Boat fishing with Barham
How to really enjoy the fight from every fish you hook, by refining your tactics...
Learn the art of light-tackle fishing.
Most of the fish that swim in UK waters will give a good account of themselves if you use a rod and reel light enough to offer a sporting chance.
Instead of hauling up mackerel six at a time on a 20lb-class boat rod, why not try using a 10g lure on a 7-35g spinning rod and fixed-spool reel loaded with 10lb braid? You’ll be amazed at how hard a single mackerel can pull your string.
It’s the same with bigger fish. You can catch a 50lb tope or conger eel quite easily on 30lb-class tackle, but try landing them on 15lb-class gear and you have to use considerable skill to bring them to the boat.
The biggest reason for over-gunning tackle in UK waters is strong tide, but, even so, there are plenty of tricks you can use to fish as light as possible but still land your quarry.
I’m talking specifically about light tackle, not light line. I’ve never been a fan of light-line fishing, simply because it can take forever to bring a decent fish to the boat, which will often put undue stress on it and, in some cases, kill the fish.
Additionally, of course, there is the amount of fish lost when light-line fishing. I don’t like the thought of leaving fish swimming around trailing loads of lost line, lead weights or lures.
The term light tackle refers specifically to the rod and reel set-up that you choose to use – not the line. I quite often use 30lb braid throughout the year for most of my general boat fishing, and 15lb or 20lb braid on a fixed-spool reel for my light rod and lure fishing set-ups.
“The term light tackle refers to the rod and reel set-up you use – not the line”
USE YOUR DRAG
The most important thing to get right when taking on fish with light tackle is the drag setting on your reel. Some anglers like to keep this set as tight as possible so they can wind the fish straight in. This doesn’t work with light tackle because you need to allow the fish to run in order for it to tire, so setting your drag correctly is essential.
In big-game fishing, where all the fish take line from the reel, however big they are, anglers have perfected the art of drag setting. As a general rule of thumb, the drag should be set to allow line to come off the reel at a third of the breaking strain of the mainline. In simple terms, if you are using 15lb line, when you pull on the line with the clutch engaged, it will only start coming off the reel when 5lb of pressure is applied.
This is quite easy to achieve with the use of a small set of scales. Tie the line to the scales and, with the rod in a rod-rest or with someone holding it for you, pull steadily on the scales and watch the poundage as the line begins to peel off the reel. If it doesn’t budge until 8lb of pressure, slacken the clutch until you get it more or less correct.
This is not an exact science, but as you become more used to landing fish on lighter tackle, you will be able to judge it just by pulling the line from the reel with your hand.
ESSENTIAL LEADERS
I always like to use some form of leader when I’m fishing, mostly because I use braided mainlines. The problem with braid is that it has no stretch, which is great for allowing you to use lighter lures or less lead weight, but it also gives you instant contact to a hooked fish.
Species such as cod and bass will shake their heads quite violently in order to try and shed the hook, and although the lighter rod will provide a degree of shock absorption, a mono leader will stretch much more and help keep your hook-hold firm.
I use 50lb leader when targeting tope or big rays but, as a rule, I like to use 40lb fluorocarbon. As far as length goes, you should have half a dozen turns of the leader on your reel, with the leader stretching the entire length of the rod, plus a further 5ft from the tip ring.
I use this formula on my fixed-spool reels, too, except when I’m fishing for bass with surface lures. Quite often I’ll only use a 4ft-length of 12lb fluorocarbon for this scenario. I’ve found that I don’t need to use a full-length leader, and it hasn’t impacted on my catch ratio at all.
PLAYING BIG FISH
As long as you aren’t under-gunned with your mainline and leader, it is possible to bring even the largest fish to the boat while using light rods. Even if the rod is totally collapsed under the pressure, if your mainline is strong enough, you can point the rod at the fish in an emergency and still get it to the boat – that’s the big difference between light tackle and light-line fishing. When fishing in deeper water with strong tides for tope, congers and blonde rays, just be patient. Don’t panic, and simply keep up the pressure. Try to gain line when you can, but use the tide to your advantage. Once you’ve got the fish off the bottom, if you lock everything down, then the tide will help lift the fish up to the surface. I’ve been ‘deadlocked’ on loads of big conger eels (more than 50lb) on 15lb-class gear in a two-knot tide, for as long as 15 minutes before. I can only remember losing one of them in the past 20 or so years. Just remember to enjoy the experience, and don’t rush to haul up the fish; that’s the whole point of light tackle fishing, to get the most from your sport.