clearing lines

[salmonquest]

I fish from a small boat so this may be a little different than some of you. How many of you clear lines at least on one side when you have a nice fish on? Maybe just the dipsies on a side?? It seems inevitable that the only tangles I seem to generate is when a fish crosses things up. I'm toyin with the idea of clearing a whole side but I know that may cause us to miss a few fish following the hooked salmon up. Any thoughts on this?

[1mainiac]

I very Seldom clear lines and almost never did in my 18ft either. I have had 5 fish on with 8 lines out and 3 in the boat on the 18 got 4 of them no tangles. On the other hand I have had a decent Steelhead take out my entire spread there are too many variables but most often in the heat of battle there is no one left to clear lines anyhow. My game plan is to drag them till they calm down when possible keep pressure on them and if they go nuts at the back of the boat let em run or grab them hot depending on how it is going. If they are willing to run I usually let run but if they try to mess up the spread just try and get em in the net and clean up the mess afterword.

[Adam Bomb]

We fish off a 21' boat that has a 8' 9" beam. Most generally we are not fishing in traffic, so we just manuever the boat to keep the fish behind us and dont plan on clearing any rods unless its necsessary. Most times if we have to clear a rod its a diver or a core line because of a wild fish. Or I might move a rigger rod to a different holder to open the back up a bit more for netting. Normally we have 3 guys and run an 8-9 rod spread involving 4 divers, 2 riggers and 2-3 cores.

[EdB]

We never clear lines. I'll move rigger rods to diver holders on the side to open a bigger hole in the back to net them. If a fish is hot and wants to run out to the sides where the divers are, we'll speed the boat up and put more drag on him to pull him to middle of the back of the boat.

[Fishwhisperer]

This could cause more problems than it solves.

Example: If you tripped a dipsy to make more room and then hit a double on another rod. Now you would have a dipsy on the surface and straight out the back.

I'm not sure what you are running now in regards to dipsys. I would either set my dipseys on a higher setting and/or add a cheater(monster) ring. Changing from a 8.6' rod to a 10' would help.

Slowing the boat down to net can give the fish more freedom to make runs to the sides.

If reeling in a fish from a rigger, bring up that DR to get it out of the way.

If you run your DR at a 45 angle, move them to a 90.

You can move one of the DR rods to the empty rod holder to create more room.

Let the boards out a little farther.

The driver should try to keep the boat positioned so that the fish is always centered to the back of the boat. That is one of the reasons it pays to fish away from the pack.

Bottom line is to have or create as much room as possible to bring a fish in.

The only rod that I will ever pull is a rod running down the chute.

[Nailer]

I'm with the rest of them. Bring the fish in off the back of your boat. No need to pull lines. A long handle net is a must.

[salmonquest]

Thanks fellas. Great replies I realize three things here. I like the idea of using a little more power to keep the fish in line. I usually slow way down. I really like the tip about moving the DRto 90. I have the swivel bases for this. I thought my net was big enough (don't we all) but in retrospect I think I need to add an extension/get a bigger net. Any thougths on extensions?

[tltorrice]

I used to fish out of a 16' boat that was 6' wide. I used to clear the port rigger and dipsy to bring in a fish. My riggers did not swivel. There was no room to land a fish with out doing that and it avoided a lot of tangles. I am in a 19 foot boat now and do not clear any lines. I move the riggers out to the side and keep my speed up as stated above.

[Adam Bomb]

Im a big fan of Beckman nets. They have a heavy duty handle that works well for big fish. Mine extends from 8'-12'. I have room for to manuever it in the boat, if you dont, it may be cumbersome. I still vote for Beckman, just get one with a shorter handle. Theyre a good product, we've had ours forever. I have two hoops for mine, one smaller i use for walleye and larger one with a bigger net bag for salmon. I like to put adhesive velcro on my net handle as well as on my net bag to contain the large net bag. Take and double the velcro around the one of the bottom strands of the net bag and stick it to itself. Then put a piece on the handle in the appropriate location for your net bag and stick on. For added druability on the net handle i wrap each end of the velcro with electical tape....Keeps the net bag from dragging and works much better than a release IMO....Its very quick to reset.

[salmonquest]

I haven't thought of securing the net to the handle to avoid it from blowing back. Thanks for the tip.

[Nailer]

Thanks fellas. Great replies I realize three things here. I like the idea of using a little more power to keep the fish in line. I usually slow way down. I really like the tip about moving the DRto 90. I have the swivel bases for this. I thought my net was big enough (don't we all) but in retrospect I think I need to add an extension/get a bigger net. Any thougths on extensions?

I used an Aluminum Shower curtain, and slipped it inside of mine. Makes it about 2' longer (just enough).

[tgafish]

Take and double the velcro around the one of the bottom strands of the net bag and stick it to itself. Then put a piece on the handle in the appropriate location for your net bag and stick on. For added druability on the net handle i wrap each end of the velcro with electical tape....Keeps the net bag from dragging and works much better than a release IMO....Its very quick to reset.

Adam this is the best idea I've ever seen for this issue

[Adam Bomb]

Glad you like it tom, it works fantastic.