Light line Records in the US

[GAVIN H]

Been reading a book recommended by Monts, ' Lords of the fly'. Brilliant book about the hunt for record Tarpon on the fly. One thing i just do not get is why the yanks have light line records? Can you imagine a UK angler fishing for potential 200 pound fish with a 12 pound leader? Completely stupid but then i suppose they are yanks! In the book, stories of 3/4 hour fight and longer. What is the point? Brilliant book though well worth a read.

[Catfish Paul]

Been reading a book recommended by Monts, ' Lords of the fly'. Brilliant book about the hunt for record Tarpon on the fly. One thing i just do not get is why the yanks have light line records? Can you imagine a UK angler fishing for potential 200 pound fish with a 12 pound leader? Completely stupid but then i suppose they are yanks! In the book, stories of 3/4 hour fight and longer. What is the point? Brilliant book though well worth a read.

It is a great book and you are right, catching hard fighting Tarpon on 12 and 16lb leader is bonkers!!!
They do lose a number of fish too.

I acquired this book recently. Haven't read it yet. Flipped through pages and at the beginning they are talking about using 2kg line for large fish!!

[squimp]

I agree with you; light line records are bonkers. I’ve heard of people playing tarpon all night in The Keys in an attempt to break the 6lb record.

There’s even a light line record for blue marlin on the fly. A guy called Tom Evans used to hold it (maybe still does) and he lost scores before he hooked one small enough to land !

The IGFA should hang it’s head in shame.

Im going saltwater fly fishing next week and will use the heaviest gear I can getaway with. So for tarpon that will be 80lb leader straight thru. Anything under 80lb will be in the boat in 10 minutes.

[GAVIN H]

I agree with you; light line records are bonkers. I’ve heard of people playing tarpon all night in The Keys in an attempt to break the 6lb record.

There’s even a light line record for blue marlin on the fly. A guy called Tom Evans used to hold it (maybe still does) and he lost scores before he hooked one small enough to land !

The IGFA should hang it’s head in shame.

Im going saltwater fly fishing next week and will use the heaviest gear I can getaway with. So for tarpon that will be 80lb leader straight thru. Anything under 80lb will be in the boat in 10 minutes.

Spot on mate ,80 pounds should do the job. Let us know how you get on.

[Monts]

I agree with you; light line records are bonkers. I’ve heard of people playing tarpon all night in The Keys in an attempt to break the 6lb record.

There’s even a light line record for blue marlin on the fly. A guy called Tom Evans used to hold it (maybe still does) and he lost scores before he hooked one small enough to land !

The IGFA should hang it’s head in shame.

Im going saltwater fly fishing next week and will use the heaviest gear I can getaway with. So for tarpon that will be 80lb leader straight thru. Anything under 80lb will be in the boat in 10 minutes.

Evans is the main character in the book about Tarpon on the fly a few of us have read of late, he will be about 84 now. Stu Apte another from the book and holder of various records was 92 yesterday. Must be the lifestyle.

I can't get my head around playing a fish for hours on a light tippet. It's vanity for those who indulge that an one upmanship. There is an oriental angler with the surname of Tang. He goes by the nick name of Poon Tang, given to him by Evans.

[squimp]

It’s not just tarpon anglers, the permit fly anglers do it too. I’m friends with a tackle dealer in Florida and he is generally regarded as the best permit fly angler in the world. He (and his wife) are obsessed with light line records. I think that he recently broke the 6 or maybe even the 4lb record.

When I fish for them I use 9 wt rods, 19lb tippet and most are landed in 10 or 15 minutes. They have to use light rods, special stretchy leaders and no reel drag……they still lose most of them that they hook.

[Monts]

It’s not just tarpon anglers, the permit fly anglers do it too. I’m friends with a tackle dealer in Florida and he is generally regarded as the best permit fly angler in the world. He (and his wife) are obsessed with light line records. I think that he recently broke the 6 or maybe even the 4lb record.

When I fish for them I use 9 wt rods, 19lb tippet and most are landed in 10 or 15 minutes. They have to use light rods, special stretchy leaders and no reel drag……they still lose most of them that they hook.

Yes I know it's a big thing in the states, alien to us here mostly in the UK.

[Kev Berry]

6lb line

I use that feeder fishing for roach

Didnt some clown claim a blue shark record fishing 6lb line?

[GAVIN H]

I agree with you; light line records are bonkers. I’ve heard of people playing tarpon all night in The Keys in an attempt to break the 6lb record.

There’s even a light line record for blue marlin on the fly. A guy called Tom Evans used to hold it (maybe still does) and he lost scores before he hooked one small enough to land !

The IGFA should hang it’s head in shame.

Im going saltwater fly fishing next week and will use the heaviest gear I can getaway with. So for tarpon that will be 80lb leader straight thru. Anything under 80lb will be in the boat in 10 minutes.

Evans is the main character in the book about Tarpon on the fly a few of us have read of late, he will be about 84 now. Stu Apte another from the book and holder of various records was 92 yesterday. Must be the lifestyle.

