Gamefishing - setting up trailer boats. |
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Setting up or customising your new or existing trailer boat for gamefishing can be a great project.
Part One - retro-fit of a hard-top on a 6.2m Lazercraft
The repair of a broken windscreen somehow morphed into a full on project, namely the retrofit of a Lazercraft 6.2m trailerboat with a hardtop and a few other small improvements. Why the hardtop? Well in spite of the Lazecraft’s legendary handling, venturing that little bit further offshore in search of something bigger than yourself even on the good days does increase exposure to the elements and lumpy seas. After a bit of thought, and talking to Gavin and Jason at Lazercraft, the hardtop was clearly the best option for comfort and safety. It wasn’t long before the boat was booked for the trip to
It made sense while the boat was there to give the boat a ‘birthday’ and a walkway was added to the trailer, and the trailer re-coated with Nyalic. Even after 5 years, the trailer still looks in pristine condition - that Nyalic certainly is a great product. The Quick winch was complemented with a Sarca anchor and we added a few other essentials such as a wiper system and window washer. We worked closely with Marine Direct on the extra’s and they were always first the ideas on how best to make it all happen.
The first trip out proved that everyone had given us great advice. The hardtop if anything improved the ride of the Lazercraft in a slight to medium chop. Having the hardtop makes it cozy on those colder days. Wipers and window washers complete the picture. The boat was transformed from a medium sized fizzer to something I’d comfortably venture offshore a reasonable distance in search of marlin and yellowfin tuna….
Part Two – Key areas to consider when setting up your boat
Gamefishing Equipment
As we all know, there’s a huge variety of fishing equipment on the market today and on many occasions new owners spend thousands of dollars on tackle that never ends up spending time in salt water. At the time of purchase it all seems like good idea, however, two or three seasons down the track that $150 ‘flavour of the month’ has either failed to raise fish or never even seen the light of day.
A lot of valuable money can be wasted and ill-used at times when gearing up for the much-anticipated pelagic fishing season. Getting some of the basic requirements set up and operating correctly can allow you to spend money more wisely, rather than concerning yourself with the less trivial issues.
Commonly we hear fisherman worrying about having the right lure skirt colour. They race off to the local tackle store to purchase the ‘hot’ colour when they have enough good lures to service a successful charter boat operation. Boat harmonics, trolling speeds, double vs. single hook rigs, circles vs. J-hooks are also common topics of conversation at local fishing clubs.
I realise that all these little things play their part and it can be a lot of fun fine tuning your fishing operation, but many times more important factors can be over looked. Factors that would probably improve your catch rates more than owning a new ‘evil’ or ‘lumo’ lure skirt, or changing your outboard for improved harmonics for example.
Trailer boats have their own unique advantages and in some cases over the past 10 years trailer boaties have been responsible for discovering some of the hottest bites in the
Fishing Different Areas.
Before setting up your boat, it’s important to consider the area and the predominant species that you’re likely to target. Without getting too technical, you wouldn’t want to fish the same way on the west coast for striped marlin as you do for the
Consider the techniques that will be most appropriate for the areas you’re going to fish. Live wells and tubes maybe considered a must for bait ball action on the west coast, where a good set of 80lb rods and reels should be considered when targeting larger blue and black marlin or on rare occasions, swordfish. It maybe argued that there’s a chance of catching a variety of species in the same areas. This maybe true, but generally you’ll catch your striped and black marlin in shallower depths usually not too far from bait schools, while their blue cousins will be found in deeper water with warmer ocean currents of 20 degrees and above.
Season after season we hear of battles that have sorry endings involving blue marlin, 50lb stand-up outfits and trailer boats. I realise not everyone can afford a full set of 80lb rods and reels, but unfortunately the reality is that 50lb gear is light tackle when targeting these bigger and more aggressive billfish, especially from trailer boats. Fisherman would be better served fishing with two 80lb outfits and a couple of teasers rather than fishing 50lb gear. Occasionally anglers will get lucky with 50lb gear, but more often than not, they don’t and the fish ends up being the big loser in the battle. It just seems like such a waste to me with such a large amount of time, effort and expense involved. In addition, as fisherman we should always have the fish’s welfare in mind.
