Hand lining

[Highfly 0]

Does anyone still handline anymore ?I recently had yet another reel come apart on me mid way through a fight on a snapper. So I had to handline it in. Fish was giving me quite a work out on 80 lb braid. I was concerned pulling the braid in with my hands but it was remarkably easy. MATE ! my back loved it, was easier than giving away all that leverage to a rod. Rather than spending all that money on new gear every year I am giving serious consideration to going back to olds school methods. There was a time I had to catch it on a rod, but Im not so sure any more. Any of you blokes still handline ?Thinking of still using the rod holders to clamp the handlines to the gunwale and just using my hands.

[Ugly4Life 41]

A lot of my customers still use hand lines for everything. Last time I went out with one of my regulars, an older Greek bloke, we spent the day hand lining mackrel, tommies and gar. It was great, haven't done that since I was about 12.

[trihull 177]

Still do "old school" hand-lining for squid ......just do not put your feet in the mono coils ... :whistle: :whistle:

[gilbert 0]

haven't done much handlining b4.might give it a go. i fish a couple of spots when in a boat and it would be ideal.bit more room in the boat too.

[fridge 6]

now and again but i tend to end up with more snags in the boat than out of it.working with a landing net i find things easier to control using a rod.keep your feet off the line ive lost fished that have got spooked

[bent87 0]

I notice that most pro shudders use hand lines....must be something in that, not sure what though?

[jaffa 81]

I still handline everything, where possible that is. Foul Bay in 100ft of water for example,is a little impractical when the tide`s ripping coz you`ll need a kilo of lead to hit bottom. That`s how I learnt to fish, fished that way as a commercial hook fisherman & still fish that way. Much quicker than rod fishing, & time is money when you`re doing it for a living. Cheers.

[pauly s 426]

I'd be spending few more dollars on my gear and you shouldn't have anything failing on you.. You get what you pay for and much more enjoyable fishing with quality gear..What was the reel that broke on ya ?

[protactic 0]

Hand lines for Squidding.....4 on my boat to cover an area quickly and effectively to get your limit.

[Highfly 0]

I try and fish with the lightest rod and reel I can for those allnighters.The reel was an okuma bait runner snapped at the stem that attaches to the rod, I fish with a tight drag and the reel always flexes, this time once too often. Great reels love em for value for money but I fish em pretty hard Not knockin the reels, they have outlasted every other model I have fished with apart from the saltigas. I was just surprised at how much curry the fish was giving me on the rod and my back, but handlining it in was a piece of cake.When you spend almost an hour getting to grounds then the whole time on your feet doubled over takes it toll on ur back. It was just so easy getting the fish to the boat. Most of the other reels I use the gears always give way. Only the saltiga runs decent gears, almost every other reel runs brass gears. Even the better ( more expensive models ) all run brass. Fished hard they all strip. I find the Saltigas' to heavy to be holding standing up all night with. When in comes to handlining my only concern is about the line everywhere, when flyfishing I run a stripping basket, to strip the line into, just don't want to spend the night undoing birdsnests. If the pro's still do it must be the best way to get the fish into the boat. Im over light line fishing and playing the fish, I just wanna drag the fluckers aboard get my bag and go home....

[pauly s 426]

I try and fish with the lightest rod and reel I can for those allnighters.The reel was an okuma bait runner snapped at the stem that attaches to the rod' date=' I fish with a tight drag and the reel always flexes, this time once too often. Great reels love em for value for money but I fish em pretty hard Not knockin the reels, they have outlasted every other model I have fished with apart from the saltigas. I was just surprised at how much curry the fish was giving me on the rod and my back, but handlining it in was a piece of cake.When you spend almost an hour getting to grounds then the whole time on your feet doubled over takes it toll on ur back. It was just so easy getting the fish to the boat. Most of the other reels I use the gears always give way. Only the saltiga runs decent gears, almost every other reel runs brass gears. Even the better ( more expensive models ) all run brass. Fished hard they all strip. I find the Saltigas' to heavy to be holding standing up all night with. When in comes to handlining my only concern is about the line everywhere, when flyfishing I run a stripping basket, to strip the line into, just don't want to spend the night undoing birdsnests. If the pro's still do it must be the best way to get the fish into the boat. Im over light line fishing and playing the fish, I just wanna drag the fluckers aboard get my bag and go home.... [/quote']Okuma have life time warrenty.. or go get a stradic fj 5000 30lb braid you'll skull drag any red on it and youll have 10 years warrenty..

[silaflex 103]

You wouldn't be using 80lb braid on your Okumas as well by chance?

[Highfly 0]

My mistake Sil, the outfit that snapped that night only had 20lb braid, connected to a sabre 196-6. The reel was locked up tight though as tight as it could go. Its my whiting rod. It shouldn't have snapped with 20lb line because its rated to 20lb, suppliers told me that for most anglers it wont, he classified us as the 5% ers, "sorry sounds like Im bragging" because we catch fish its not designed to be under that stress consistently. Supplier wouldn't honour the warranty. I do run 80lb on all my heavy outfits, Saltiga, tld , shimano 6500 etc, but these outfits are too heavy to hold all night long especially in deepish water. I normally bring em as back up rods.Before the okuma I used to go through at least probably two abu 6500 a season. The okuma lasts usually at least 2 or 3 seasons. Not bad for about $100.00. When I asked the tackle shop owner if I upgraded to a millionaire or Calcutta type real he said would make no difference all have brass gears. Hence back to handlining, Like I said I prefer to use the lightest outfit I can, Only the saltiga has survived being used like a winch, I even stripped the gears on the tld in under a season just snapper fishing. Brass gears do not stand up to constant pressure.I will still take the heavy outfits for sharking, big mullies etc. But your not holding the rods the whole night when your sharking and mully fishing. Snappering is up and down all night long.Sorry I am dribbling now Sorry Pauly in answer to your suggestion the suppliers make these claims but you stuff up their reels they say the reel wasn't used as it was designed and will not honour their warranties. Even if you stick to the suggested breaking strain. If you fish once a month you will never have these issues, if you love fishing and go twice a week and are hooked up pretty much 2/3 hours straight every session mate nothing lasts. The stuff that does gets heavier and heavier to hold with every sesh.

