Marlin on a hand line (Oman)

[wessel]

I have received this report via old friends who are fishing out of Panga style boats for yellow tail off the coast of Oman. Way back when I was on a project out in that part of the woods (more like sand and rock) where I I met some of the local fisherman and observed first hand their techniques.

Basically, the use a big hook / slip a sardine on / drop it into the clear blue depths of the north Indian ocean and then wait for the take. When a submarine do a runner with your line, you hang on for dear life, tire it out and then haul it up to the boat. Every now and then a leviathan will take off with your hand line, and that is where this story comes in.

The translation is by the author, and the fish is impressive. These guys do eat marlin out here before the greenies start jumping up and down about the take.

The day started off with a strong wind as Mahmoud and his partner Said headed north of Fahal (An island just of Muscat, the capital city) after the big Yellow Fin Tunas. 25km north they embark on a fight as they haul in the Tunas. After taking in 8 30kg Tunas, Mahmoud casts his last live bait and to his amazement, he engages on a fight of his lifetime. The huge monster leaps out as Mahmoud's eyes dilates to a point of horror. He now has a battle of shear muscles and skill. Hand-lining an 175kg Marlin is no joke, but Mahmoud persists as the flight goes on for 40 minutes. In between he take turns by asking his partner Said to help out as the flight gets too intensive. Finally they land the Marlin.

[lumox]

thats crazy u would want a good pair of gloves

[murf]

wow

there is not much to hang onto in that boat, what a fight that would be

that sure beats the 78cm snapper on hand line that I just posted :)

Cheers Murf

[swordie]

bloody good efort that

[QuintrexII]

There is actual video of some guys doing this exact thing - I forget the exact name of the website.

It is that N.Z. website - the guys who do the N.Z. fishing show - there were some links to it posted here about 6 months ago.

but they had a large handline - like a 12inch cable roll with a handle on it, and bolted to the boat.

Same principle though - and in the video they do it from a 4m tinnie !

Can't remember the website name, but has other great vids on it.

Has a camera attached to a live bait as they send it down - then watch the bait get smashed by a school of snapper.

Also the Marlin that gets eaten by the giant squid before they could boat it.

[snapperm8]

yer i give it to the fella that would be a bit of work haha



cheers dave

[Rod Fishing]

crazy

but how awsome would that be....

[wessel]

I was stupid enough once to try and land a tuna on one of these hand lines. It was only a 12 kg little yellow fin and the experience can best be explained in one word - painful.

These guys grow up hauling nets and handlines from a very early age. It is a tough life and a very hard way to make a living. To try and explain the power in the hands of one of these fisherman, the one fisherman took me by my wrist one day and just started to squeeze. My fingers turned white and then just locked up because of the amount of pressure he was exerting on the muscles and tendons in my wrist. Try as hard as I could I was unable to move anything in my hand.

The handline they use is a type of thin braided cord line. Breaking strength is always above 100kg with a mono leader with a break strength in the region of 250 kg. (Line will not break if a tuna tail whacks the line)

The first order of business when going out to sea is to first stop of on a suitable beach and collect about three baskets full of stones. The perfect size stone is about the same size as a cricket ball. With your fresh sardine bait and stones onboard they then make waves straight out into the deep blue and over the horison.
The ocean bottom drops out very quickly and most fishing is done in water of about 1000 meters plus where there is a pinacle sticking up from the bottom to within 100 meters of the surface. Any water shallower than 70 meters is usually not fished in. How on earth they find these pinacles offshore without the use of GPS or fish finders goes beyond me.

You find your spot, stop the engine and then drop your anchor. The first guy that hooks onto the pinacle is then the guy that all the other boats will tie a line to. There is usaully space for about half a dozen boats only in this setup. The late comers will have to drift the spot if they want to fish the area.

You take your sardine, pass a reasonable size hook through it and then place the sardin on a stone. The mono section of line is wrapped around the fish and the stone a couple of times and then secured with a slip knot. You place your bait in the water and then allow it to freefall into the blue. The stone takes the bait straight down while you frantically feed it line from the boat without exerting pressure on the line. Once your bait is at a depth that you want to start fishing at you just stop feeding the line and give it a good jerk. The stone falls away and the sardine is now floating freely down deep in the water column.

You then take another stone, wrap your handline around it a couple of times and leave that lying on the deck of the boat. Most fisherman will have at the most four lines out from their boat. Now all that you can do is to take your Pepsi, light a cigarette and then wait.

The wait is over when that stone goes flying of the deck - and what an adrenaline rush that is. You grab the fast disappearing line and give it a good jerk. Hopefully the hook is set and the fight is on. Now remember, these guys catch fish for a living so there is no time to play the fish or enjoy the thrill of the fight. Secondly, they fish for tuna. Think of you tied to a steam train with no breaks that has just gone over the edge of a cliff, now that is what it feels like when a 100 kg tuna takes off into the deep blue yonder.

Most guys fish with a rubber glove on their dominant hand. Now remember that bit about the braided type of line that these guys use, this is where the braid comes in to play. The braid retains water, so the risk of burning your hands with line running through it at a 100 miles an hour is reduced. (All bets are off if you did not wet your line beforehand.) You grab hold of the line and then push down on the edge of the boat. The friction created this way is what acts as break on the fish. The boat also moves a bit, but if the fish is really big you are obliged to unhook from the chain of boats (you must tie the line of the boat behind you to your line to the boat in front of you.) With brute and direct force you then start the process of bringing line in while your little boat is pulled all over the place.

Once the fish is boat side, it gets a good whack over the head and is then hauled onboard. These guys do not use a gaff at all - the buyers somehow have something against a fish that sports holes in it???

This process is repeated until you either run out of bait, out of stones, out of cold drinks, because the fish have moved off or because you have caught enough fish for the day. An amputated finger or sever rope burn needing sutures is not reason enough to stop fishing.

I have seen these guys catch 8 foot sharks, marlin, sailfish and HUGE tuna on these handlines. Sometimes when they hook a large shark, they have to tow it back to shore because it is too big and will not fit in the boat.

Only one word for this guy who landed a huge marline on handline - respect.

Regards

Wessel