Landing Fish When You’re Fishing Alone

[pescador]

I fish solo 60% of the time. I have landed up to 34 lbs solo. I always pull in the other side while I'm attempting to fight the fish and slow down the boat. Its a bit of a dance sometimes. Occaisionally I will leave the fish in the rod holder once I set the hook while I clean up the other side. I can say I haven't lost many with this technique. And I get enough fish every year anywhere. I also pull up the down riggers and get the weights out of the water. I probably do it differently than anyone else, but, what the hell. I hate getting lines tangled up and having to have to screw around for 30 minutes fixing things post landing the fish. Its gotten to the point now where even with my wife in the boat I land everything solo.

 

[Reeltime]

Whatever it takes, in and out of gear or neutral, sometimes i gun it to stay ahead of the game, to have the fish square to one side
of the boat that's rod free, leave the other rod down deep and out of the way as some said already, fish fight is up high now,
nasty tides i'm gunning the engine so i'm not fighting current and fish

If it's a big fish pull the clip off the empty rigger and raise the ball out of the water, now commit to that side with some HP . Head first in the basket

 

[Rain City]

Its gotten to the point now where even with my wife in the boat I land everything solo.

Well no wonder you fish solo 60% of the time

 

[Stizzla]

Just running 2 rods? Leave the other side down, keep the boat in gear, circle in, maybe hit neutral just before netting.

Running stacked rods makes it more challenging...

I leave all the other rods down, move the rod still fishing on the same size of the boat either forward or back to rod holder, depending if its on the kicker side.

On the kicker side I move the working rod back and turn the down rigger back towards the kicker. Keep the boat in gear (slow but moving) and turn towards fish, play the fish up to the side of the boat which happens to be right beside my kicker control and net the fish at the side. All other 3 rods keep working and stay down out of the way. Often double up in this time, finish netting fish and then play the next if it happens.

On the non kicker side I move the working rod forward, turn the down rigger forward. Keep the boat in gear (slow but moving) and turn towards the fish, play the fish to the back corner and net the fish off the back corner. Other rods keep working and stay down out of the way.

I almost always fish 4 rods. Last week fishing alone I did lose one fish (not related to the other rods) but was able to bring in a 40# spring, Hali, ling, and Coho and a sockeye without issues.

I do lose the odd fish due to crossovers but very unusual.

I have way more crossovers, interference, etc, when fishing 4 and having more than one other person on the boat.

Stacking 4 rods solo? You’re a beast! Thanks for the pointers!

 

[scott craven]

Almost the same as my self but I never put it in neutral, back in the days of barbed hooks I did. Something else I do is bump the down rigger ball up and out of the water so the fish can't wrap it self a round the ball.

the only problem I've had with leaving in gear is the net wants to stream out in the current
making it somewhat difficult to lead the fish head first into the bag.

 

[Stizzla]

the only problem I've had with leaving in gear is the net wants to stream out in the current
making it somewhat difficult to lead the fish head first into the bag.

Do you have one of the Scotty net clips, scott? Mine’s coming on Monday.

 

[scott craven]

Do you have one of the Scotty net clips, scott? Mine’s coming on Monday.

No, but maybe I need one ?

 

[wolf]

All i can say is practice taking other rod out and out of way same with riggers because trust me one day you will get that monster fish of a lifetime on a it will run all over the place and if it get caught in gear your going to be one pissed off dude . I see it happen VERY VERY often people dont take out of motor out of gear or leave gear in water and they lose more then get, at least slow down to nothing as ive seen many try and FORCE it in and you dragging the fish a 30 lber isnt going to come in that easy ive seen alot of flasher go whizzing by a persons head as it let go ...

Seen it one time off otter where I guy was trying to "leave" it in water went to land it he didnt have his net set up tried netting it with handle still in hoop then fish took off so he put rod in rod holder while he fixed net..... then slack line happened line went over tip of rod (dont think he noticed) as now hes trying to hand balm it in with rod in holder as he was using like a 8 foot leader fish took off rod snapped in half and line at same time sounded like a rifle shot... guy then loses his **** snaps what left of rod tosses reel and remaining rod in water then smashes his net to pieces. and threw that in .... then ran home....It was rather amusing to watch it all but felt bad for dude ... Trust me if something can happen and its preventable do it...really why take a chance practice and practice on small fish etc so you get really used to it also time to check gear anyways not a big deal....

