Big Game, Long Rod
By Fishing Only in Marlin Fishing, Fly Fishing
By Scott Leon
Marlin Fishing with Fly Tackle
Let’s just admit right up front that catching marlin on fly tackle doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. From the marlin fisherman’s perspective, fly tackle tops the list of inefficient ways of catching billfish, thanks to the limber rods, direct-drive reels, numerous knots just waiting to fail, and stringent IGFA requirements that allow no more than 12 inches of shock leader to protect against that serrated bill. From the fly-fishing purist’s point of view, too, the whole idea of teasing billfish within 20 feet of a boat and then flopping a feather duster in the vicinity of a mad, feeding fish just doesn’t quite live up to the nostalgic image this sport traditionally portrays.
Despite the void of logic, more and more anglers are giving it a try. Why? First, because the process of teasing, hooking and fighting a marlin on a fly rod ranks as a thrill that’s hard to beat in the world of fishing. Second, because advancements in fly-fishing tackle over the past several years have given anglers the tools they need to finally be successful against even 200-plus-pound marlin.
While Jim Gray’s 1991 catch of a 260-pound Pacific blue still stands as the largest IGFA-certified marlin on the books, several fish in the 250-pound range were caught and released this past year in Venezuela and elsewhere. Current governmental regulations have prevented the weighing of any potential Atlantic record that did not reach the 99-inch minimum length, which equates to a fish in the 300-pound range. That’s a barrier that has yet to be broken, though a growing cadre of fly fishermen say that it’s only a matter of time before even that record tumbles.
Most people’s image of a fly rod includes a 9-foot piece of bamboo about as big around as a pencil with the backbone of a noodle. To be honest, the average modern saltwater fly rod weighs less than 5 ounces, and some are extremely limber. Rods created to handle billfish range from 13- up to 18-weight and still weigh less than 10 ounces. Most of these heavier rods are not what you would call whippy, but they are a far cry from the sticks typically associated with conventional billfishing. Technology and materials have allowed rod makers to create fly rods with enough backbone to wrestle virtually any size fish.
As for the reels, picture your favorite 80-pound conventional reel spooled with backing, and you pretty much have your average big-game fly reel. Some of the largest fly reels hold over 1000 yards of backing, can generate 20 pounds of drag, and could probably crank in any fish to which you want to cast. The weak links in the system remain the class tippet and the 12-inch maximum length allowed by IGFA for your shock tippet.
With that said, you can pretty much rest assured the majority of the gear designed to handle billfish is top quality. Choosing which make or model simply comes down to preference, but there are some things you’ll want to consider.
Fly Rods
To start, the lightest rod you want to consider for blue or black marlin is a 13-weight, but the rods do go up to 18-weight and higher. Sailfish present a different challenge, but still require at least a 12-weight rod, although experienced anglers take sails on rods as light as 7-weights. Choosing exactly what weight rod you need comes down to preference, experience and style. In general, the higher the weight, the more of a broomstick the rod becomes. And don’t be fooled by the rod’s weight. Also, remember that manufacturers build their rods with different actions. A 14-weight by one manufacturer may have a soft tip and a stiff butt, while another’s may sport all the action of a baseball bat.
“I’d recommend a rod that has a strong butt section with substantial backbone for lifting but also has a flexible tip for casting,” says Cam Sigler, who’s been fly fishing for billfish for over 20 years. “If the rod is too stiff, you won’t be able to cast it even the short 30 feet you need, and if the rod is too soft it won’t have the necessary backbone, either.”
Charlie Tombras, who currently holds the Atlantic blue marlin records for 16- and 20-pound tippets, agrees. “For marlin, I always like at least a moderate amount of flex in the tip. But you still need a stiff butt section because that’s where the power comes from to lift the fish, even on 2-pound-test tippet,” says Tombras. Even so, sometimes it’ll take a while to wear a fish down. Tombras lost an estimated 200-plus-pound blue that was still feisty enough to break his tippet at the boat after a fight of more than 17 hours in the Cape Verde Islands.
The problem with many big-game fly rods is that they are largely untested on really big fish, and there are more than a few stories about rods breaking during an epic battle. Most rod manufacturers still give an unconditional guarantee, but that’s a small consolation when a potential world record swims away and you’re in Timbuktu. In defense of the rod makers, usually when a rod breaks, it’s actually the angler’s fault. And besides, with a 20-pound class tippet, chances are you will break the tippet long before you break the rod. Even with the heaviest fly rods, you still won’t be able to horse a marlin, but most give you enough backbone to lift one when you need to.
