Tournament marlin fishing is a highly competitive team sport.  Each team member has their own set of jobs and all jobs must come together in harmony in order to achieve success.  Additionally, each team member must understand what the other team members are doing so as to anticipate what will happen under various circumstances.  In this article I will share my experiences and knowledge of how to prepare all the tackle used in tournament striped marlin fishing and how to run the cockpit during the tournament.  What I have come to realize is that a side benefit of fishing in a competitive setting makes you a much better fisherman when fishing in a non-tournament setting. 

September in Southern California is a very exciting time for those participating in the various striped marlin tournaments.  It is a time to see old friends and make some new ones.  Anticipation always runs high and the possibilities for great fishing and competition are endless. 

I am fortunate to be a member of the Pacific Edge team, sponsored by John Lee and captained by Mark Wisch.  The remaining members include Mark Warner (kraM), John King, and the famous Ray Hsieh.  The Pacific edge is a 39 Tiarra and is fully marlin rigged and ready.

My primary function on the team is keeping the tackle perfectly rigged and ready, running the cockpit, and casting to marlin.  One of the most important things that I have learned is to prepare anything that I can in advance.  This allows me to have much more time to do my job during the tournament.  In the following paragraphs I will outline everything that I do before and during the tournament.  I feel that by doing things this way I give our team the best possible chance to succeed in the tournament.

Preparing the rods, reels, and line:

I believe in standardizing as many things as possible.  For instance, if all trolling rods and reels are the same, the team will only need to learn how to operate one reel and the rods will all bend the same during the fight.  Having a little extra tackle ready to go is a good idea in case there is a tackle malfunction or a fish strips a reel of all its line. 

On the Pacific Edge, We have 5 lever drag 30 wide 2-speed reels with 6 ½ foot all roller stand-up rods for trolling.  We have two drop back rigs and 5 casting rods for live bait. 

Before each tournament I inspect every rod to be sure that the guides are in good shape.  Each roller guide needs to be rolling and ring guides are inspected for cracked or missing rings.  Each reel is checked to make sure that the drags are smooth and operating properly and that they freespool well. 

The most important part of the tackle is the line.  All reels are backed with spectra braid in order to increase the line capacity.  This is very important when multiple fish are hooked and they go in opposite directions.  I use 80 lb spectra and 50 lb top shots on the trolling rigs and 65 lb spectra with 40 lb top shots on the casters and drop back rigs.    I like to have a minimum top shot of 200 yards of monofilament in order to create some drag on the fish.  My connection of choice is an Albright special, which consists of putting a bimini twist in the spectra and then doing a 30 turn Albright knot around the mono.  This has been my most reliable connection through the years.  I fill all reels with Hi-vis green line which helps everyone on board to keep track of where the lures, bait, and fish are.  In addition, the contrast between the hi-vis line and the clear leader shows up well in the photos needed to confirm that a release was made properly.

Terminal tackle and leaders:

Before the terminal tackle can be assembled and the leaders can be rigged, the rules of the tournament must be known.  Most tournaments follow I.G.F.A. rules somewhat closely.  In recent years the use of non-offset circle hooks for live bait have become mandatory.  Some tournaments allow tandem hook rigs for trolling lures and some require that only a single hook be used.  After learning the rules, I  confer with Captain Mark Wisch to be sure that we are in agreement as to how the leaders and hook sets are to be rigged.  I always start with new fresh leader material.  If there is any question as to the condition of the leader, it should not be used.

 The first thing to consider is leader length on the trolling and casting rigs.  Again, I standardize everything so that the chance for confusion is reduced.  It would be a shame to come to the scale with a qualifier and be disqualified due to a leader that is too long.  A common rule for leaders is that the overall length of double line and leader combined must not exceed 40 feet and that either the double line or the leader must not exceed 30 feet.  The leader length that I used this year for both the trollers and casters was 28 feet.  This gave us a 2 foot cushion in case the line stretched or we did not measure properly. 

For the trolling outfits, I tied a bimini in the mono and then installed 20 foot loop to loop wind-on leaders. 