Good luck wolf

 

[bigbruce]

I fish one rod when alone

 

[Teja]

I fish solo a fair bit and find that I lose more good springs to Mr Whiskers that I do to my own netting screw ups. My own strategy, as a result, has been to immediately get the boat out of the flow of boats if necessary, then to quickly clear the second line and get the downrigger balls up to the booms while getting control of the fish (even then - I lost a fish to a dangling downrigger clip this spring), and then to drop the boat out of gear as quickly as possible in order to slowly play the fish at short distance (vs long distance) so as to minimize the risk of theft by Whiskers (p.s. If anyone has tips for the most effective way to chase and recover a salmon from a seal while fishing solo, I am all ears). I definitely play the fish right out as I find it makes the netting job so much easier.

 

[aheny]

I spend a lot of time fishing with inexperienced people, so I'll discuss what I do when I'm essentially alone. typically my guests have at least a minimum amount of skill so they can help Net a fish, but occasionally I have to fish as if I'm by myself. I fish with 9-foot rods, this makes it much easier to get the leader in your hand.
for the other rods I find them much easier to deal with if I leave them exactly where they are,
In my opinion nothing is worse than having a loose line floating up on the surface for a running fish to tangle with.
For 15#+ Chinook salmon, the most important thing to do is make sure that they're really tired before you bring them to the boat, when I get the leader in my hand I pulled them over so they're close to me and I lift the head to the side of the boat and then hit them of a gaff and lift them out of the water. I do the lifts so that I'm sure I have the hook in them solid, you absolutely do not want to do this unless you're a hundred percent sure that you're going to get the fish in the boat after gaffing it. As soon as the Gaff is in the fish you lift it in one motion into the boat, the weight of the fish will keep it on the gaff and there will be no chance of you losing it. when the gaff hits the fish you want it to be one continuous lifting motion.
For smaller fish where you're worried about identifying the species, well they're still on the hook in the line I make sure I can tell if they have spots on the bottom half of the tail, if they have a white mouth or if they have an adipose fin. if these signs tell you that there's no way it's an illegal fish than I also use the gaff.
Only when I'm not sure do I use the net, I place that close to the side of the boat and I use the 40# leader to lift the fish into the net. This is pretty rare though because most times you can figure out if the fish is a keeper before having to use the net, it's only the rare odd balls that are iffy.
My preferred way to deal with smaller Keepers is to lift them into the boat with the leader and drop them in a bleed bucket (one bump on the head to knock them out, followed by removing the gills). This gives them a chance to bleed while I reset the gear, after which you have a nice clean fish to take photos of.

 

[cby]

Fish solo all the time. I fish most of the time 2 rods, I always keep the 2 rod down, if I am fishing Oak bay, I do raise the rigger to 60 ft and wind the slack so the rod is tight in rigger. I always turn away from the boats and usususu out deeper. Slow down once control of fish. Anything under 15 lbs don't get concerned about the other side at all as they usually come to the boat pretty easy after there first couple of runs. Releasing the other line just creates more work, tangles and now you have no other rod fishing. I find I have doubled up ton keeping the other rod down. If I double up, it stays in the rod holder and I reduce the drag a bit. I use propack rod holders so that act like a person holding the rod. Just need to watch for slack line. Keep the focus on the fish you are fighting unless you feel the other one is bigger lol. Here is the issue if the fish is over 20 or 25+, once they get to the boat, they usually take another good run away from boat. This is decision time based on size of fish. Do I bring up the other line and downrigger or leave it. Depends on alot of factors tode, # of boats, if you can turn out to deep water to avoid seals and sea lions as they are usually in tighter to shore. The reason this is important cause the next time the big fish gets to the boat or close it is going to go ape **** and it will go any direction it can to get off, jump, twist, turn, they usually stay right down . The nice thing about lines still in downrigger and down is that if there is a tangle it's usually just one wrap and you can pass the rod thru easy. If it gets doubled up that will not be good, that is the gamble. Usually once it takes that finally run I try to get the other rod up. But I find I have lost more fish this way that just leaving it in and gambling, taking focus off the fish leads to more harm.

