Once again, I owe Kevin Ferrie a heaping helpful of gratitude for helping me work out the fishing kinks on Fearless.  When it comes to boat set-up, I thought I had done OK, but I had missed a number of details that go beyond simply dragging a spread of baits and hooking a fish.  There are other areas you should consider to help successfully boat a strong, exuberant pelagic fish like a big bull mahi.  In addition to the photo and video content on this page, these are some of the main points I would have liked to know when we were just starting our cruising adventure.

Setting up the boat for fishing is going to depend on a lot of factors, so I can only address what we do on Fearless and hope that some of the concepts apply to others.  Here we go.  The first section is going to be overarching concepts.

• Understand the difference between what is possible and what is realistic.  I would love to run four rods and a handline every time we go out, but that’s not realistic. I have the space, but if it’s just me, Andi, and the kiddos managing even two rods can be a full time job.  Handlines take care of themselves because if a fish is hooked, my 200lb test handlines aren’t going anywhere.  A reel can spool, so they need more attention.  I usually run four lines – two rods in rod holders on the outboard stanchions, and two landlines tied to the outboard stanchions then down the inside of the sugar scoops using flatline clips to manage the bait spread and keep lines from getting tangled.  The bottom line is that  running two rods and two handlines, especially in conditions where there is a ton of sargassum weed present or other challenges like…I don’t know…sailing the boat, is a full-time job.  I can’t manage m

• Have an engagement plan that the whole crew understands.  When that reel screams and the excited cry of, “FISH ON!” jolts everybody into action, your crew should know what to do.  On Fearless, Gavin knows to go immediately to the helm to assist with maneuvering the boat and managing the sails, speed, etc.  He knows that Andi is going to be scrambling to slow us down if we are sailing along at 9kts.  Lex usually comes with me to help get in the unengaged handlines.  I have my fighting belt staged, gloves at the ready (for handling wire leaders), and long neck pliers close at hand for getting hooks out of toothy fish.  We also discuss how we will relay requests for action like slowing down, turning, or maintaining speed.  Having sail vests on with harnesses at the ready is also important, especially when you have big, open sugar scoops.  You may think this is all overkill, but I can tell you from personal experience that it isn’t.  I can also tell you that even the most well-thought out plan doesn’t always survive contact with a billfish or yellow fin tuna.  If you hook one of those, all bets are off.  Good luck!

• Have a plan for getting the fish into the boat.  We keep a big Yeti cooler on the transom that serves as our Mahi Containment Unit (MCU).  Because we catch other fish as well, Lexi thinks we should rename it the Blood Containment Unit (BCU).  I like MCU because nothing is more active than a freshly boated mahi-mahi.  Whatever the name, having a container to quickly deposit fish into is worth your consideration.  We can drag fish right up the sugar scoop and put it directly into the cooler without ever touching the lure.  My leaders are long enough so that I can uncouple the lure that is still in the fish’s mouth, rapidly hook another, and deploy the rod or handline again.   And yes, the MCU minimizes splattered blood from hitting everything in the cockpit, but it also prevents a violently flopping fish from flopping right off the boat, and it protects everybody in the cockpit from the fish’s activity.  It also helps when you land big fish, like the 50lb wahoo that hit a ballyhoo rigged on an Ilander Junior.  Do you really want something that big going free-range in your cockpit?  Have you seen the scissoring jaws on a Wahoo?  No thanks!  I like my toes.

• Have backup and replacement gear at the ready.  Pelagic fish are tough on gear, as is the ocean in general.  Toothy fish can destroy a squid skirt or bite through a mono leader in one chomp.  If you are in the fish, you don’t want to be messing around with trying to rig a new lure.  I generally have at the ready 150% of what I think I will use or need.  I also have my crimping tool and hardware to quickly replace straightened hooks or damaged connections (especially mono after a toothy fish has taken a swipe at a lure.)

One of my big frustrations at the start was that I had no idea how to fish with a handline.  I had never used one, and they are so simple I guess nobody puts any useful instructional content out for consumption.  To fix that, I put together this short video on how we deploy handlines on Fearless.  We use them as the inside baits of a four-bait spread.  The rods are on the outboard sides of the spread and are usually run 3-4 boatlengths back.  The handlines we keep much tighter, usually 1-2 boat lenghts back.