Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Someone was telling me about an offshore fishing trip with his friends that didn't go quite to his liking. Apparently he had been struggling all day to make a catch when he suddenly got a couple bites and had two big tuna on the line. Knowing that those two tuna would make the whole trip he really wanted to get them in the boat. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way as just five minutes into the fight one of them pulled off and ten minutes later the other one did. When I asked him what happened he quickly came back with, "Angler error. Neither one of them could crank a reel. They allowed slack and the fish were gone!"
Just like a carpenter who might have really sharp and precise power tools to work with one day and nothing but a hatchet to do the same job with the next, from my own charter business I’ve come to know that whenever I take people out fishing there will be days when I have clients aboard who have fishing skills that really help to make my day easy and other times when every catch is a struggle. But I can’t (and don’t) complain about the skills of my clients because if everyone was an expert angler then there would be little request for those in my occupation. My clients are the tools I have to work with each day and I figure that if I’m a good enough fisherman we should be able to pull-off a decent catch even when my tools aren’t very sharp.
It’s all a matter of capitalizing on the strengths and working around the weaknesses of each angler. Say for instance you’re offshore trolling with a man, his wife, and a couple young kids. If the goal is to have everyone in the group catch fish then it might not be prudent to target strictly blue marlin and bigeye tuna on heavy tackle because the kids and possibly the wife won’t be able to handle the physical demands of such a fight. A trolling spread that includes a couple heavy rods rigged for the big fish (for dad) along with some lighter tackle with smaller baits intended for dolphin, bonito, and white marlin for the rest of the family might be just the ticket for providing that group with the kind of action they can both handle and enjoy.
Sometimes an angler’s skill level is not apparent until they’re actually put to the task of working a big fish to the boat. Those with experience can make it look easy; lift the rod – crank it down – lift the rod – crank it down, and don’t crank if the fish is taking line. That’s the way it’s supposed to be done, but during the heat of the battle not everyone can get that rhythm no matter how much you coach them, and that’s were a good captain can make up for lousy angler skills. By turning the boat so that the fish is always behind it and then slowly moving ahead just fast enough to keep tension on the line, all the angler has to do is concentrate on cranking the reel. If the angler gets tired the captain might be able to slowly back down on the fish to help them regain line without so much physical work.
Poor casting ability is another aspect of fishing that can be a real challenge for a guide to overcome. But, where there’s a will there’s a way! I’ve spent a lot of time taking people out to cast lures for bluefish and stripers in our inlet and back-bay waters and for other fish down in Florida. Many times the fish will be holding in a specific location making lure placement crucial to getting a bite, and sloppy casting just won’t cut it. On such occasions when the “tools” I have aboard for making those casts (i.e. my clients) can’t make it happen, I’ve often anchored the boat up-current and put floating/diving plugs on their lines so that they can just drift their lures back to where the fish are laid up and then crank them back into the current and through the strike-zone. We’ve done the same thing when using jigs and even bait by adding a small float to the line so that the offering can be floated instead of cast to the fish. Many angling deficiencies can be easily overcome by creative tactics.
It’s easy for someone to pin the blame for a poor catch on the lack of skill of the people they took out with them. But just as a great carpenter can build a beautiful home with little more than a handsaw and a hammer, the mark of a great fisherman might be that he’s able to pull off a decent catch no matter what “tools” he has to work with.§
