BE READY FOR BIG SURPRISES

WITH A MANTRA OF ‘SPOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU; SPOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME,’ HERE’S HOW ONE CAPTAIN PREPS TO TAKE ON UNEXPECTEDLY LARGE FISH

By Capt. Bill Schaefer

So, you are out there fishing for your favorite species and then you hook the fish of a lifetime – a giant by any measure.

Considering that there are so many fish species that coexist in different areas, you always have that chance of a big surprise. You just have to be ready to land it and your tackle should be ready too.

Let’s look at some of the problems that you might face when hooking a giant. You may be skilled enough to play the fish out on lighter line, but if you lose one, you may go to heavier tackle for the next cast.

I had been fishing a reef for bass and then noticed large marks on the fish finder screen. I was sure they were yellowtail, but I ignored them. Then I hooked a fish that spooled my Daiwa Lexa 300 before I could even think about chasing him with the boat. I grabbed a larger 400-size Lexa, which has more line capacity, and was strung with 60-pound braid. I tied on the same swimbait I was previously using and then hooked and landed an 18-pound yellowtail.

They were on the hunt for food and ate my swimbait, which happens

Brett Delong hoists a nice lingcod taken on a swimbait. Often, anglers will carry a rod and reel setup that can handle the fight of an average grade of fish, but what if something much bigger comes a calling? (BILL SCHAEFER)

more than you might think. We even hooked and caught a few more because beforehand we had prepared to move up in tackle size.

BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING

If you hook and get smoked by a giant fish at least once – hopefully not twice! – then you had better grab that larger rod you brought to send the next bait down. You do always bring one with you, right? You never know what might be down there. A school of white seabass may have moved into the area.

Here’s a perfect example of this scenario: I was fishing with the late Al Kalin, former owner of Kalin Lures, on the seaward side of San Diego Bay’s Zuniga Jetty. We were catching spotty after spotty until all of a sudden the bass stopped biting.

I then hooked a fish that almost spooled me on my light bay gear before coming unhooked. Al had a little heavier tackle and landed a small white seabass; then another and another. I too had heavier tackle for when we ventured to the kelp later, but in the meanwhile was able to contribute to the white seabass count that swelled to 23 and included fish to 18 pounds.

Author Bill Schaefer landed this giant 28-pound sheepshead on a swimbait, and it was only 2 pounds off the state record. Because moments like this could be missed when fishing too-light setups, Schaefer carries stouter gear to upgrade to when bigger fish are biting. (BILL SCHAEFER)

The bays and harbors off the Southern California coast are no exception to this phenomenon. Always carry a heavier rod-and-reel combo for those times when you stumble across larger fish than you had planned on targeting. Spool me once, shame on you; spool me twice, shame on me.

You can always stumble across large halibut in the bays. For these fish, have a heavier rod set up with a wired jighead. I use a piece of single-strand 30-pound wire – about 6 inches long – and wire one end to a loop and the other to varioussized jigheads. The wire is about the diameter of 4-pound monofilament and helps prevent halibut from biting off. A large halibut can suck in your entire lure and when you set the hook, your line breaks off on its teeth.

If you wire one rod and then throw that rod after that, or even before that, the wire will pass the teeth and usually end with a successful landing of that tasty fish.

HOLD THAT LINE

Many saltwater bass anglers are already prepared when they have rods with monofilament as well as braid, but you also have to think about line capacity. A giant fish can spool you in a second, even with a braided line.

As an example, we took a trip into the La Jolla boiler rocks for calicos. I was throwing a swimbait with braided line, but on a smaller-capacity reel. I hooked and landed a 33-pound white seabass – but only with some luck. He almost spooled me a few times before tuckering out.

If you keep getting broken off when fishing a reef, it’s time to go up in line size and capacity. You may be hooking one giant lingcod after another. You want to land those big ones, so start with a heavy line and lots of it, or quickly change over.

The bass on the reef that you’re fishing might be line-shy and I can’t blame you for using light tackle to help get bit, but the second you get rocked, go up in rod, reel and line size. You need the right tackle to land those surprise fish.

“I am someone who likes to be able to just pick up the next rod I need and throw it out,” says Schaefer, here with a big yellowtail. “It’s that old tournament fishing habit, I guess, but it’s a good habit.” (BILL SCHAEFER)

GEAR CHECK

Let’s review what tackle you should take along. I usually bring a halfdozen rods aboard – sometimes more.

I normally carry the entire spectrum when out for salty bass: Daiwa DXSB Swimbait rods in 10- to 30-, 12- to 40- and 20- to 50-pound test with Lexa WN 300 and 400 reels loaded with Maxima Ultragreen monofilament in 12-, 15- and 20-pound test.

From there, I use Daiwa and Maxima braided line from 30- to 65-pound test on Daiwa Proteus WN rods. I cover the entire spectrum I need with about five or six rods. This includes my jig stick, a Daiwa Proteus WN rod in 8 feet, 10 inches, and a Lexa 400 strung with 65-pound braid and a top shot of 30-pound Maxima Ultragreen.

You may even find a use for that rod and reel sitting in the corner of the garage, the one you think is too heavy. Break it out, line it up and bring it with you on the next trip. I’m someone who likes to be able to just pick up the next rod I need and throw it out. It’s that old tournament fishing habit, I guess, but it’s a good habit.

You don’t really need a ton of rods; just carry one that’s heavier than the rest. That way, you can easily switch to heavier tackle, which can make the difference when that unexpected surprise trophy decides to make your day special. CS