Not Your Father’s Fly Gear
Mechanically speaking, the fly reels used to subdue a marlin are not far removed from the conventional reels most bill fishermen use. And some weigh almost as much. The weight does not present a serious problem because you aren’t casting them continually, and the reels can handle most anything you want to put them up against. The problem comes in the selection of direct-drive or anti-reverse, large-arbor or standard, and the type of drag system you prefer.
Everyone agrees that the amount of backing a reel holds is critical. How much backing do you need? You want as much as possible, with a minimum of 300 yards of 30-pound. Some people prefer more, and there are a few reels out there that will hold over 1000 yards of 30-pound Dacron backing. If that is not enough, you can always switch over to a smaller-diameter, gel-spun backing and really pack it on.
All this line creates a paradox, however. Having so much line gives the fish room to run, but the more line you have out, the greater the drag the water imparts on the line and class tippet. Too much line in the water-creates too much drag on the class tippet, and you can guess the result. Besides, who wants to crank in 700 yards of line at 6 to 8 inches per revolution?
This also brings up the issue of size. Is larger necessarily better? Tombras dislikes massive reels. “Large spools might have problems spinning freely at first because of the greater inertia they have to overcome.” Generally the largest of these reels runs about the same diameter as a Penn International 80, but size does offer one advantage in the form of an increased rate of retrieval.
One other way to crank in line faster is to use a large-arbor reel. Large-arbor simply implies an expansion of the internal spool diameter. This functions to increase rate of retrieval and also reduce line memory and coiling. Usually the overall size of a large-arbor reel increases so you don’t lose as much backing capacity as you might think. In fact, many larger reels feature large arbors out of necessity.
The nature of fly-reel design creates other problems as well. Believe it or not, one such problem can be heat buildup. “When a big fish hits and runs, the reel can spin at upward of 2000 rpm. At that rate, with even a little drag, a reel can generate over 300 degrees of heat in seconds,” says Jack Charlton, designer of Charlton fly reels. To counteract this on his lightweight 8550 fly reel, Charlton built a turbine into the spool so the reel cools itself as it spins. “It surprises guys when a big fish hits and all of a sudden they are holding a blow dryer,” he says.
Now, picture this scenario… with your standard direct-drive reel you hook up, and line starts screaming off at an alarming rate, forcing you to reach into the vortex created by the crank handle to adjust the drag without breaking off the fish or your fingers. This problem has two solutions: One is to choose a reel with the drag control on the side opposite the crank handle. The other solution is an anti-reverse (A/R) reel. Unlike direct-drive reels, A/R reels keep the spool and the drive mechanism separate so the crank handle stays put while the spool turns. Many large reels come in both direct-drive and anti-reverse models. However, some are available only in anti-reverse.
Some anglers prefer direct-drive reels because they like the extra drag control they get from palming the spool, something that many anti-reverse reels make impossible. Billy Pate and Cam Sigler both prefer anti-reverse systems on larger reels, but Tombras does not. Another option does exist, however. Karl-Heinz Henschel, a German fly-reel designer, created a Dual Mode system for his reels that combines the best features of direct-drive and anti-reverse. Plus he added a brake system in addition to the conventional drag.
According to Trey Combs, author of Bluewater Fly Fishing, the three most important features of a reel are drag, drag and drag. Most big-game fly reels feature incredibly sophisticated drag systems, systems that include synthetics, cork or metal, and are very efficient. The Charlton 8600, for example, can generate 20 pounds of drag in a system that resembles that used by Penn in their International series, but has 9 square inches of drag material. Luckily, most of the drag systems in these larger reels come sealed and never need maintenance. Some reels, like the Steel Fin Abyss, offer lever drags, and some, like the Charlton reels, offer palmable drag controls, while some are just discs on the side of the reel.
Fly Lines, Backing and Leaders
Between the reel and the fly sits a potential bird’s nest of backing, fly line and leader that scares some anglers away from even attempting to use a fly rod. But the basic setup is really not all that complicated. Backing forms the beginning of the system, connected to the fly reel at one end and to the fly line at the other. The fly line connects to the butt section of the leader that ultimately connects to the fly.
