Mahi Mahi Adventure

 

Mahi Mahi Adventure 9th July 2023

 

I just came back from vacation on Saturday. This trip was planned on Sunday. It was a sharing trip. It was supposed to be 7 anglers for the Mahi Mahi adventure. One Angler did not turn up, so we ended being six. I was happy as more space on the boat.

Usually, the charter arranged plenty of live bait for Mahi trips. But this time they mentioned we may need to get live bait during our trip but luckily, they got 50 pieces last evening and was available.

Mahis usually hang around structures and anchored ships. Our first location was to a Buoys. Just before we reached it, we found some top water activity. It was long tail tuna. I was casting a 30 grams jig. The rod was Shimano Nexawe with Stradic 3000 reel. It as a light setup for fishing at Fujairah Sea. I got the strike on the first cast. You can see the video here. Small long tail tuna.

All tuna suddenly disappeared and after a brief wait the captain suggested we move one. We reached the Buoys and saw some top water activity. The fish was shining we understood the Mahis were there. We started casting I was on the same setup. The Mahis were small, so I wanted to try my light setup. I got a strike and landed a bull. Small one but did fight well. I understood that Mahi could really tire us if they were big.

One thing about Mahi Mahi was it is amazing to see it jumping. It jumps high when the hooks are set. When it reaches the boat, it tries to run as much as possible still jumping. It Makes such a show that we get mesmerized by the beautiful color and action. Sadly, they lose the color so quickly when they are out of the water.

Later we moved to live Bait. I started using my Ripple fisher aquila rod with Shimano stella 8000. I have to agree that it was too heavy setup for these small one. But I have to wait until September for the bigger ones to enjoy this setup.

Overall, a great trip. Enjoyed every bit of this five-hour adventure on the Fujairah seas. Thanks to waters.

Trip to Khorfakkan 18th June - with amber jacks and Red snappers ( Pinjalo Snapper)

 

We were six anglers ready to take this trip. When I called the captain to check how the trip looks he raised a concern on the weather dur to the typhoon. However later he confirmed we can go and try. We planned to jig all day with finishing with bait fishing for last two hours due to Pinjalo snapper season.

 

We all assembled at 0445am. The boat departed at around 5 30 am. When we reached our first location I got the first strike followed by three more strikes. The fight was good and appeared different. The location is famous for Amberjack. But I knew this was not AJ. We a good size trevally. This was followed by two more trevally to the boat. One angler was fighting hard and he landed his first AJ.

It was a great start, and the next drift was similar. There were Trevallies and amberjack. After around two hours we had two drifts with no fish and thought time to move to other locations. Next location I got a long tail tuna. We did not expect a long tail tuna at this season. As the fish was coming to the surface faraway, we thought it could be a Cobia. Never mind I had good fun landing the long tail. Later a fellow angler landed an AJ.

Then when we move to other location it was dry and the summer heat was taking toll. The captain went past out red snapper location and found a big school on the sonar. We decided to anchor the boat and start bottom fishing.

He had 4 kilo of frozen squid. We got the rigs from captain. We used no 16 weight sinkers. The sabiki was with three hooks. I was lucky to get a rainbow runner on bait. We had many Pinjalo snappers back-to-back.

After the anchor I started feeling nausea and after two fishes had to rest for some time. After few hours of getting Pinjalo snapper we moved to our first spot on the way back. We got few more AJ’s. I did not get any strike. I felt nausea and went to sleep.

It was great day of fishing. We had the best catch this season. Although the weather was bad fishing was great. Thanks to the sea

Leader for Slow pitch jigging

 

Why do we need Leader for slow pitch jigging?

You will always see fluorocarbon leader used in any fishing set up. But why? I have seen many anglers use very thick leaders assuming that a thick leader is guaranteed to land a fish.

When fish starts running the sudden impacts are passed to the line system. PE lines are designed not to stretch. So, any heavy sudden impacts could snap the line. When a fluorocarbon is added they stretch and absorb such shocks. This is the primary function of leader.

When we slow pitch jig it usually over 50m depth. We use PE braid 1 PE to 2.5 PE. I do not use more than 2 PE. Thinner the PE more strike rate. I like to have more contacts. Strength of PE 2 is about 35 pounds. 

The places we jig are usually where there is structure on the sea floor. When fish takes the bait most fishes run towards to rocks. Game fishes like Amberjack or Groupers straight dive to the rocks. Big fishes can overpower our tackle and may be impossible to stop them from running. When we use PE braid alone, they may contact the rocks and snap. PE are weak when they rub or have friction with some surface. It is therefore essential have some something which can take the frictions against the rocks Fluorocarbons are so advanced that they are so flexible and strong against friction. So, they are preferred to be used at the end of the PE braid to protect the PE from contacting rocks. Also, when we end the fight, the fishes go underneath boat causing friction to the PE. PE prevents PE touching the boat during such situations also.

