Fighting big fish at anchor?...

hydroforce3 · 01 June 2017, 20:21

Hi guys I was just wondering what approach you take when fighting big fish on a small SIB or RIB? i thought it was standard practice to lift anchor as you start fighting a large running fish but last year i caught a decent tope (when anchored) and straight away the boat started turning, luckily I am familiar with how to correctly use a drag on a reel so i let the fish take line instead of taking me with it, Anyhow i was thinking the other day was it a smart move to stay anchored as in my head it could have easily pulled the boat under BUT it would have been physically impossible to lift anchor single handedly whilst fighting a tope on my rod. A lot of my fishing is done on the drift anyways but I find with certain species anchoring is best.

penny for your thoughts and advice guys

P.S penny will be paid via paypal

Cheers

willk · 01 June 2017, 20:45

There's no tope on this Earth gonna pull your boat under. That said - it might very well make a serious tangle of your anchor line. I'd suggest fitting a buoy on the upper end of the anchor line with a quick release clip - if you have to you can say Sayonara to the entire ground tackle and go back for it later. Prolly an idea to note the GPS position on your phone when anchoring.

hydroforce3 · 01 June 2017, 20:59

Thanks WILLK for your reply yeah i never thought of a buoy on the anchor i thought that was more for the bigger boats (charters etc...) can u buy small buoys or do they only come like massive yoga balls?

cheers

The Black Pig · 01 June 2017, 22:01

"penny for your thoughts and advice guys"

Gonna need a bigger boat!

willk · 01 June 2017, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydroforce3

Thanks WILLK for your reply yeah i never thought of a buoy on the anchor i thought that was more for the bigger boats (charters etc...) can u buy small buoys or do they only come like massive yoga balls?

cheers

Anything that floats works. 5L oil bottle would be my first pick - a small fender would be next (coupla quid) - or a Polyform A1 buoy if you're really feelin' flahulach...

Stevem · 01 June 2017, 22:41

Yep, agree with Wilk, anchor to a buoy. Pretty standard practice if kayak fishing as could get hairy if anchored with a tide pushing. Same principle applies to sib if you are unsure.

hydroforce3 · 02 June 2017, 10:04

awesome guys thanks for the advice I have seen a small pickup buoy online its 8" x 11" would this work the same as its small and compact and won't take up much room on my small sib?

jonp · 02 June 2017, 12:55

My anchor lifting float can be clipped to the end of my anchor line if the need arises. Having said that I've never needed to chase a fish while at anchor, even on light line class chassing snapper with spin gear we manage to get all sorts of sharks to the boat at anchor (including mako's, hammerheads, whalers etc).

If I'm chasing bigger game I simply don't anchor, my daughter works the fish as I drive the boat.

I've never had a fish tangle around my anchor but you do need to be carefull using braid lines under high tension as the braid can easely cut into tubes.

willk · 03 June 2017, 00:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonp

...but you do need to be carefull using braid lines under high tension as the braid can easely cut into tubes.

I took my old man fishing on the previous rib years ago. He fouled his gear and used the tube to brace the braid as the boat drifted on downtide. Quick as a flash I whipped out my knife and barely touched the line. It went *ping* and vanished. He didn't speak to me for months because I lost him $10 of line and lures....

Rover310 · 03 June 2017, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

I took my old man fishing on the previous rib years ago. He fouled his gear and used the tube to brace the braid as the boat drifted on downtide. Quick as a flash I whipped out my knife and barely touched the line. It went *ping* and vanished. He didn't speak to me for months because I lost him $10 of line and lures....

That's crazy... what's not to understand about the cost difference between $10 worth of tackle and the cost of repairing a cut tube.

Pikey Dave · 03 June 2017, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rover310

That's crazy... what's not to understand about the cost difference between $10 worth of tackle and the cost of repairing a cut tube.

He just needed an excuse[emoji57]

John Kennett · 03 June 2017, 21:50

$10 well spent

hydroforce3 · 04 June 2017, 21:02

HOLY SH*T I've just spooled my reel with braid for tope fishing from the sib, didn't even give that a thought till just now, do you think I should remove the braid and stick to mono?

hydroforce3 · 04 June 2017, 21:04

Another thing...will 5mm braided anchor rope cut through tubes too?

Pikey Dave · 04 June 2017, 21:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydroforce3

Another thing...will 5mm braided anchor rope cut through tubes too?

I'd have some additional protection for the tube, a piece of rubber mat or carpet e.g. 5mm is thin for anchor rope, you'll need some tough gloves to stop it cutting into your (wet) hands.

willk · 04 June 2017, 21:10

Fiiiiiishing....

hydroforce3 · 04 June 2017, 21:15

brilliant lol looks like I'm stealing the missus rubber doormat then

jonp · 05 June 2017, 00:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydroforce3

HOLY SH*T I've just spooled my reel with braid for tope fishing from the sib, didn't even give that a thought till just now, do you think I should remove the braid and stick to mono?

I use braid on all my outfits, most of our fishing is on game fish ( even got my braid around a humpbacks tail last week as it passed under my boat ) and have yet to have any problems.

I don't let the braid come in contact with the tubes at all, if a big fish looks like it's going to run under the boat and you can't manover the boat you will need to drop the tip of the rod under the water and reach it around the outboard. If you need to you can always loosen the drag off or freespool while doing this, anyway tope in the current aren't really going to be doing anything overly crazy.