Handline Test

Well, I managed to squeeze in about 30 minutes of fishing in 4 days at Cypress Isl.

My brief conclusions were that 1. The hand line is simple and compact. 2. It's going to take allot of practice to set the hook well whilst jigging. 3. The hand line would be better for trolling than jigging. 4. might be a good idea to use a light leader while I'm learning this thing.

It was a little bit worrisome to me having 68 ft. of rope attached directly to my boat. That's ample opportunity to get 3mm climbing rope wrapped around my neck. I'm not real sure what would happen in a sea kayak when a 30# king slams into this rig, but I hope to find out. I think that I could release the clip and ditch the hand line if I needed to......90% of the time.

The leverage difference between a rod and no rod is huge. Setting the hook properly is going to take some practice.

No fish caught this time

Are you using a bungie of any sorts ... to reduce the impact of that 30# king?

-Allen

Jason, welcome back to the world of the working.   

What about using some sort of release mechanism like those used with downriggers?

Jason-

Once again, my hat is off to you for Keeping It Simple and closer to the roots. You the man!

So did you chew the baby seal skin before you braided it to make the line?

Seriously though, a snubber (bungee) and a circle hook might take out the problem of setting the hook.

I have bunjee attached at the end of the mainline to the boat. I have a little rubber band that attaches to all that that breaks if you snag or hook up while trolling...just to let you know you've got something. so unless I've got all the rope out and I'm trolling, I've got nuttn' between me and the fish.

Are you suggesting putting bunjee between the mainline and the leader?

I could rig up a better quick release system...The whole thing seems so foreign to me right now, I think I just need to fool around with it more and get it dialed.

My issue with jigging was really just the leverage difference on the hook set. My arm is only two feet long, my rod is 9ft, so getting the line tight on 60 ft of rope with a two foot set range was almost impossible.....at least right now.

Jason, welcome back to the world of the working.   

What about using some sort of release mechanism like those used with downriggers?

Not sure aboutt he downrigger release. The hand line is perfect for trolling, just not so great for jigging....Or at least difficult.

I was working!

Jason-

Once again, my hat is off to you for Keeping It Simple and closer to the roots. You the man!

So did you chew the baby seal skin before you braided it to make the line?

Seriously though, a snubber (bungee) and a circle hook might take out the problem of setting the hook.

No baby seals were harmed in the making of this handline! I've been wanting to try them for a long time because of their compact nature and ease of transport on multi-day kayak trips.

J

You could do a separate bungee attached to kayak on one end with a clip on the other.  Just twist your line around 4-5 times and attach to the clip.    The friction in the turns should keep it from slipping, or if that doesn't work, a half hitch on the bight would.

-Allen

Nanook,  Any pics of your handline setup?

I'm off Sunday & Monday. I'll see if I can get some pics of the current rig then. Once I get a little better with this thing, I'll do a proper post.

J

Cool, looking forward to it.  Was the handline something you made yourself or bought?

You could do a separate bungee attached to kayak on one end with a clip on the other.  Just twist your line around 4-5 times and attach to the clip.    The friction in the turns should keep it from slipping, or if that doesn't work, a half hitch on the bight would.

-Allen

Good info. I'm open to all suggestions and ready to modify. Truth is I never really had enough time to do much with it at all. On those 4 day trips we work an average of 17 hours a day. The only reason I had 30 minutes is because we wore the group out circumnavigating Cypress the 2nd day and the other guide gave lessons while I fished.

I'm going to reserve the handline for those an Juan trips, otherwise, it's most advantageous to use a rod & reel.

The hard part when your guiding is that, when the fishing is best, it's the worst time to be fishing. We navigated through a trolling fleet of 25 boats or so N of Strawberry Isl., and my responsibility was safety of the clients. I flew by the fish pens on the SE side riding the current, but had swapped boats without grabbing my handline.

If I do the Sept. trip, I'm going to make sure I get a little more time.

Cool, looking forward to it.  Was the handline something you made yourself or bought?

I have two different set ups. One was hand made by a friend of a friend that used it to catch red fish in Georgia. It's got a wood winder with a solid grip and you use the winder to real in fish. The other was sent as a demo to see if the shop wanted to start selling them. The demo is the one I took, because I thought the bunjee/rubber band set up was pretty cool, but you pull the line in hand over hand & have a big pile on your lap to reel it in. The winder is plastic, small, compact, etc.

Looking back, I think a bungee with a scotty clip, attached to bunjee on my deck rigging running to the wood winder would be the best drag/shock absorber system. If the line was tight on the wood winder, you could let a fish/snag pull on the whole rig, and guide it with your hands.

I'll have to try the woody next time.