The general idea is to customise your boat to fishing areas and improve your catch rates.
Sounders and Marking Game fish.
Finding or locating fish and understanding how to read your sounder correctly is the most important skill we can have as fisherman and it’s a skill that will improve your fishing more than any other factor. It obviously allows you to maximise your time fishing in ‘hot’ areas rather than blind trolling throughout the season.
Sure there are a number of other relating factors in finding fish such as bird activity and ocean currents, but as far as customising your boat, a good sounder and transducer is the best investment bar none in any fishing operation. Ask any commercial or charter boat captain what they consider their best asset and 9 out of 10 will say their sounder.
There are a number of good brands of marine electronics on the market and I guess all I can suggest, it’s is like with a lot of things “you get what you pay for”.
Transducers sometimes can be a little tricky to set up or fine tune on trailer boats due to a large amount of interference from such factors as out board motors, aerated water flow and aluminum hulls. With professional help and advice these factors can be overcome, once again a worthwhile investment.
Reading your sounder and understanding what you’re looking at obviously comes with practice Again, you can’t replace experience so find someone who knows a bit about it and enlist their help.
Once you’ve set-up and tuned your sounder correctly, individual marlin and tuna schools can become quite distinctive on your screen. Being able to identify the differences between species obviously has its advantages for locating fish and spending more time in the right areas. Marking bait on the sounder is critical for gamefishing – baitschools usually mean pelagics aren’t too far away!
Outriggers and Downriggers.
Outriggers can be difficult to get right on trailer boats due to reason they have to be easily removed and stowed when traveling on trailers, but setting up a good rigid outrigger and halyard system can improve your fishing immensely. Often I see boats throughout the
Getting a nice, crisp release rather than a sloppy, stretchy release from your riggers will increase your hook-up ratios, it’s something that’s continually over-looked with other issues such as hook rigs considered to be more of a problem. Time, effort and money can be better invested in ensuring your boat has nice high, wide and rigid riggers.
Setting up your halyards should depend entirely on the areas, target species and techniques you intend to use. There are many options of halyard configurations, depending on the fishing techniques you’ll be using. Switch-baiting, live-baiting, dead-baiting, lure fishing with or without tag lines and so on are all options that require slightly different set-ups. Whatever configuration you choose it should be relatively easy to assemble and dismantle, user friendly to fish with and it should have a crisp release.
A downrigger is a handy tool to have on any boat as it offers fisherman a bit of variety when live baiting or dead baiting deeper bait schools. Sometimes a deep bait will out-fish surface bait 2 to 1, so it’s always a good idea to at least have the option on board. Setting up downriggers is reasonably straight forward as there are only really a handful of options. Altering trolling speeds will alter ball weight or other winged objects to maintain the right depths. Some suggest dacron is more acceptable than either cable or wire as the downrigger main line. Dacron doesn’t hum when towed and ‘spook’ fish when bites are hard to come by, especially when tuna fishing. This is up to the individual but it’s something that’s worth considering. As with outriggers, downriggers should be easy to assemble and dismantle, user friendly to fish with and it should maintain a crisp release.
Live Wells and Tuna Tubes.
Having live bait anytime, anywhere can change your whole approach to game fishing. Having access to can give you more options and can be the difference in getting a bite and going home empty handed. Having a good live well system on board is a must especially when fishing in areas of bait ball action such as the west coast and the Whakatane yellowfin fishery.
Although live wells are important, tuna tubes will keep many types of fish alive that will not live in ordinary live wells. Tubes keep skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, blue, english and jack mackeral alive indefinitely and offer serious advantages to fisherman. How many times have you come across fish feeding on bait, you can’t get a bite on a lure or dead bait and you’re miles from the closest bait spot?
