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Handling Sailfish

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Jonathan
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#11

Post by Jonathan »

Agree Peter - we used to see a good number at Rompin struggling on the surface :(. I have not noticed this elsewhere, but it may also be happening and not be seen. The relative numbers caught at Rompin would be out of proportion, plus the often glassy Rompin water that you mention makes it pretty easy to spot a fish in distress.
Any results Paul??
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Morsie
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#12

Post by Morsie »

Jonathan I have seen boats in the livebait fleet hand a sailfish around to just about everyone on board for a pic, and then just throw it back. Our crews just did not understand the need to swim a fish even if it hadn't been lifted out for a pic and would almost defiantly just let it go. I proposed a fish handling dvd for the crews up there but no one was interested. Ah well..........
Make your explanations as simple as possible, but no simpler. A Einstein.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#13

Post by Paul Arden »

Juan knows how to revive fish. He has a rule that if it’s your first ever Sail it is allowed in the boat. Fish is revived, lifted from one side to the angler and over the other side and allowed to swim away being revived again I suppose. I said to Juan we are not bringing any of mine in the boat which he much preferred.

To answer your question Jon, in three days we only teased two fish to the side of the boat. They were definitely not being “aggressive”! A return is on the cards. I did have an eat from a free-swimmer but that’s another story.

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Morsie
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#14

Post by Morsie »

Juan is a great guy who cares a great deal about those fish.
Make your explanations as simple as possible, but no simpler. A Einstein.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#15

Post by Paul Arden »

It’s awesome to see 20, 30 and more kg fish swimming around. Beautiful colours too. I’m sure that I will catch a lot of these fish in the future. Fortunately it wasn’t too busy out there. I’m really not used to seeing any other anglers around nowadays :D

Cheers, Paul
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Jonathan
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#16

Post by Jonathan »

Paul Arden wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:00 am I did have an eat from a free-swimmer but that’s another story.
IMHO one eat from a free swimmer is worth any number of teased up fish. :whistle:
I have not been there for a few years now but both Dominic and Ian who did the fly guiding at the time were good to the fish and on two occasions we “rescued”, and spent a good deal of time swimming and attempting to revive ailing fish we found on the surface.
Jon
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Paul Arden
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#17

Post by Paul Arden »

I had absolutely no idea this was going on.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#18

Post by Paul Arden »

And yes I agree on free swimmers vs teased. I reckon with a flats boat you would have a lot of fun. The only thing that puts me off is the number of boats fishing on a normal year. If you are fast and can put the fly in front of them they will eat. The problem is getting the fly in front and at the right retrieve angle. Also the fish are only at the surface some days for only a very limited time. But when they come up and you see their fin slowly twisting around it’s very exciting. A smaller boat and a decent electric would give more shots. There is no question that the motor put them down and the fact that the boat was huge. I think I failed to stick the hook on the free-swimmer because of the height between the rod tip and the water surface.

If it was unknown I would fish it, but since on some days there can be 40 boats out there it has less appeal. It’s definitely a fish I look forward to fishing for more often. But on my own :D

A fun three days however and great to spend time actually fishing with Juan. It’s possible we go back again for one more day. It’s about a 9hr drive for me but would be worthwhile if the sails are in a more aggressive mood.

Cheers, Paul
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Paul Arden
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#19

Post by Paul Arden »

Finally caught one of the fuckers :D Man, they are difficult to hook! Great fish, totally different from what I normally do in fly fishing, which is a solo affair. Looking forward to seeing the finished film.
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James9118
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Re: Handling Sailfish

#20

Post by James9118 »

Hi Paul,

Congrats on the sailfish. Would you say that you performed a fly-cast to present the fly to that fish?

Cheers, James
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