Chris McCully

Sailfish 2: The lovely clutter

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:59

What's critical in 'fly-fishing' for sailfish and marlin is teasing the fish up. This depends firstly on the skill and local knowledge of the crew, and secondly on the (hookless) lures you use to do the teasing: Kona lures, fake squids, fake octopus, strings of 'birds' (wooden fish which clatter about in the wake of your boat)....

The sailfish, seeing and sensing the commotion provided by these teasers and suspecting, perhaps, a shoal of fish whose numbers are fleeing or crippled, come in to take a closer look, and are thereafter teased up ever closer to the boat until they're in casting range.

Sailfish 3: 'Fly-fishing' tackle

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:36

'Fly-fishing' is of course a misnomer in the sailfish context. If you're going to have a crack at this game you need to make a serious investment in a tough set of gear - or you could always (as I did) borrow it.

Rods are minimum 12-weight, and in places where marlin run alongside the sails then you might be better with something in the 14- or 16-weight class. (Hardys [Zane] and Greys [XD] make 12-weights, but 14- and 16-weights are specialised tools. Cam Sigler rods, for example, are available from UK Saltwater Flies.  Orvis also produce a 14-weight.) These rods typically have fighting grips, which are used to put pressure on the fish when they sound deep and try to stay there.

Everything you've ever read about reels for saltwater fishing is true. They need to have big wide-arbour drums, be supremely ventilated, hold a minimum 300 yards of minimum 30lb. backing (or 60-70lb. Powerpro, which may be even better and will pack onto the spool), and be rinsable at the end of the day. A sailfish can run at 60-70m.p.h., so the brake must be lightly set during that first run and then tightened when the fish is being played. It follows, therefore, that the brake(s) must be easy to work and fully adjustable. I confess that I find Hardy's Zane reels very good in all these respects.

Marketed for sailfish, tarpon and so on are full-length fly-lines with hard tropical coatings (so that the fly-line doesn't melt and go sticky in the heat). To be blunt I doubt you need a full fly-line. With a 12-weight rod you'll be lucky to cast 20 yards, and are often working at closer quarters at those times you're teasing the fish to take. I think if I were putting together my own set of tackle that I'd run 100 yards of 40lb. nylon onto the front end of the backing - the nylon to provide some stretchiness - and then attach the nylon to a 10 or 11 yard sinking shooting head via an Albright Knot. At the front end of the head I'd form a loop by means of a stainless crimp, and then attach the butt end of the leader via a loop-to-loop connection.

There are many complicated regulations, constructed by IGFA, about what you may and should use as leaders. These regulations are there in case you want to claim record fish, e.g. a 70lb. sail caught on a '20lb class tippet' and so on. Such regulatory leaders are typically made from a thicker butt piece which then leads via a Bimini twist to the 20lb. link, which is then attached to a shorter 12-inch shock leader of 100lb. nylon or fluorocarbon.

I ignored all of that fiddle. I'm not interested in records, but I am interested in playing fish in the shortest time possible and returning them safely to the ocean. I'd use 5 feet of mimimum 80lb. nylon or fluorocarbon, and attach it to the 'fly' via a crimped loop.

The 'fly' is a baitfish representation. The great pioneers discovered during the 1980s and 90s that ultra-large poppers were the prescription. They're best tied on tandem hooks, size ranges 4/0 to 7/0. That said, during my short adventure I raised sails both on a popper and on a 4/0 baitfish pattern I'd tied myself. In future I'll tie some more tandem poppers, I think, if only because (a) the lure is tremendously easy to see even in a big wave and (b) it's one of the most exciting things I know, seeing a massive sailfish come after the surface-running lure. Such poppers should be 10-12 inches long. It goes without saying that hooks should be ultra-tough saltwater irons - Mustad make a good brand.

I'd taken 10-weight gear - stepped-up pike fly-fishing gear - and thought I could probably get away with it. I was wrong. You need specialised stuff. I hope these few notes help.

Sailfish 4: Looking for sails

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:28

Out there in the blue water beyond the reef you work the boat across the gullies and trenches where the sailfish are known to hunt.  You're totally in the hands of your skipper and crew at this point, and there can be longer or shorter periods of waiting.  Sometimes you see birds - terns - working above shoals of baitfish, and that's always a great sign because around the bait-fish (shoals of sardines) there may well be larger predators, including the sails.

Sailfish 5: Kona teaser

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:19

The process involves sets of teasers run behind the boat.  The port outriggers aren't used (so that you'll have space for a back-cast with the fly-rod).  Perhaps 60 feet behind the transom, and running from one of the the starboard outriggers, is a Kona teaser.  These Konas gurgle and flip about behind the boat's wake, leaving a long bubble trail, fooling big predators to think that some bait-fish or school of fish is up there, crippled and in trouble.  In the theory of the game, that's enough to pull the sailfish (or marlin) to investigate the disturbance....

At 40 feet behind the transom there's another teaser, possibly another Kona or possibly a 'bird' - a wooden fish or string of fish. The 'birds' clatter about on top of the wave: more disturbance, more stylised panic as seen by a predatory eye.  And finally, running perhaps 20-30 feet behind the transom there's another set of birds.

When the sail shows - a phrase that trips airily off the keyboard but one I never expected to type in this lifetime - the 60-foot teaser is reeled in.  Then the sail will come nearer the boat to investigate the 'birds' set at 40 feet.  Then those are reeled in.  If god's in his heaven and all's very right indeed with the world then at that point the sail charges towards the ultimate clatter of the birds run 20-30 feet behind the transom.  Now's your moment.  Slow the boat, take it out of gear, get that popper across the billfish, and....

Sailfish 6: Teasing a take

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:15

So there you stand, working the fly over the place where you think the teased-up sailfish might be.  The boat at that moment should be slowed right down or stopped, I think.  The idea is to work the popper - to strip it back at speed - so that it makes a huge commotion in the surface.  And then you watch, and wait for a massive hurtle of big sailfish body....

It doesn't show on the photo - of course I look rugged, manly and whatnot (particularly whatnot) - but I was shaking at the moment the shutter clicked. The boat was travelling too fast, too.  But there I was.  And there the sailfish were.

Sailfish 7: Take of a sailfish

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 06:00

The sailfish, travelling at speed, annexes the popper. If the boat's travelling too fast and the lure is dragging behind the rod-hand in the boat's wake then the sailfish, weaving desperately, simply tries to hit the lure uselessly with its bill. You can't hook such non-takes, exciting though they are. The idea is to slow the boat right down, cast the popper, chug it back at speed, and hope that the sail takes sideways on. Then you need to leave a bit of time for the sail to take the popper in, to turn away....

I've not had such an adrenalin rush for years. It was amazing, seeing these big sails there on the outside of the Malindi reef. Wave, sunshine, deep blue water.... Big, hunting sailfish, out there in the gullies and trenches where the Indian ocean folds into the coast... The sails hunting so fast and intently that when one shows to the teasers you can actually hear it hissing through the surface.... In total we raised three sails during the morning, hooked two (briefly) and landed none, but I know it can be done, and was delighted and fascinated by the whole process. If you're interested in booking Malachite for the day I strongly suggest that you contact Kingfisher at Malindi (www.kenyasportfishing,net). On the Kingfisher website you'll also find details of trolling for marlin with standard tackle.

Now there's an afterthought: sailfish and marlin on the fly-rod.... 14-weight, anyone?