Slight billfish devistation
So...Once again on night shift on an oil rig up off thailand....I go upstairs to have a slash over the side and see a big mother of what I am 99% sure is a marlin or at least definately a billfish of some sort....
Last trip to work I saw a massive school of dolphin fish and armed with a handline and home made popper i managed to snag a couple, this time i have a rod and reel and a popper aimed at getting dolphin fish (which i havent seen one yet this trip) so anyway i race down and grab it and start frantically casting toward this beauty....but unfortunately i couldnt get it to show any interest in it, other than when i almost foul hooked it across its back and it took off like a shower of shit...
My thoughts are the poper was just way too small for it to show half an interest but im now curious to see if people have had much luck with billfish on poppers...especially smaller 120mm length poppers...
Much to my annoyance i saw 2 more in the next half hour rounding up fish, none of which showed any interest at all in my popper...
Having said that the lightish gear i was armed with i would have been slaughtered in the fight within about 10 seconds but that is half the fun just getting a hook up on a beauty like that...
Gooooone Fishin!
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
next time grab a camera
next time grab a camera instead :)
youd be better off throwing out a large dead bait ... or a plastic lure about the size of a bonito/baby tuna ... something like a williamson lure
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
They may be attracted by the lights kane
I watched a documentary about billfish on the weekend and in one part they shone a huge light into the water in some deep sea spot. Initially it attracted small fish and then squid and then bigger fish and finally a heap of sailfish turned up. They also filmed some baby sailfish - about three inches long. They had the bill and a full sail and were really cool.
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kane
Posts: 1752
Date Joined: 07/12/08
Hey colin
Yeah definately a buzz for sure, wish i had my tackleboxes with me with all my toys but unfortunately limited to how much gear i can bring out here...still hoping the dolphin fish will turn back up before its my home time next week.
Photos wouldnt have been much chop at 2 in the morning unfortunately Feral, pretty dark but occasionally they would come close enough under the lights to see a definate bill on the nose...definately a billfish, but not sure excactly which variety due to the lighting situation.
Gooooone Fishin!
aquagenes
Posts: 223
Date Joined: 28/10/08
That would be the best
That would be the best Kane,lucky bugger how high up is the rig?
Would be alot of plagics around not only the billys.
kane
Posts: 1752
Date Joined: 07/12/08
Hi mate
The main deck is about 20 metres up...theres about a 10 metre air gap to the bottom of the rig and another 10 to the main deck...was a challenge getting them dollies up on the deck flicking around all over the place...lost a few half way up in the process.
Now i am armed with a cliff gaff which should make the job easier if they ever return...
If somehow i did manage to get onto something bigger and not get spooled in the process theres the option of getting the crane and work basket involved...one of the benefits of night shift.
Gooooone Fishin!
Ewan
Posts: 271
Date Joined: 15/05/06
Sail on pipe popper
You must see some loose things of a rig in those waters!!
The first sailfish I ever saw, I hooked on a pipe popper - a piece of chrome plated copper tube (like a curtain rod, or bathroom towel rack) about 10cm long, with diagonal cut ends...they make great poppers....
saw a splash out the back of the boat behind Thevenard, chucked a popper thinking it was a tuna or mack, and it got blazed by a sail, which then started jumping about 6m from the boat! Didnt last long...a second sail right behind the first cut the line with it's bill (we think)!!
You typical surface skirted lure is pretty much a trolled popper...
Cheers,
Ewan
desmond
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 27/12/06
poppers
Hi Kane,
Try the halco roosta 47gm in pink fluo - they cast a mile. I used those in Rompin Malaysia on a trip specifically targeting sailfish on 30lbs line and spinning reels.
They seemed to like it chugged. Sort of drag it through the water for 2 feet, reel in and drag it another 2 feet. I was doing well enough on these that I stuck with the same popper (lost a couple) for the entire 5 day trip. No problem getting the fish to follow, timing the strike is another matter (hence the bright colour - it's for me to see the take, when the colour disappears you know where it is). On my crap day i landed only one and the guides still said we did exceptionally well.
Dunno how to post pics here but if you semd me your email, I will send you a pic of my rig. We removed the trebles and rigged Owner Aki 8/0 hooks back to back and secured with heat shrink. Those hooks are deadly sharp but will rust off if you get busted.
Cheers
kane
Posts: 1752
Date Joined: 07/12/08
Thanks for the tip mate
I sent you a PM regarding email etc, would be good to see them pictures, otherwise using photobucket is the only way i can workout how to upload pictures to this website.
Yeah thats good to know they will hit a popper as opposed to a trolled skirt. I have two of those larger poppers at home so will chuck one in the bag for next trip back.
We have been moving around alot this tip, moving location about every 10 days or so, so not as many fish around as when we are in one spot for a decent length of time...this next move has us in the same spot for a few months so hopefully the fish will show up and decide to stay around the fad that is my work.
Cheers Desmond,
Kane
Gooooone Fishin!