Jun. '00
Last week I spent 6 hours in line waiting for Carlos Santana tickets to go on sale. I got there at 4 AM and staked out the #1 spot in line. In the past I have never had to wait in line for Santana tickets. But with his recent success he is hotter that an August day in Baja, so why stand in line? Out of respect to Carlos. I have seen him for years even when times were tough. So when he got HOT his true fans also relish his good fortune.
Good times are always better if you have endured bad times as well. The same holds true for fishing as well. If every trip you have is wide-open, full speed, decks bloodied fishing you will never realize how blessed you are. One of our regulars to our annual 5-day trip has never had a bad trip. He has come to expect great fishing. I hope he never has a bad trip but I feel he is due for one. We have told him on each trip it doesn’t get any better than this. His first year, he got into a two-day bite on albacore that produce limits. His second trip was to Guadalupe Island where almost 300 yellowfin tuna were landed in 2.5 days. He doesn’t know what tough is. And when it does I hope he is prepared for it.
Something else that came to mind while waiting was
all the debate about Spectra and Fluorocarbon.
Hey, at 5 AM I have to think of something besides how stupid I look
waiting in line. Before I go any farther, I will say that there are many
different ways to do the same thing. And
this hold true with Spectra,
top shots and fluorocarbon leaders.
So instead of saying which one is best, I will give you the advantages
and disadvantages and you can make your own choice.
The main reason to use spectra is to increase line
capacity on your reel. So load your
reel as full as you feel comfortable. In
most cases 500 yards of spectra is enough. This will leave you plenty of room for your mono top shot.
Some anglers fill their reels almost completely with Spectra and then add
a very short mono top shot. Their
reasoning for this is to reduce line drag.
Spectra has a much smaller diameter than mono and this leads to less drag
on the bait. The faster the bait
can swim the more likely it will get eaten.
The drawbacks are: it is more expensive and can be more troublesome to
use. Spectra/Mono tangles are unbelievable and take forever to
clear. It is your choice.
There is also debate on how much of an advantage
Fluorocarbon leaders and I have covered than before but I will just make mention
on what length leader to use. Most
of the readers know I am on the lazy side, if I only have to change something
once all the better. So I like long
fluorocarbon leaders. I use the
whole spool (25 yards) and cut off the last few feet after each fish.
Others make their short leaders (2 feet) ahead of time and change them
after every fish. Both ways work. The
advantage of long leaders is that they retain the breaking strength longer than
a short leader. Just think of a
short rubber band and a long rubber band and you will see what I am talking
about. The advantage of a short
leader is it is easy to cast and not have to work thought the guides.
It is your choice.