Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Last week someone told me about how they lost a big tuna after it ran under the boat and got the line fouled in the prop or rudder. “Is something under the hull? We could feel the fish pulling," he said, "but the line was sliding across something down there that wouldn't allow us to get it free from the bottom of the boat. So we just cut the line and went back to fishing."
"You cut the line?" I said in disbelief, "Didn't you try…?" I listed three different tricks for clearing a line from under a boat. None of which he had attempted or for that matter - knew anything about. But before we get into how to clear a line from the bottom of a boat, let's look at how not to let a fish get hung up in the first place.
It doesn't matter if it's a tuna, a rockfish, a blue marlin or a bluefish, while fighting a fish of any size or description, anglers and crew must pay attention to which way the fish is going, and if it looks as though it's going to pass underneath, steps need to be taken right away to prevent the line from contacting the boat. If the engine is running it's usually easy for the captain to spin the boat one way or the other to keep the fish clear, but if the boat is anchored it's all up to the angler to do what needs to be done to prevent a foul up.
The problem usually starts in the latter part of the fight when the fish is getting tired, done with any of its long runs and begins making big circles down deep. As the angler works to lift the fish up from the depths its circling brings it under the boat and out - under the boat and out… and so on. The closer the fish gets to the boat the greater the chance that the fish might pull the line into contact with the hull.
One trick that sometimes works when a fish is heading for trouble is to thump the deck hard with your foot, a brush handle, a heavy cooler, or anything else that might send a sound wave down to the fish and spook it in the other direction. However, when a hooked fish does pass under the boat the best thing an angler can do to prevent the line from being fouled is to stick the rod tip straight down and deep into the water (almost to the reel) and then "sweep" the rod around the stern (or sometimes the bow) and to the other side of the boat where the fish is. Of course this relatively simple process can be very challenging for anyone fishing from a boat with two or more outboards hanging from a bracket off the back or from vessels with very high sides. Unfortunately, too many fishermen wait too long to perform this relatively quick and easy task and end up with a dilemma to unravel.
So let's say that, despite all efforts, the fish shoots under the boat and ends up on one side with the angler holding the rod on the other. To make matters worse, the fish is up high enough that the line is rubbing on the hull and probably passing across the rudder, prop, transducer, lower-unit, or anything else that might be projecting from the hull. What now?
The first thing to do is to lighten up the drag so the line won't so easily chafe off on the boat. Then you need to figure out which direction the fish is from the boat. Did it head straight out on the other side? Or is the line looped around something under the hull and the fish is back on the same side as the angler? In clear water with high-vis line you might be able to simply look around the boat and see where it's running off to the fish. However, in most conditions you'll need to drag a rod, a gaff, a boat hook, or something around the boat to locate the line. My favorite way to locate the line is to drop a weighted treble hook down on a spinning rod and walk the rod around the boat. The line with the treble will easily snag the line going to the fish and allow me to come up with a plan to free it.
Usually, the line will be going off the opposite side of the boat and if you have a long enough boat hook you might be able to use it to clear the line by pushing the section coming off the rod tip straight down below the hull and then walking it around to the side that the fish is on. Another way is to attach a relatively heavy sinker to the line with a snap or a string and then let it slide from the rod tip down to wherever the line is snagged on the hull. By keeping just enough drag tension that the line stays straight until the sinker reaches the snag and then slackening up on the drag so that the sinker pulls the belly in the line straight down, then walking the rod around to the other side of the boat, it's often possible to clear a line with a fish on the other end.
If the line can't be cleared from the boat there are still some options that are a bit radical but can work if you're a little gutsy. First, if you're able to snag the line off the side of the boat that's going to the fish, you might be able to literally handline the fish to the boat as the angler (on the other side) cranks in the slackening line. Once the fish is landed the line should then be cut so that the terminal tackle is not later pulled into whatever it was impairing under the hull.
Another way to successfully land a fish that got under the boat again starts with snagging and getting a good hold of the line going to the fish. Then, one person holds the line while someone else cuts it. The angler then cranks the other end of the line in from under the boat and someone then quickly and carefully ties the two ends back together with a decent knot for whatever type of line they're using. This is a tricky operation and best done with the fish far out from the boat so that line stretch will provide a little extra "tying time" should the fish start moving away.
A third method is to literally jump in the water, swim beneath the boat and clear the line. WARNING: This is dangerous!! And the danger is not from sharks but from the boat itself. Swimming under a boat in open water is not like going under in a quiet cove or marina. Even in calm seas, someone beneath a rolling boat runs the risk of being hit on the head by the hull or the propeller. People have been killed or seriously injured doing just that so anglers really need to consider the risk involved before attempting to clear a line in that manner. I keep a mask, fins, and a helmet aboard to use anytime I need to go under the hull offshore.
A nice fish on the line that somehow got hung up under the boat is nothing new to most fishermen - we've all been there. Whether or not the fish is landed depends not upon luck, but by the resourcefulness of the crew. "Where there's a will there's a way" and cutting the fish loose is not an option. §
