Avoiding the Backup
Author:
Staff For West Coast long-range anglers, super-braid is reducing the need to call upon backup outfits to land a trophy fish aboard big sport-fishing boats with many anglers hooked up simultaneously. This requires stand-up anglers to use an additional rod and reel, attached to the angler's original outfit, after a large game fish is about to strip the reel of line. These big boats can't just pull the anchor and chase down the angler's hooked fish, so it comes down to tossing your gear into the Pacific -- with a backup outfit attached.
But braids greatly increase line capacities, so the need to use backups is becoming increasingly rare. That's significant because reels retrieved from a backup fight will end up with excessive drag slippage from heavy water intrusion. Furthermore, the International Game Fish Association's strict prohibition on the use of backup outfits eliminates any chance of establishing a world record. Such was the case back in 1988 when long-ranger Mark Gasich, of Newport Beach, California, landed a monster 399.6-pound yellowfin tuna -- still the largest ever landed on a rod and reel -- aboard the Polaris Supreme. But the catch couldn't be accepted as a world record since two backup outfits were used in the fight. The outcome might have been different had braided line been available.
