Guys as you know the alongi season is soon due and so we start preparing our rigs and stuff.
As many of you here notice i like using handlines and it is a thril to feel the pull of an alunga on the palm of your hands :)
What setup would one recommend ??
I was thinking about this setup:
Lure, 2fa 70mm leader, heavy duty swivel, then around 300m of 90mm for the main line. With a 300g weight (if not using a lure) 5fa away from the lure.
all ends will be crimped !!
Any suggestions about maybe different setups??
I also wish to try a large plastic squid (totlu tal plastic) which many used to use before.
insert a 100g weight inside the body then a mustad single mustad hook size 4 or a double hook.
Thanks for any help guys
BigBoy =]
well we used to use the 90mm line (tal gazzra) and it worked ok. thats way back like 10 years ago. then someone came up with the plastic cans that shoot out when u are hit and are then retrieved, and last we had the rods and reels.
I understand the trill of feeling that pull on ur hands and i always keep a handline apart from the rods.
I suggest a 60mm line around 50lbs will be good for a handline, but its a bit risky. Are u going with a big boat or the 15footer as the weight of the boat will make a difference. so if u want to u can initially use an 80mm line/80lbs and see howit goes u can make a loop at end of line and easy off with ur arms and if need be have extra line in tank or around cork and ease off as necessary.
Your set up big boy should work ok. The only difference i would suggest is that u dont need that much line out 300m, if u let out 210m it should be ok. The only hitch is that u will be targeting tuna only. With the 300m line u are also targeting swordfish and spearfish.
Re single or double hook well i use both and never had any problems. With double hooks u have to tie them together so that ifu hook up with one only it doesnt open up on u.
See u out there mate always ask before u leave as fish are caught from different parts of the south side. I usually post on privileged boards as to location. or a pm
What is the ideal hook size for alongi?
a 10/0 will do mate!!
and big boy, maybe you wanted to write 30m?? i distribute my lures from about 15m - 70m from the boat!! and don't be fooled to think that the 15m is useless, sometimes you get more strikes on this one. the foam created by the boat may be interpreted (from the predator) as a school of bait fish escaping ;) and shanook i thing that 210m is still a lot more than needed!!
correct me if im wrong dw :)
210 metres is for me something totally new and never heard of. I don't even have them on my reel! The most I let out is 30-35metres. Does anyone else leave 200metres of line?
I personally use a rod one one side and a line on the other. However I very much prefer a rod as you can use thinner lines (I use .55mm and .50mm fluorocarbon 5m leader). One weight of around 200g to 300g about 8 metres behind the lure. Not to far back as then it will be ineffective.
There is some logic to a center lure being dropped waaaay back behind the boat. Not sure if I've ever let out more than 200m of line, I might have done without realising but I caught a nice tuna at the time with a daisy chain and jet head combo.
My reasoning is that some fish are raised by the smaller fish that maybe come up for the prop wash and then that larger fish hangs back to attack whatever might be left over.
i got mis interpreted guys sorry lol maybe i was not clear :(
when saying having 300m of main line i was meaning having all the extra line whixh i can let out when the fish does its usual run offs.
I will not be letting out more than 20fa behind the boat for sure
opps sorry meant 210 feet my fault grrrrrrrrrrrrrr silly me. I use 35 fa and when multiplying by 6 i put it down as metres instead of foot. Oh don worry i have a lot more than 200m in y reel.
Regarding letting of if its an alunga dont bother to let off anything just iold on tight thats all. Ramio,s fater had a break when using a handline and placed it on the cleat half and hour later they realised they had an alonga skiing behind the boat. With a 60lb line i brought up a 12 kg swordfish on a hand line although when i noticed that it was a sworfish i was more cautious.
shanook with a 0.90mm leader we brought up a 220kg tuna on a swordfish longline :P
yes bigboy but a long line is another story. U wouldnt hold a 200kg tuna with .9mm handline. its not even comparabile.
yeah i know lol
I NEVER had a doubt that u would know LOL.........so we will be hearing bigboy on south side eh..which one u coming with or u joining forces with camkev??
Will surely be the skipper on camkev's boat :P But who knows maybe we will have a boat ready for the alongi season :P
The safest way I found when using a hand line for alungi, was to have 100m of .9mm hand line with a swivel covered with a small squid to hide it. To this I attach the lure with about 2m leader.
The other end of the hand line I crimp a loop protected with tubing. Inside a bucket I had a roll of brown braid ( the ones they use for bottom long lines) which was wound around a plastic spool. At the front I had a clip which I snapped to the loop of the hand line (one like they use for volticci).
Fishing I let out line as much as needed usually 40 to 60m. the rest of the hand line I unwind carefully on the deck. Note that line has to be pre stretched. I used gloves with tips clipped off, to hold hand line. When fish strikes, I regulate the slip through my fingers to simulate the drag untill boat speed is reduced, then you start bringing in the fish.
The good thing about this set up is :
A: You feel the strike........I miss it!!
B: If you get a big fish you have the backing of the large spool.
C: If a sword fish strikes at the lure with its sword, you will feel it instantly and let go the hand line to imitate a wounded bait, then when the fish comes back you are in for the fun. With a rod this is much harder to do.
Enjoy.
Guys,
I'm set up as follows (never tried it yet since this is the first season i shall be fishing for alongi) .. got a lure attached to a 0.7mm line, then a weight of 200g after 20m of handline and from then onwards i shift to 'lenza'. I'm planning to let out about 50m in all .. ie 30m lenza + 20m harira. My question is: have i set my weight too far away from the lure pls?
cheers
I think 10 metres will be enough or 6 qami!
10 mts will be fine but i question the use of a Lenza. The thickness of the line let out makes a difference in water turbulance it causes and ur lure with be directly behind that turbulance. It might scare ur fish form striking.........we try as much as possible to make thing natural..........anything different might scare the fish ..........
I use lenza, np there, however, i'd prefer a 300-350gram weight... ps, i prefer handlines and nearly all my lures are rigged that way. lure/15 il qama mono to heavy duty swievel/30-35 qama lenza tal 1.5mm or 2mm/300-400gram weight(on lenza)/another heavy duty swievel at the back to attach a 5 litre jerry can and a longer piece of lenza tat 2.5mm just incase a BFT decides to take your lure. Obviously, you keep the part from near the jerry can inside the boat... should you get 2 strikes, leave one of the lines go with the jerry can and deal with the other first..
thanks guys for your input ..
Shanook : My lenza only starts after 20m mono [so i have 20m which are virtually transparent and turbulence free before the lure]
Robby: it seems i'm set up pretty much similar to you (except that i'm using a lighter weight). So your weight is still about 30m away from the lure .. since that was my biggest concern that the weight should be nearer to the lure. Am assuming that your lines are tried and tested ;)
thanks again
just another note, the lures head will contain a further 40-60gr weight.