I thought the show was a little hokey when I first watched. All the comparisions, stupid competition, name calling and watching the other guys. The more I watched the more I got into the show and the characters.
There are some good tips embedded in the show when you watch them all in a row. If you have others to share, please add to the thread. I've only fished a couple of handful of times for BFT.
- Using the black markers on swivels etc. I only saw Dave from Tuna.com doing this once and it wasn't talked about. Tuna have very good eyes and anything shiny will spook them. A black sharpie is a must so are the pricy sharp Jap black hooks.
- #8 small hook being all that is needed.
- Fresh pogys versus half or dead ones. Or getting fresh bait jigged while on the hook. Pretty obvious but had to note.
- Keeping even pressure on the hook to avoid pulled hooks. Showing when they were tail hooked.
- A harpoon being a must. I have one that the sections screw together (Poon). Never got to use it yet though. I'd put a ball on the end of it so you don't lose it. Didn't see that one any of theirs.
- They don't use them, but a good stand up fighting belt is a requirement. I have a Black Magic. On another show a guy almost lost his rod, he didn't have the clip/straps on his belt connected to the reel. That is a big mistake.
- Tossing the chum in the right place and out ahead so you get a good even slick.
- Chum cutting. Some seemed to be very anal about it, in 1 inch chunks from what I could see.
- The can that releases chum below the waterline. When the birds were all around, this was a must.
- The amount of chum used. I never use that much nor thought I needed to.
- All the little things that can go wrong. In one show the deck hand Paul talks about having everything ready and the cockpit organized and clear.
- Having cutters on you. Marciano almost lost a finger in one show.
- Showing a thresher shark tail in action. The whip effect is pretty amazing. Never caught one of those, but a guy on my dock did. He was giving out cooked steaks (grilling them on the dock). Thresher is good eating.
- Waiting till the fish were on the screen before dropping the pogy out into the water.
- All the crap with the draggers and how close they come to guys fishing. I was off P-town one time tied up to boat that didn't have a top on it or radar. It was foggy as hell, right out of the fog comes the arm from one of those scalloper boats. It literally went over my buddys boat and the three guys ducked to avoid getting hit by it. Another 6' and it would have crashed right into my hardtop structure. The guys wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. What a DB and then as fast as it happened he was gone.
- Requirement for swivel rod holders. I got some inserts for my boat. Never got more than a football on them so not sure how they will work should I ever get a big fish.
- Tide swings. I've mostly trolled, but sometimes there are so many boats out there that you are going to get your lines crossed and cut.
- Seeing how the fish are graded & priced. You see the value of cooling the fishdown and then dressing and packing in ice. There was one show where the Pinwheel didn't do such a good job after a long trip and the price dropped significantly. You really need a good bag and lots of ice if you go.
- Using a 2nd anchor versus your normal on the winch. A cheaper anchor with enough line for the depths you fish. Cleat it off and ensure you have a ball attached to the other end. Drop a point on your plotter. Once you hook up, untie and toss the ball over and come back for it later.
- Color of line. I saw clear and blue mono, green and grey (I think) braid and yellow and orange mono. Fish caught on them all from what I see. Curious what guys think works best and in what conditions. I have (4) 50s with yellow mono and (2) with braid and a top shot of blue mono.
- The general areas fished for tuna. The stellwagen, jefferies, even deep in cape cod bay. Some of those guys traveled pretty far and Odysea stays in P-town.
- How important the man at the wheel, harpooner and tail liner is.
Some things the show didn't depict all that well.
- The dudes seem to be hooking up all the time. You'll see in some shows they let it slip that they don't catch that many, sometimes going a week or more of daily fishing hard without catching one. One one show the final $ were shown. Tuna.com (caught the most) cleared like $85K after expenses (not sure what was in expenses, I assume food, fuel, bait and ice at a minimum). I wasn't sure if that was for the capt and mates. If so, there isn't a lot of money in it.
- Duration of trips. Those guys are out there 2-4 days at a time.
- Maintenance. Only once did I see anyone doing anything to their boats. Only a couple of times did they show fishermen rigging. The guys probably don't want people to see what they are doing.
- Sharpening hooks. Those things have to be very sharp and I never saw anyone doing it.
- Interesting that nobody appears to kite fish. The guys do it all the time that I see.
- Rigging or setting up baloons. I'd like to see if there were any tricks there.
