the drag up to strike and try to hook the fish. This is by no means the cure to jumping fish off, but it's something that's definitely not going to hurt and might be worth a try.

Tight Lines, Capt. Darrin Isaacs