Keeping bait alive and in good condition is a bit of a science, but there are a couple of important factors to consider when installing a good live well system. Firstly a good, even flow is required without the presence of too many bubbles and secondly the holding tank must have rounded corners to maintain a suitable current or flow for the bait to swim into. Sounds stupid? Bait that is able to swim comfortably into a current will last 10 times longer than bait in a tank with square corners and can be the difference between catching a fish or not. Healthy bait will out fish tired bait without question, on many occasions when fishing bait balls I’ve seen billfish and tuna swim past tired bait, its not until it’s replaced with a more active, healthy bait that you get the bite.
Tuna tubes can be sometimes difficult to mount and use on trailer boats as they’re one of those objects that are always in the road. Like live wells, there are some really good options available on the Internet and at some tackle stores locally. Tubes that are suitable for trailer boats are usually transom mounted for obvious reasons… (overflow, for the slow ones) and can be easily removed at the end of the day. Pump systems may vary, but commonly they consist of either through hull fittings or run in conjunction with the live well pump.
Sometimes a tap system can be handy to alter flow rates through the tubes, as mackerel don’t require quite as much flow as a small tuna for example. Whatever the case, a good constant flow will keep the bait in good condition for long periods.
Fixed and Flying Gaffs
Having a good set of gaffs on board is something that is commonly over-looked by fisherman, after hooking a fish of a life time, fisherman are unable to land it with out some sort of drama unfolding. It can be amusing and a bit of a laugh between friends when a good outcome is achieved, but you’ll want to be able to handle a fish correctly, especially when a big fish is hooked.
As with a lot of fishing equipment, there are a large variety of gaffs on the market, but there also seems to be a large variety of poor quality product in amongst some very good ones.
When purchasing gaffs for any boat, you should always make sure they are strong enough to do the job intended. Many times gaffs that are intended for use on strong game fish, from kingfish and tuna through to larger marlin, simply aren’t up to the job and end up straightening when sunk into that ‘fish of a lifetime’. The easiest way I find to determine if your gaffs are up to the job is simply putting it in the nearest cleat on the dock and seeing how easily your new gaffs open out, remembering that even kingfish and small tuna can be extremely strong at times especially if gaffed in the wrong spot.
Fixed head gaffs suitable for kingfish and tuna usually have a gape of 4-6 inches and flying gaffs suitable for marlin, sharks, swordfish and large tuna usually have a gape of 6-12 inches although there are some bigger gaffs around which generally aren’t suitable on trailer boats anyway.
Due to the presence of out-board motors, low clearances and a lack of cockpit space, using flying gaffs out of trailer boats requires a bit of experience and can even be quite dangerous at times. All I can suggest is to be aware of all the things that can go wrong on your individual boat and don’t be in a major hurry to put flying gaff into a hot fish.
A good set of gaffs is worth considering, even if they’re stowed away because one day they may come in handy. Read more about gaffing techniques here.
Getting a fish to the boat
At the boat, if possible bring the fish in on the starbord side so the driver can see what the fish is doing as it's being traced prior to the gaff or tag shot. Watch the drift if there's a bit of breeze as you don't want to drift over top of the fish and have it swim under the boat. The ideal scenario is downwind, and starboard side.
Make sure you have a couple of pairs of good leather gloves for wiring a fish - best idea is to buy gloves that are intended for the job. 400lb leader is strong stuff and can crush your fingers and hands easily. If it doubt when you're wiring a fish, let it go and repeat the process. Practise taking wraps on the leader before you have to do it on a fish. Get someone to show you the technique and make sure you can do it with your eyes shut!
Rods and Reels.
It’s probably the most common discussion or in some cases argument in the game fishing community, that is “what’s the best reel on the market?” Some will disagree, but in my opinion it’s the same as “what’s the best car?” Once again it just comes down to personal preference. There are plenty of good brands that are more than adequate for the serious ‘trailer boaty’ although some of the cheaper options are probably worth steering clear of.
It was mentioned earlier that when setting up your trailer boat for game fishing; areas, methods and target species should be considered; rods and reels fall into this category as well.