I attached a Sampo #5 tournament black snap swivel to the end of the wind-on using a mini copper double crimp.  I then rigged every marlin jig with an 8 foot leader and a single Mustad 7691 stainless hook.  When rigging the marlin jigs, I pre-sharpened every hook.    

For the drop back and casting outfits, I tied a bimini in the mono and used 25 foot 100 lb test wind-on leaders.  I then rigged more bait leaders than I felt we could possible need for the tournament.  Casting and drop back leaders consisted of a 3 foot piece of fluoro carbon leader material.  On one end I attached a size 1 barrel swivel and on the other end I attached an Eagle claw EL2004 non-offset tournament circle hook in size 8/0 or 9/0.  I made leaders in 50, 60, 80, 90, and 100 pound tests.  For the release tournaments, the primary leader that we used was the 50 and 60 lb test.  For the jackpot tournament we used 80.  The reason for the other leaders was so that we could adjust to varying conditions.

 When we boarded the boat, all that was left to do was select which bait leaders we wanted to use and attach them to the wind-ons. 

Other tackle preparation:

Now that the rods and reels were rigged and the marlin jigs and the bait leaders were rigged the only thing left was to make sure that my rigging and tackle kit was ready to go.  I try to only include things in my rigging kit that I will actually use.  The main items that I include are extra mono wind-ons, mono leader material, fluoro carbon leader material, bait and jig hooks, crimps, bait rigging needles, black tape, crimp tool, 50 lb Dacron for rigging baits, snaps and swivels, lighters, sabiki bait catchers, mackerel release tool, chrome sinkers, and cat food for bait chum.

Running the cockpit:

It is a really comforting feeling knowing that all the tackle preparation is done.  Now I can concentrate on keeping the cockpit running properly during the tournament.  The main duties in the cockpit include setting and adjusting the trolling jigs, keeping grass off the trolling jigs, managing the bait, keeping trolling and casting rods rigged after a hook-up, watching the lures and dropping back bait to fish, keeping the cockpit neat.  It is a huge advantage to have one other crew member working in the cockpit when possible, especially when the fishing includes a lot of lure fish and drop backs.  I really respect the help that I received from my teammates in the cockpit this year.

At least one live bait needs to be rigged up before the tournament starts if the rules permit.  It is always possible to spot a fish on the way to the primary fishing grounds. 

As soon as the boat arrives at the fishing area, the trolling jigs are put out and adjusted.  The drags must be checked and the clickers put on.  The most common position for the jigs is just on the front side of the boat’s swell.  Common distances from the boat are from the 3^rd swell to the 6^th swell back.  Each time the boat changes direction or speed the jigs need to be re-set.  The trolling jigs must be checked periodically for grass.  If I find grass on the jigs I will check them more frequently until they are not loading up.  Then I check them a little less frequently. 

I will spend much of my time looking at the lures to catch a glimpse of a fish in the pattern.  The odds are in your favor if a fish can be hooked on a live bait rather than a jig.  If a fish does come up behind the lures we deploy one or two baits immediately in hopes of hooking the fish on bait.

I am often in motion going to the bow checking the bait, watching the lures, checking drags, making sure the casters are in gear with clickers off and that the drop backs are out of gear with clickers on, checking rod tips to make sure line is not wrapped around them, picking up clutter in the cockpit, etc.  I don’t feel that you can ever be to ready for an encounter with a marlin.

As many words as I have written here, this is only an overview of what goes on to make sure that the tackle and the cockpit are prepared for that moment when you come into contact with a fish.  My theory is to remove as many roadblocks as possible from the equation and to put as many things in our favor in order to be successful when an opportunity presents itself. 

 I am convinced that everything I do to become tournament ready makes me a better overall fisherman.  I also believe it helps me to properly get my customers ready for their fishing adventures.  As I said, this is only an overview.  I would be more than happy to spend time with anyone to show them in more detail exactly what I do and how they might employ some of these techniques into their fishing as well.

Feel free to contact me at any time at 619-221-8506 or fishing@saltwatertackle.com

Doug Kern