Backing is the easy part. You’re mainly trying to pack on as much 30-pound backing as possible. The IGFA sets no limits on the backing material or strength. Sigler suggests using a fused backing and not braided because the smaller diameter reduces drag. Many choose the new Gel-Spun Polyethylene (GSP) lines for several reasons. First, GSP lines offer a smaller diameter than the same strength Dacron lines. The difference in diameter can allow you to nearly double your capacity for the same breaking strength, plus the thinner line slices through the water with less drag. Also, GSP doesn’t stretch as much as Dacron. The thinner diameter creates one of the most significant disadvantages, however. The smaller diameter allows the line to dig into the coils of line on the spool, creating potentially disastrous situations. And GSP lines have a dubious reputation for grooving rod guides, not to mention slicing fingers.
As for what kind of fly line you want to use, a fast-sinking line seems ideal. Almost every fly line commercially available today uses at least a 40-pound core, but the IGFA sets no limit on this either. Some manufacturers have higher-rated lines, and some companies even make billfish-specific lines, but fly lines rarely break, so the added strength presents no real bonus. In general, anglers choose sinking fly lines because the density helps reduce drag in the water. Try to purchase a line rated for the weight rod you use, or even one or two classes heavier. Most of the larger rods can easily handle the heavier line, and the additional weight helps with the short casts common in fly fishing for billfish.
Given the short casts, you will probably want to cut the fly line down to 25 to 35 feet. “I cut my fly lines down to 40 feet at most,” says Billy Pate. “Most fly lines are 80 to 100 feet long, and the extra length just creates drag in the water. Besides, you’re only casting 25 feet anyway.” Unlike conventional gear where you cast the weight of the lure or bait, fly casting throws the weight of the fly line, not the fly, so you need only as much fly line as you intend to cast. That usually ranges between 20 and 30 feet for billfish on an ideal tease.
Leaders are the most critical and often the most confusing part of the system. A typical IGFA-legal leader for billfish consists of three parts. The end of the leader that connects to the fly line is referred to as the butt section. In the middle is the class tippet, which represents the line class you are fishing. At the terminal end is the shock tippet. To make things easy, there are some commercially available pre-tied leaders.
If you prefer to tie your own, consider the following: The butt section can be any length, material or strength. Generally 6 to 8 feet of any 80- to 100-pound monofilament will work for the butt section, although there are no limits here. Since most of the leader’s length usually comes from the butt section, keep in mind the longer the butt section the harder the fly will be to cast. The class tippet, on the other hand, must be made of nonmetallic material at least 15 inches long measured inside the connecting knots. The class tippet connects from the butt section either to the fly or a shock tippet, if used. For billfish a shock tippet of 80- to 100-pound mono or hard Mason is standard. It is very important to remember that the shock tippet cannot exceed 12 inches in total length, from the eye of the hook to the single strand of the class tippet including knots used to connect the shock tippet to the class tippet. For those concerned with breaking records, remember that monofilament stretches!
For those not concerned with breaking records, disregard the last paragraph. Though fly-fishing purists shudder at the thought, Sigler suggests those who just want to catch a billfish use a 3- to 4-foot butt section of 30-pound test with a 4- to 6-foot shock leader of 80- to 100-pound mono. “You don’t want a straight 80-pound leader. It’s easy to break a rod or fly line with a leader made from straight 80- to 100-pound material,” says Sigler. In either case, leaders should be kept less than 10 feet in total length for maximum control when casting.
Billfish Flies
At the very end of all of the line sits the fly. For billfish, the flies resemble either a feather duster or some impressionistic artwork that bears a slight resemblance to a baitfish. Basically there are two kinds of billfish flies: Poppers and streamers. Poppers are noisy surface-disturbance flies with foam heads and feather bodies. Streamers range from synthetic to natural and look like everything from squid to mackerel.
“I prefer poppers because you get a better view of the fish when it strikes, which helps you see when to set the hook and which direction to sweep the rod. You will actually get more strikes on a streamer, but you can’t see the fish when he strikes, and you end up missing a lot of fish,” says Tombras. Both Sigler and Tombras agree that the color pattern of choice for any billfish is pink and white.
In the end, as with all good tackle, most of the choices come down to personal preference. Get a feel for the rods and reels. Determine whether you prefer direct-drive, anti-reverse or dual mode and what kind of drag configuration you prefer. The last place to realize you don’t like a particular rod’s action or reel’s drag system is when you have a fish on.
Most of the fishermen who hunt marlin on fly consider it the ultimate challenge and are drawn to the intense, up-close action of hooking and fighting a marlin on light gear. The normal hookup on fly occurs less than 20 feet behind the boat, and with a 20-pound class tippet, the odds are in favor of the fish. But that’s exactly why people do it. Just remember, the next time a marlin comes into the spread and you think you’ve been there, done that, try picking up a fly rod.
© 2006 MarlinMag.com