Many of
I favour getting the right gear from the outset. There is a variety of good buys and affordable deals throughout the year, so with a bit of judicious shopping it is possible to rig up with good quality gear.
Whatever you choose, a good stand-up harness is an investment that allows you to use your tackle to its potential. The Black Magic ‘Equaliser’ certainly springs to mind as one of the more popular and effective harnesses on the market. The ‘Equaliser’ allows you to fish a wide range of line classes (20lb-80lb) effectively and is very well suited to trailer boat fishing.
On a number of occasions I’ve see trailer boats trolling 5 rods and more. Bearing in mind most of the better captains in the world only troll 4 rods from 40-50ft launches, the boat itself is more of an attractant than any extra lure and there’s usually only a few spare hands on deck, it might be worth concentrating on fewer rods. Some might be surprised how their catch rates improve through simplifying their system, especially where blue marlin is involved and generally more isn’t better.
Wind-On Leaders.
Wind-on leaders definitely have their advantages and disadvantages and in some cases they are not all they’re cracked up to be. But for trailer boat fishing, positives of wind-on leaders definitely outway the negatives.
Aspects such as being able to clear lines quickly, less slack leader around a small cockpit, freeing up spare ‘hands’ and easing fish handling boat-side especially in rough conditions are all positives for trailer boat fishing. Generally wind-on leaders keep every thing clean and in a lot of cases, much safer.
Some may argue that wind-ons are an unnecessary extra expense, however they are pretty straight forward to make yourself and can be something play around with during those winter Sunday afternoons.
Lures and Hook-Rigs.
Due to lure fishing being the main method of attack in the trailer boat fraternity, are common topics of discussion and through frustration they regularly get ‘blamed’ when things aren’t quite going to plan. Although we all know how much fun it is to experiment with new heads, skirt colours and altering hook rigs; a lot of time, energy and money can be wasted in this area in my view. Sometimes the draw of the tackle store is just too much for fisherman (myself included) when confronted with a wall covered in every skirt colour imaginable. Maybe it’s just something about skirts…..
There’s plenty of evidence that lure heads, skirts and hook-rigs do influence the bite/hook-up and while we could be here all day writing about them, there are no real answers other than to talk to plenty of people who have had time on the water.
One way to approach it is to think of fishing areas and target species. Although they can cross over at times, there are differences in tuna lures, striped marlin lures and larger black or blue marlin lures. Try to categorise your lures and set-up your hook rigs to suit.
The best suggestion I can come up with, is if you have ‘good’ selection of a 10-12 lures get some advice from a professional, the internet, magazines or through fishing clinics that are run at local clubs. Get use to a basic system you are happy with and has worked for professional crews, stick with it for a least a season. You’re not going to hook every fish that bites and catch every fish you’ve hooked, it’s a numbers game, as simple as that and time well spent is time fishing where the fish are.
Bits and pieces.
heap of #32 rubber bands - they're the gamefisherman's best buddy and you'll use them for all manner of things during a day. Cable ties are handy for all kinds of things as well.
Summary
Setting up your trailer boat is a lot of fun. By keeping everything simple you can often save a bit of money while not really affecting your chances of success. If you’ve covered each of the key areas I’ve covered, you’re off to a good start.
During a season if you’re having problems with hook-up ratios consider your out-riggers rather than just how you’ve set up your hooks rigs or if your not getting a bite on livebaits maybe its time to look at your live well set up. There’s always a number of factors to consider and I guess that’s what makes fishing so fascinating.
It's worthing noting that even the most successful charter boat captains keep their cockpits as simply as possible. Minimising/eliminating things that go wrong and building on things that work well is the key.
My grand father once told me that if you’re getting outsmarted by a fish you’re on the back foot from the start. Good Luck!
Useful resources:
* The Fishing Website Discussion forum - general gamefishing topics here.
* Small Boat marlin fishing discussion thread here
Written by Geoff Lamond
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An original article written for The Fishing Website - Fishing.net.nz Ltd It may not be re-published elsewhere without express permission. Copyright Fishing.net.nz Ltd. All rights reserved |
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