Big fish in impossible places

I thought I'd continue last weeks topic of writing about fish that we lost, starting with one that I caused Tracy to lose before we managed to get a photograph.  This happened early on in a day's fishing so, although we were wading in different directions, we hadn't split up by too far.  As such, when I saw her playing what was obviously a good fish I radioed her to stick her hand in the air if she wanted me to head over to take a photograph.  With the response duly noted, I started the wade over to her position – this wasn't easy as it was through part of the flat with soft bits that sank me to my knees on a number of occasions.  I probably took maybe 4 or 5 minutes to get to her, but the fish was still fighting hard at this point.  I was informed that it was a very big trigger fish that had been shadowing a stingray prior to taking Tracy's fly.  I soon saw the fish for myself and it was indeed huge, probably one of the biggest oceanic triggers I've seen.  I offered to 'help' land the fish as it repeatedly powered away whilst Tracy was trying to get it close enough to grab.  The first time I got hold of the leader the trigger ran hard and I had to let go, making Tracy resume playing it in the normal manner.  Once the leader was back in range I had another go with the same response from the fish, however this time for some unknown reason my release of the line wasn't in time and I managed to snap the tippet.  Although we count this very much as a fish caught, Tracy didn't get a photo of what was obviously a PB triggerfish.  I vowed there and then not to help land any more fish on the trip – I'd just stand back and operate the camera.  

Talking of cameras, I predicted that the action cam that I was wearing would lead to a lost fish in my 'Lights, camera, action...Bollocks!' FP a few weeks back.  Sure enough, on our penultimate day I hooked a really nice fish in a precarious position (I was sunk to my knee on one side).  It was also very windy which contributed to the line somehow finding a way of looping around the back of the camera housing whilst the line was clearing.  I'm guessing being sunk in mud also contributed as my line hand was probably not in its usual position, keeping the line away from me whilst guiding it into the stripper ring.  Unfortunately I didn't have that much line to clear as the bonefish took pretty much on the first strip.  That meant that there was no time at all before the line pulled tight, thus I had no chance of recovering the situation before my tippet parted company with the fly.

Next up are two almost identical losses, both involving 100lb plus (probably a big plus) lemon sharks.  Readers of my FPs will probably know I'd like to catch a 100lb shark whilst wading the flats, i.e. no chumming etc., just a free swimming fish.  Not too long into our trip, during a quiet time for the bonefish, we found an ocean opening where several big sharks were milling around – no doubt waiting for a fishy meal carried to them on the tide that raced out though the rocks and out into the Caribbean Sea.  Obviously some would think that wading into waist deep water to chuck a fly at these fish is madness, however sometimes you need a little danger to feel alive.  After getting into position I placed my fly in front of the biggest fish there – it gently lifted itself up from the bottom and inhaled my slowly stripped streamer (I find a slow strip is best for sharks).  As soon as it felt something was amiss the inevitable happened, it turned and ran straight for the ocean.  A second or so after the take I'd managed to crank the drag on my reel up to the maximum, however it was still making an alarming sound due to the speed it was rotating at.  This speed didn't let up at all as the fish dived through the submerged rocks and on to the reef that was behind them.  I don't know whether it was rock or reef that chaffed though my leader but I do know the fish was still going at full speed when it broke.  I had a long wind back after that and I was grateful to see that I still had a full fly line attached when I got it back in.  I started to plot my revenge that evening.

A couple of weeks later we found ourselves on the same flat, having fished up to the point where the opening was visible I decided to head over to it to see if the sharks were there again.  Sure enough they were, big ones as previously.  This time I'd decided that I was going to position myself closer to the raised headland before I made my shot.  This involved wading out further into the shark's territory however I figured that if I hooked one and could get over to the headland I could raise the line clear of the hazards as the fish ran.  The first part of this plan played out exactly as I imagined; I hooked another big lemon (easily 100lb plus) and I managed to wade through the channel and out on to the dry land on the far side all the time pointing my rod at the bolting fish (full drag pretty much means the rod is forced into a flat angle of attack).  It was at this point that my plan failed however, my high point simply wasn't high enough to keep more than a portion of the backing above water.  The leader and the line were still dragged down to the level of the shark as it sped through the same rocks with the same ultimate result.  I had to come to the conclusion that catching such a big fish on fly tackle from that spot was going to rely more on luck than tactics.  I didn't try again.

If you're fishing this week I hope you land all the fish you hook, and don't be tempted to ask a friend to net one for you.

All the best, James.

PS the photo of the day is a queen triggerfish that Tracy caught, apparently these are an unusual catch on a fly rod.