If fishing 3 rods for springs and I stack if top rod goes off, I leave both lines in and super tight. And do my best. I have doubled up a ton of times by doing this. Gong show but fun. Plus your still fishing during bite.

When fishing coho or sockeye I usually run 3 or 4 rods and I leave everything in place. Stack 25 and 30 ft apart. If top rod goes off no concern, bottom rod gets a bit interesting depending on size. Hopefully they take a bit of line but they usually come straight up and can cause a bit of a mess if your not fast enough to release the top line. Yeah you might get a tangle but you still have 2 rods fishing so that is key to have rods in the water than out.

Overall 90% of the time I leave the lines down. If it's a big one it's 50/50 depemding on situation, I kmow I want to get the other line and downrigger up, but I know that is a risk and I am willing to take that risk as it is fishing not catching, we lose big fish so we can go out again and catch them. I am sure if I had one over 40 everything would be in the boat! Lol. I have had many over 30, and left lines in, some I lifted everything up thinking it was much bigger. Enjoy the moment, tight lines and calm seas. Look forward to the stories.

 

[ILHG]

I found that practice with the gaff is important. If i am keeping it i use the gaff. It forces you to settle down and play the fish out. By the end of this season i was confident wiyh the gaff. Only tine i used the net was for big fish (typically someone else big fish).

 

[Stizzla]

I’ll start gaffing my punching bag for practice.

 

[kingspring]

I sometimes can clear the other side
At least get the ball up.
Then keep fish a beam best I can with a wandering 16 ft Silverstreak.
In and out of gear depending on the myriad of scenarios.
At net time depends on fish location, a played out fish is the goal.
It ain’t a perfect science but is always damn exciting.

 

[NautiGirl]

9 ft rods, reasonable leader lengths for rod length, rigger ball out of the water on that side and preferably swung in to the boat if you can, net ready at all times, in gear towards deeper water, away from the fleet (actually best to fish outside the fleet when solo anyway), soft top canopy down or a quick release to allow more solo net and rod wrangling to keep the rod tip up. I find any temporary distraction that takes pressure off the fish will lose the fish. Whatever it takes to keep the rod bent.

 

[Humpbubble]

i use Scott's method when dragging balls. but first i always tell snuffy i'm just checking my line, no big deal goes the same for with guests, no hooting about a fish on, when the seals are watching.
Jigging is another beast, once hooked, springs RACE to the surface to spit, sometimes you can sneak one in the bag, or sometimes have to poke it downward to get it to go for a run. very counter intuitive to poke the rod tip in the water(with tension), but it has worked for me every time so far. best advice is to let that sucker run itself out before a net attempt.
Oh and in rough water, try not to fall in, don't ask how i know that one

 

[Sharphooks]

I fish solo 99.999% of the time. I have two downriggers on my boat ---99.999% of the time only one of those downriggers is being used.

I also hold my rod in hand, not in a rod holder when I fish. I'm guessing I do as well or better being hyper-focused on one rod rather then scattering my attention on two rods.

Am I short-changing myself by only covering one depth in the water column? No. The reason I hold my rod in hand when fishing is my gear is going up and down through the water column all day long. I have never quite understood how some guys drop their gear and leave it at one depth. That would have cost me lots of fish this summer.....

 

[Stizzla]

I’m glad that works for you. Personally, I think two rods is manageable and then you can cover multiple depths and/or different lure types at the same time.

 

[TheHurtLocker]

Another option for the inactive rod is to drop the downrigger and the line will pop off. When the fish is running or holding steady, reel in the other line with one hand as the rod sits in the holder.

This is the way I pop the clip when I have a fish on the clip as well. Works great, way easier on the rod.