What is the strength of leader required for slow pitch jigging? 

Say we are using a 2 PE and the strength is 35 pounds. The leader should have strength more than the PE. Does It matter how much more if your PE strength is lower? i.e., whether you have 40 pounds leader, or 60 pounds leader does not matter as the line strength is 35 pounds only.  Any load more than 35 pounds the PE is going to break. Also, if you have a thicker leader the flexibility will be lesser, and the jigs will move with less freedom. I generally use 40-pound leader for 2 PE line. Anything more is not required and will gradually reduce the contact rate.

What should be the length of the leader for slow pitch jigging? 

Because purpose of the PE is to prevent shock and friction length should be sufficient to prevent them. To absorb shock at least 2 meters. To prevent rock depending on tr=target fish length must be decided. I fish in area where Amber jack is the target. Any fish over 10 kgs takes at least 20 meters line before it starts responding for reeling. At the least 5-meter leader is required if you are targeting such fish which run to the rock. During any day where the fish activity is low, and you are not getting any strike then reduce the leader length to 2 meters to have more contact rate.

Five reason to use overhead reel for slow pitch jigging

Slow pitch jigging is a technique requires great understanding to choose the setup. I found upgrading to and overhead reel is the best decision. Below five reasons are a benefit of using it.

1. Snagging: when we drop a jig with assist hooks both on top and bottom, we get snagged. The jig is heavy, and it touches the ground first. Hooks are lighter so they have a lag in touching the ground. We need to lift the jig before the hooks touch the ground. In an overhead reel you can feel it immediately when the jig touches ground than a spinning reel. This sensitivity is the biggest advantage.

2. Fighting: the slow pitch jigging rod are special rods with spring action tips. They are meant to flip or pitch the jigs. They are not to be used for fighting fish. The reel is used to fight fish. In fact, when you use the reel you walk the fish calmly. Point down fighting is convenient on an overhead reel because PE line is wound in the same direction. In spinning reel because the line is wound perpendicular high torque is required on the handle. To reduce the torque, we need to pull the rod to create a slack to start the rotation. Here the rod and fish go to stress. Also, we use light line during deep jigging. We cannot apply too much force to pull the fish when we fight with the rod.

3. Fish on the fall: Many times, we can get the fish on the fall. Sometimes I have a got a fish just in 30 meters when the total depth is 200m. when you use an overhead reel you can feel the jig eaten immediately. Say on Ocea jigger you just need to wind the reel to set the hooks. On a spinning reel it is difficult to make out if the fish has taken you your jig. Again, this sensitivity will increase the catch rate. It is heart breaking to lose any fish after it takes the jig.

4. Line capacity: slow pitch jigging uses light line and drag. So, when we get big fish, we need to slowly fight the fish. large fish may take much line. We need to have good line capacity to let the fish run until it is tired.

5. Higher gear ratio: overhead reels have high gear ratio which allows to retrieve line at a higher rate than a spinning reel. Gear ratio is how many times the reel rotates for once rotation of handle.

Trip to Khasab, Musandam targeting Giant Trevally

 

I accepted this trip on short notice and was excited as this was my first trip to Khasab, Musandam targeting Giant Trevally. I had bought a Ripple fisher Aquila rod 82 2/4 for light games as in Musandam. I had bought few poppers, and some 160 grams jigs as the field depth was less than 100m.

We were three anglers. There was plenty of space to cast. We were casting for first two hours. One of the anglers got on to a GT. It gave some hope for us. We were casting for some time. The captain suggested we start jigging as there was no top water activity.  By then I had a missed strike.

We changed location and started jigging. The depth was 60 meters. Suddenly I felt the line light and then the reel started screaming. Wow, what feeling when you here such a scream. We immediately knew it was a GT. Being the first one I wanted to Land it safely. I was holding and started to reel in slowly. It was fighting from right from the bottom and all the way up. When landed it I was so happy. I was always thinking GT means popping and a top water game. Slow pitch jigging can get any fish throughout the water column. All GT’s were released back to the sea after few clicks. It was a pleasure to see them dive into the waters and swim away

I went on to hook 4 GT’s. Then we changed location and were jigging at 30m depth. Understood that it was not a great feeling to jig there. Could feel that jig was dropping too soon. But I did get some Sheri’s. we continued to change location and got a red grouper which I released promptly.  Got a Naiser, spotted snapper. So colorful the fish was I released it after a picture.

While lifting one of the sherry the capt used the rod and the tip broke. Unfortunately, it was Poseidon 603-3 and expensive rod. I have it for repair, probably the tip will be shortened. It may now be called 603-4 😊

 Overall, a satisfied trip and learning to handle slow pitch jigging rods. Thanks to the sea.