[Savagelip 4]

remember using handline with a pro over Ceduna 20 odd yr ago catching kg whiting, last yr used a handline over pt Lincoln off Brennans warf, caught a heap of salmon, gud fun when you have limited fishing gear

[silaflex 103]

You might need one of these. :silly:

[Highfly 0]

Have considered them but they are 1-1 ratio, handlining would be faster. Maybe for sharks Last time I went on charter I never took the rod out of the holder. Was fishing about 150 ft of water, almost half a kilo of lead, used the Saltiga and just wound the line up rod still in holder. Smart ass captain asked me if my husband fishes too

[Crusher 18]

Before the okuma I used to go through at least probably two abu 6500 a season. The okuma lasts usually at least 2 or 3 seasons. Not bad for about $100.00. When I asked the tackle shop owner if I upgraded to a millionaire or Calcutta type real he said would make no difference all have brass gears.

You can not compare a Calcutta of any size to the okuma. Regardless of what material is being used, there are varying grades and qualities that are manufactured. The only Okuma reel I use these days is the V-system. I might be a snob, but I only use shimano (Models being Saros, Stradic, Calcutta, Twin Power, TLD, Baitrunners B Series), plus the single okuma v-system. My Diawas and Okuma Epix were always having to go back to the shop with drive shaft or bearing concerns.But in keeping with the thread, I use handlines for squiding only. I found that they were also good for catching livies. But I have changed this method also.

[grego 0]

why not just get an electric reel. cant see you stripping one of them. no offence but i find winching fish in boring. ten lb braid and 30lb leader is the go for me on my lil saltist bayrubber rod. 2500r luvias. now thats fun. but hey. each to there own my mate whos a pro out from prahan uses handlines and still dominates :)goood luck

[Highfly 0]

I can understand how you find it boring, I used to as well. I fished with an old school Italian bloke many many years ago, a handliner at Pt Vic. Frustrated the crap out of me, I wanted to see the rod bend, hear the reel screaming, that was the rush. There was no joy on the handline for me then. Not any more .... Last sesh I had with a mate we were rooted, and that was just after the first fish. We looked at each other and pissed ourselves laughing at how stuffed we were. We used to laugh at the idea of the electric reels. Not any more.... That was his first comment as soon as the fish was on board. "where can we get those electric reels from" .Bit pricey but .... they start at about $1000.00I don't catch much snapper this time of year, my season usually starts end of October til about June. Im gonna set up some sort of contraption to hold multiple handlines in the rod holders on my side of the boat all rigged with various rigs. With you comment on light line fun, when we first tackled the mullies we used to fish for them with 3kg line. You would hook them and then chase em for ages up and down while they shook their heads, took ages, thrashed it. I quickly found it more fun to use 15 kg and really stick it to them. The run didn't last as long but even the smaller ones pulled like mack trucks against the greater load. Each to their own I guess, we all do it for fun, whatever gets your rocks off.For me these days its about getting my bag in the esky and back at the ramp without the use of a kidney belt... so I can still get home in time to clean the fish have a shower and still get a few hours sleep.

[ausea 4]

If you wanted a reel that can last for many years..Daiwa BG60/BG90 or GS9

[grego 0]

the other option is the good old alvey there pretty much a winch hehe. del dragged softy in on his kayak once i think

[Highfly 0]

[Piranha 76]

Highfly" post=263308]My mistake Sil' date=' the outfit that snapped that night only had 20lb braid, connected to a sabre 196-6. The reel was locked up tight though as tight as it could go. Its my whiting rod. It shouldn't have snapped with 20lb line because its rated to 20lb, suppliers told me that for most anglers it wont, he classified us as the 5% ers, "sorry sounds like Im bragging" because we catch fish its not designed to be under that stress consistently. Supplier wouldn't honour the warranty. [/quote'] Keep in mind that if your using generic 20lb test braid most break at between 28-38lb so theres a high chance that you exceeded the rods rating If your using true 20lb line then they have to honour the warranty I would prefer hand lining over using an okuma anyday

[Highfly 0]

I had the line all wrapped up around the reel it was 10 kg.The last okuma same model but older went 3 seasons. This one carked it at the end of second season. Both within warranty timeframe, warranties mean shit, try and claim, they will rave about the warranty til they get ur cash. Then the fine print comes out. :evil: Perhaps I shouldn't say it out loud but that Sabre rod has copped some punishment. Not real useful on fish over 4-5 kg but its caught more than its share of 10kg plus fish and still feel the sneakiest whiting bite. I found this on ebay for the "PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED" Sorry ebay link didn't work, its an auto reel winder.

[Del 245]

the other option is the good old alvey there pretty much a winch hehe. del dragged softy in on his kayak once i think

he had no chance on the 650c! running 30lb mono.. a yak only poses at max 20lb of drag.. probably less...