Tail Loop

[Travis Heaps]

In Fishing World magazine (Jan 2009) there is an article about GT popping and it mentions using a tail loop to land fish.  It doesn't go into any detail but I assume it's a length of rope with a slip loop in the end that goes over the fishes tail and is pulled tight.  Used in conjunction with lifter in the jaw it could help reduce some pressure on the fish when lifting it out of the water. 

On an upcoming trip i'm thinking of giving it a go.  Does anyone have any experience with using one?  Does it help at all or is just a lot of fiddling around?

[Luke Wyrsta]

Hi Travis,

I am yet to see the article.

Having not used one before, my first thoughts would be that it would only really be useful for really big fish - and then, how long do you want to be fiddling around trying to get this on, when a pair of careful gloved hands could assist in the landing at a fraction of the time involved??? Smaller fish tend to go ballistic at the boatside particularly if green - putting a tail rope on could get very timely - not even worth it for a small fish?

There doesn't seem to be any perfect solution at the moment - my preferred method is to simultaneously lift the fish out of the water by both the tail and lure ensuring that all the weight is supported and the fish is lifted horizontally (this can be very dangerous with swinging hooks - so caution is advised). Usually the bigger fish are so tuckered out, this isn't a problem. I would hate to be on the end of a swinging hook and 40kg GT - ripped flesh could be the only result. I concede that lifting a bigger 40kg+ fish can be very difficult, but at the moment I don't see a better solution and it then becomes a sort of lesser of two evils scenario.

I continually rack my brain to come up with a superior and safer solution, including which others have mentioned before - an 'environet' style sling. It then becomes a trade-off between wasting time with a big fish at the boat, debating whether or not a fish should be taken from the water, practicality of such a device etc...

My other big concern with the tail rope is burning/scarring. Some kind of protective sleeve would be required to avoid causing physical damage as well as removing protective slimes.

Just my opinion.
Luke

[Jon Li]

Aside from lifting the big GT by hands ( 2 deck hands on the swim platform ) , the large fishing net is the best way . Tail loop is considered damaging to the GT and I would resort to gaff at the mouth of the fish as a less damaging act .

Jon .

[AustralianAngling]

We have been using same type of tailer for at least the last 13 years.
Damage to fish nil. You have hurt the fish more dragging it to the boat with the lures hooks than anything. Gaffing in mouth in rough weather or even in good forget it how much this must hurt and worse if you miss mouth.
Lifting over the side of a vessel not sure how you reach the water my crew cannot and lifting a large fish by lure leader and tail how much that must hurt fish. Standing on swim platform in rough weather to dangerous and I am  sure on work place health and safety would not like that.
You can see from video use of tailer.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=umhdrR6g-IA

[Luke Wyrsta]

We have been using same type of tailer for at least the last 13 years.
Damage to fish nil. You have hurt the fish more dragging it to the boat with the lures hooks than anything. Gaffing in mouth in rough weather or even in good forget it how much this must hurt and worse if you miss mouth.
Lifting over the side of a vessel not sure how you reach the water my crew cannot and lifting a large fish by lure leader and tail how much that must hurt fish. Standing on swim platform in rough weather to dangerous and I am  sure on work place health and safety would not like that.
You can see from video use of tailer.

Steve,

A majority of fisherman aren't targeting GT from game boats which have easy access marlin doors as well as swim-platforms. In that situation, there is minimal lifting however, I would disagree that no damage is done to the fish. Surely scraping the fish along the platform will be removing scales and slime.

As I said, lifting the fish with hooks in mouth is not perfect - but at least in my opinion, better than some of the options available.

[AustralianAngling]

I think if you are really concerned about hurting a GT then throw away your gear and go hug trees. As you are always going to hurt them the most is done when they eat that lure what happens after that is minimal unless you treat them really badly. No matter how they are boated the most important factor is safety and the tailer keeps myself or my crew well clear of any hooks until on the deck where they can be dealt with also use in small boat as well.

Most of you would land your fish leave your fish on the deck while you remove hooks does anybody run a hose in there mouth during this if not you are killing them straight away then you photograph them how much do you think this would hurt fish with no oxygen.

[Luke Wyrsta]

I think if you are really concerned about hurting a GT then throw away your gear and go hug trees. As you are always going to hurt them the most is done when they eat that lure what happens after that is minimal unless you treat them really badly. No matter how they are boated the most important factor is safety and the tailer keeps myself or my crew well clear of any hooks until on the deck where they can be dealt with also use in small boat as well.

Most of you would land your fish leave your fish on the deck while you remove hooks does anybody run a hose in there mouth during this if not you are killing them straight away then you photograph them how much do you think this would hurt fish with no oxygen.

A bit extreme Steve?

We are merely discussing the pro's and con's of various landing techniques. I don't think anyone is under the illusion that angling for GT's is harmless to the fish's wellbeing, however, we are not discussing that. We are discussing landing and release techniques - and given the spirit of this particular sport - those techniques (a majority) need to focus on how best to treat the fish for optimal release.

You have many years behind you in your own GT fishing and you are entitled to your own landing and release methods. However, given the theme and spirit of this site I would hope that you are also able to see if from my point of view and understand some of the issues and points that have been raised.

Luke

[AustralianAngling]

Extreme ? bit like this kind of sport

Sure Luke there is no perfect way no matter how you boat any fish.

But as I have said the tailer adds a large safety factor to the program and much easier than a very large net and less damaging better than gaff and no way I want to get anywhere near those hooks while fish in water and boat rocking if you lift fish by leader and hooks comes out those hooks maybe they just end up in your face, arm or some other nasty place as you have mentioned Luke.

As with hose this is very important fit a deck wash to your boat as soon as fish is landed stick hose in mouth this calms fish down as can still breath then remove hooks then hose back in again keep hose in mouth as much as possible.
 

[Mark Gonsalves]

Many of the GT that are caught AND released here in Hawaii survive gaffing. being dropped in the water from 20=40 foot cliffs, lying on hot concrete/asphalt,and being dragged on dry land. They also survive the trauma of being stuck with tags to track them when/if recovered.  The survival and recovery of these fishes are indicated by the recovery numbers tallied by our State run tagging project.  I would think that the tail wrap would be a relatively "gentle" way of getting the fish out of the water.  Of course, not hooking them at all would be the least traumatic way for the fishes.  But that wouldn't be any fun would it?  Aloha.