Lessons Learned While Rigging for Monsters

More fish are lost as a result of connection failures than for any other reason. That’s a fact! When fishing for freshwater or inshore saltwater species, most connections are made using knots so being a proficient knot tier is critical. You can use the best tackle, line, leader and lures, but if your knots are poorly tied you’re going to be a very unhappy angler.

When fishing for the biggest fish on the planet, creating 100% connections is paramount because the margin of error is mighty slim. When I was on assignment Down Under for Yachting and Motor Boating with an Australian yacht builder, part of the trip included a few days of fishing on the Great Barrier Reef with Capt. Sharky Miles for black marlin, which grow to well over 1,000 pounds. Back in the States I’ve rigged all manner of big game tackle for tuna and billfish using AFW/HI-SEAS lines, leader materials, crimps, swages and special knots, but the game was nowhere near as large. The rigging systems Sharky used on his 130-lb. class outfits included tricks I had never seen before. He called it “fail-proofing” and when I hooked my first big black I could see why he took such extreme precautions.

To create a double line in the 130-lb. mono he used a modified Bimini Twist, but finished it with overlapping half-hitches of waxed floss so the knot couldn’t unravel or get chafed going in and out of the guides. Where the double line was mated to an extra-heavy duty snap swivel, he created a horseshoe on the loop with floss to prevent the swivel from turning over on the line and breaking it, a problem that can occur with huge fish that jump a lot and boy do black marlin jump!

The leader between the swivel and the trolling baits was 600-pound test and the connections were all carefully compressed aluminum swages, which won’t slip or cut the leader with sharp edges. The rigged baits weighed from 10 to 20-lbs. and were attached to 22/0 circle hooks strong enough to tow a car.

Even when taking such incredible care with rigging, the odds of landing one of these incredible fish are 50/50! On the second day I fought and released one estimated at over 1,000-lbs, my first Grander! The third day we hooked another that was even larger and fought it for 2-1/2 hours. As the mate was wiring the big fish to the boat to be released the 600-lb. leader popped. It had chafed through from contact with the rough bill.

Caputi’s Blog Tip: Time spent learning the right connections, knots, and the proper way to tie them is time well spent. The same philosophy applies to using crimps and swages. The complete line of matched components from AFW/HI-SEAS can meet any fishing need from making Carolina Rigs for largemouth bass to “fail-proofing” the biggest big game tackle.

- Gary Caputi