I can't get my head around playing a fish for hours on a light tippet. It's vanity for those who indulge that an one upmanship. There is an oriental angler with the surname of Tang. He goes by the nick name of Poon Tang, given to him by Evans.

I didn't realise when i was reading the first few chapters of the book that they were using light line. When i clicked, it wzs obvious why they were fighting fish for hours on end. To me, you are missing out on a really good fight because if you had 80/100 pound leader on, you could really bend into the fish. Proper runs against a tight clutch, fish tailwalking the lot. Some of these yanks really are strange people the way they think.

[GAVIN H]

This has also made me wonder if the fighting ability of Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon etc is exaggerated? I,ve read you need 100 yards plus of backing for bonefish but is that using stupidly light leaders? I know UK saltwater fly anglers say mullet fight like bonefish. I would guess the UK boys are using 10 pound leader maybe? Anyone on here caught bonefish, tarpon etc on proper strong leaders?

[squimp]

This has also made me wonder if the fighting ability of Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon etc is exaggerated? I,ve read you need 100 yards plus of backing for bonefish but is that using stupidly light leaders? I know UK saltwater fly anglers say mullet fight like bonefish. I would guess the UK boys are using 10 pound leader maybe? Anyone on here caught bonefish, tarpon etc on proper strong leaders?

My standard bonefish leader tapers to a 16lb tippet. In very shallow water on calm days I might go down to 12. Ive caught thousands of bonefish to over 10lb and Ive never had one run more than 120 yards. I’ve never played one for over 10 minutes. But 3lb bonefish could easily break a 16lb leader simply because they can accelerate fast. And I have 275 m of backing on my reels -just in case a permit or a big jack comes along. I once caught a 20lb GT on bonefish gear, which was fun.

Permit I use 15-20 lb leader and they fight like hell (they are jacks basically). I’ve had permit run 250 yards and played them for up to 40 minutes (and I play fish hard).

Tarpon pull hard, but if you know how to play fish then with an 11 or 12 wt (and a proper non IGFA leader) you should land decent fish (50-80lb) within 15 minutes. I know a guy who doesn’t pull on his fish and he plays similar fish for 45 mins plus. The very best fly anglers can land 100lb plus fish in less than 15 minutes. But you have to be really good to be able to do that……

[Mark_Houghton]

6lb line

I use that feeder fishing for roach

Didnt some clown claim a blue shark record fishing 6lb line?

There was a bloke called Ian Bunney back in the 70s/80s who used to go for Abu line class records for blue shark, porbeagle etc. 5lb line from memory

Was a total load of b******s as all they did when a shark took the bait was chase it with the boat to within leader touching distance then claim the record

Thankfully the line class b******s and Bunney himself disappeared from the uk angling scene not too long after....

[GAVIN H]

This has also made me wonder if the fighting ability of Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon etc is exaggerated? I,ve read you need 100 yards plus of backing for bonefish but is that using stupidly light leaders? I know UK saltwater fly anglers say mullet fight like bonefish. I would guess the UK boys are using 10 pound leader maybe? Anyone on here caught bonefish, tarpon etc on proper strong leaders?

My standard bonefish leader tapers to a 16lb tippet. In very shallow water on calm days I might go down to 12. Ive caught thousands of bonefish to over 10lb and Ive never had one run more than 120 yards. I’ve never played one for over 10 minutes. But 3lb bonefish could easily break a 16lb leader simply because they can accelerate fast. And I have 275 m of backing on my reels -just in case a permit or a big jack comes along. I once caught a 20lb GT on bonefish gear, which was fun.

Permit I use 15-20 lb leader and they fight like hell (they are jacks basically). I’ve had permit run 250 yards and played them for up to 40 minutes (and I play fish hard).

Tarpon pull hard, but if you know how to play fish then with an 11 or 12 wt (and a proper non IGFA leader) you should land decent fish (50-80lb) within 15 minutes. I know a guy who doesn’t pull on his fish and he plays similar fish for 45 mins plus. The very best fly anglers can land 100lb plus fish in less than 15 minutes. But you have to be really good to be able to do that……

Cheers mate, interesting post

[Barry E]

Firstly it's a great book .
The extreme light line fishing for records 2lb 4lb 6lb - drawn out fights- gag baiting - backing down on fish with next to zero drag - breaking off fish which won't make the mark etc to me is distasteful doing neither the fish nor anglings image any favours.
However tippet classes like Tom Evans and Co fish is a different matter . They want to fish to a level playing field and have dedicated lifetimes doing so , to me 12 ,16, 20lb tippet classes fly rodding is acceptable done responsibly.
It should be impossible to break good condition 16 or 20lb class tippet through direct pull with a fly rod of any weight. Only going to occur through abrasion or due to water pressure on a long bow of line

[Barry E]

All a little alien to us in UK as with the exception of BFT/ large Porbeagle we don't really have any fish that truly fight

[stubbojo]

a nice mullet on a fly rod can give you a good fight especially in shallow water like an flooding estuary , but i would not drop below a 5lb tippet......

[stubbojo]

think i have a book on light lines ,sure its a Guinness book of light lines fresh water /and salt ,will have to check

think it has a big pollock on the front cover.......