Every year there is someone on our annual 5-day trip that is amazed at Tuna Tanaka’s fish catching ability.   No matter how fishing is, wide open or a pick bite, T.T. always gets his share of the tuna.  Now many will think that it is because of the awesome tackle that T.T. uses.  Well that does play a part but there is more to his skill than that.

First off is his experience.  The more rail time you have the better chance you’ll become a good angler.  I have not seen any angler just walk on the deck of a long-range vessel and become an expert angler.   You have to put your time in and earn your stripes as they say.  If you do have basic angling skills your learning curve will not be very difficult.

So to help anglers improve your skills quicker lets start with the very basic and proceed on.  Now if following ideas are too simple for you, you may want to jump ahead to the future months.  But then again if you not hooking you share of fish you may want take a refresher course.

Before you even step foot on a long-range boat there are many things that you need to learn.  These basic things should be second nature by the time the boat leaves the port.  Be sure you know how to use your fishing gear. This sounds so simple but it never fails to cause anglers problems on their trips. 

Knowing how to cast your outfit is the most important thing to master before you start your trip.  All of the good anglers know how to cast live bait away from the boat.  Just watch a skipper on these long-range boats.  They always can get you hooked up, why? They know how to cast.  It is that simple.

Take your 30 or 40 lb. outfit and practice, and practice and more practice. Tie on a 5” Fish Trap body and start casting.  If you are having problems with your casting, take your outfit to the shop you purchased from and there should be someone there to teach you the basics of casting.  If there aren’t salespersons to help you, you probably purchased from the wrong source.  It will only take about 5 minutes to learn the basics but will take hours to perfect them.

Now casting bait is different than casting a jig.  Sardines need a gentle lob and soft landing to swim away. A retrieved jig will swim no matter how hard it hits the water.  So you want to lob your bait.  Have the bait hang down about 2 feet down from the rod tip.  With your rod tip vertical, (12 o’clock) lower your rod tip slightly to get the bait to swing (1:30 o’clock). As the bait starts to swing and your rod tips starts to load, smoothly apply the forward movement to your rod (10:00 o’clock).  This made by a small circular movement with your reel hand.  (You know the hand that will control your spool and line on your reel.)  You should not feel a snap when you move the rod forward. 

If you spend the time to practice you’ll be able to cast at least 30 feet and have your bait land softly and swim away you are on your way to a talented angler.

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