Handlines are quite versatile, and I find they come into their own when you unexpectedly get a last-minute fishing opportunity, such as can arise while on holiday or travelling.

A handline is cheap enough to buy and for about $20 you can be set to go. While handlining might not be the most sporting way of catching fish it is certainly effective when targeting dinner. It is also a good way for kids to catch fish as it gives them a very tactile way of feeling the fish’s bite and what could be more exciting than the thrill of direct contact with your quarry?

Many wharfs around New Zealand offer access to a diversity of species. For example, I have enjoyed catching porare off some Coromandel wharves and when filleted fresh, these are tasty fish. A few fresh mussels brought from the local store provided a very effective bait.

 A handline is also useful in quickly getting the fish away from the wharf piles. Another of the advantages of handlining is that it allows you to fish very snaggy environments and take a few chances! Often for smaller bait fish, the direct connection with the line can result in hook ups from very delicate takes and that is another aspect I love about handlining.

About ten years ago a last-minute trip to Chatham Islands to do some bird surveys gave me the opportunity to visit this wild, windswept frontier. Fishing was not the goal of the trip but I soon released it would be good to catch a few fresh fish for an evening meal or two. A quick trip down to the wharf at Waitangi with a handline spool, 20kg line, a few Black Magic suicide hooks and paua guts for bait resulted in hooking up some solid blue moki up to four kilograms.

 The heavy line and a lack of a rod also allow me to haul to fish up onto the wharf. Great fun. The handline allowed me to firmly play the fish to prevent them wrapping my line around the pilings. I could give just a little line when the full pressure was coming on to avoid the line snapping. Fine-tuned control of big fish is something handlining allows, especially around structure!

Without doubt the ultimate handlining experience was playing a 350-kilogram Pacific bluefin tuna on a handline near the Hokitika Trench off the South Island’s West Coast. The trip was arranged at short notice and none of us had game rods.  A heavy chord handline with half a hoki did the trick as the lined whipped out from the barrel containing several hundred metres of line. You need to be skilled to keep the line tidy and avoid any line wraps. The full power of the fish could be felt, and it showed me the full spectrum of fish can be caught with handlines - from a wharf spotty to leviathans on the open ocean!

Handlining is productive when using trolling lines for species such as albacore tuna. It is a favoured method of capture by commercial fishers, but is also fun recreationally, as deploying handlines along with rods allows you to put extra lures in the spread. When getting a few skippies for bait and not wanting to muck around, handlining with trolled lures is the way to go.

Handlines take up very little space and are ideal for traveling with and using from wharfs, boats, kayaks and fishing deep ledges off the rocks. In freshwater environments handlines are an effective way of catching eels, a fun activity to try with the kids.

Large spool hand casters are best as you can quickly wind line onto the spool and avoid tangles, while allowing you to cast out the line when fishing over clean ground. You can easy fit a range of handlines spooled with different breaking strains and they take up very little space.

For kayak fishers who just want to catch a fish or two for dinner, handlining can be easily accommodated. As you have direct contact with the fish’s bite then suicide hooks and striking is the best option. Flasher rigs also work well in attracting fish such as gurnard, moki, tarakihi, kahawai and trevally. Handlining allows you to fish with heavy line into some very tight and snaggy situations.

When travelling I always pack in a handline, some hooks, a few weights, and a swivel or two.  Bait can often be found on the spot. Handlining can also allow you to put out an extra line such as when live bait for john dory off wharfs. Because handlines take up little space, especially in crowded wharf fishing environments, they certainly have their place in increasing your fishing capability.

Handlining has allowed me to fish when otherwise I would have missed out. It is a fun way to fish with direct contact on the line and allows to play large fish effectively around structure. It is ridiculously simple, but effective.  It also allows you to put out extra lines and fish in a diverse range of ways. 

Heavier mainlines are best to avoid line cuts in your hands. Putting a plaster on your trigger (strike detection) finger is a good idea. Having a shark knife close by on hand is always required from a safety perspective, especially when dealing with 350-kilogram tuna!

 So, when heading out, handlining is a fun way to catch fish when an opportunity unexpectedly presents itself. Take the time to pack away a handline and a few hooks and sinkers, you will not regret it.