Hi Chris,
There was quite a lot of fish lost during the Monduran AFC round. With the solid, fast fish & scattered timber it was always going to be a tricky-to-land type tournament.
The high rod angles & upward pressure were used to make the barramundi jump while leading them away from the standing & laydown timber which was abundant.
There were also some stumps under the surface which were found in the prefish and getting the fish in the air and keeping them from tangling & rubbing off on any timber was the idea.
This technique is usually effective at Peter Faust Dam on fish around timber although in the AFC event at Monduran the fish didn't want to jump! They did on some of the open water captures but most of them were running hard under the surface. The fish just didn't follow the plan!
It would have been a good idea to change the tactic earlier and possibly gone to free-spooling but that's fishing! It was a fun episode to watch though!
Thanks,
Cy & Kerrin Taylor
Whitsundays QLD