Capt. Karl Anderson

This column first appeared in Center Console Angler Magazine

 

Unquestionably one of the best platforms for serious fishing is the center console. With its 360-degree fishing platform, the center console not only offers lots of space for trolling, casting, jigging, bottom fishing and live bait drifting it offers the agile maneuverability and nimble handling characteristics for catching large fish. Using the boat to your advantage can help you catch more and bigger fish in less time so you can take advantage of the situation when the bite is on. 

Get a feel for the boat

In order to maneuver your boat properly on fish, you must first know how the boat feels and how it will react when you turn the wheel and go from forward to reverse. An outboard boat has different handling characteristics than an inboard boat, so it must be driven differently. 

On a center console rigged with an inboard the thrust of the propellers is directed across the rudder, which is placed behind the props. When moving forward and turning, the thrust is redirected by the rudder and a different pressure is created on the backside of  the rudder which makes the boat turn. When backing, the rudders should be turned to lead the boat in the direction you wish to go, using the rudder angle indicator on your autopilot will help you know where your rudders are angled. Typically, most people, including many professionals do not use the wheel when backing up and prefer to use throttle to power through the situation, a hopelessly inexperienced technique that is all wrong. Use the wheel, it’s there for a reason, and it is just as important in reverse as it is to turning when moving forward. 

With an outboard boat, the point of thrust is just aft of the transom, and the propellers are not as deep in the water as in typical inboard setups. Again, using the wheel to turn is critical for good boat handling, especially when you want to go in reverse. I often see people on twin and triple engine setups trying to use only the engines to turn the boat, in other words, with one engine in forward the other in reverse, and applying power to make the boat spin. This practice is borderline moronic and really displays the operators total lack of competence, experience and understanding of the how the boat reacts. It will spin around much quicker and easier by using the steering wheel.

Here’s why; the engines are too close together to get any sort of rotation and pull to bring the boat around, and most outboard boats today have a transom set back, meaning the bottom of the boat is tucked under the engine platform. So when the outboard is put in reverse, the thrust from the props will hit up against the transom, slowing the rate of movement. Outboards with the set back transom also have a tendency to get sucked down when in reverse, to beat this, trim the engines up a bit and notice the increase in speed, turning capability and a lesser amount of water coming over the engine platform. To better understand how your boat will react when you need it to on a big fish, you must go and practice spinning the boat, backing up and making the boat turn in forward as well. 

Try a few basic maneuvering exercises like backing up while turning the wheel and making the boat turn, then move the wheel the other way and make it turn back. Pretend you are backing through a slalom coarse, adding power as you become more adept at predicting what the boat will do and how it feels as you make adjustments. This will help your dockside handling incredibly and make you a better more competent driver in general. Practice going in forward with the wheel hard over and applying throttle in short bursts to make the transom move without making the bow turn in a sweeping arc. Knowing how your boat turns at varying angles and how it changes when throttle is added will help you greatly as you get a big fish near the boat. 

Apply what we know about our boat to catching fish

I have been very fortunate to have fished with some of the best skippers in the world for large blue marlin and giant tuna. These guys understood the geometry of angles and how it applies to fishing, things like line belly, water pressure on the line, drag and the critical moments of having a large fish close to the boat. Their overall success was directly tied to the fact that they were also natural boatmen. A good boatman is someone who understands how the boat feels, how to move on a boat and how to make the boat do things that it wasn’t necessarily designed or intended to do, especially when a large fish is attached to the other end of the line. They also understood that the boat could help or hurt a wireman when he took the leader and initiated the end game sequence of taking or tagging fish.

I recently read a “how-to” piece in a national magazine by a well-known author that upset me because of the bad information and wrong techniques regarding boat handling with fish on. The upsetting part is that few folks have had the chance to catch really big fish, with consistency. So, when the right fish comes along and those folks are loaded with poor information, two things will happen; they will loose the fish, most likely after a battle that was too long and kills the fish anyway, or worse, someone gets terribly hurt. The catching of large fish is serious business due to the sheer size of the fish and in the half blink of an eye it can go all-wrong.

We all know boats go better in forward than reverse, this is exponentially true regarding outboards−they just don’t go in reverse all that well, certainly not enough for taking big fish. Short, brief maneuvers in reverse are always necessary, but to settle in and fight a fish in reverse the entire time is folly. Knowing this, once we have a big fish on, we turn the boat and run to it, and using the advantage of a center console, we move the angler forward or alongside the console and fight the fish off the front or side moving with it quickly and naturally. 

We always try to maintain an upsea position on the fish, if we are downsea of the fish, you are fighting the wind and the sea, adding time to the fight and increasing your potential for loosing the fish. Getting upsea will put both of those factors in your favor. If possible also try to use the sun to your advantage so that you can see the fish and its movements as things get close. This applies to everything from kingfish to blue marlin−it is just easier on everything, tackle, boat, angler and fish.

As the fish gets close to the boat and the wireman is getting ready to grab the leader and bring the fish to the boat for the tag or gaff, keep the boat moving at a rate of speed similar to the fish. This is where I really took exception to the “how-to” piece, the author suggested that the captain put the boat in neutral and help the wireman. This is TOTALLY wrong and shows the author’s inexperience with taking fish of any kind. 

Two things happen immediately if you stop the boat. First, the fish is still swimming while the boat comes to a stop and goes adrift at the mercy of the wind and seas, now the fish is also uncontrollable, going either under the boat or laying where it cannot be led along and controlled. Secondly, leaving the wheel is asking for trouble, it puts the wireman in a very dangerous position. There is no accounting for the unpredictability of any fish, this warrants the captain stay on the wheel through the end if possible. 

By keeping the boat moving a bit, you are able to keep the fish’s head in the water, which helps to control them somewhat. Once the head begins to be lifted out of the water, the fish will react, making it hard to get a good tag or especially a good gaff shot, as we always want to gaff towards the head of the fish so we gain immediate control of it. We must also remember that every fish is a bit different, although there are similarities, each fish will do its own thing.

Take your time and keep your eyes on the fish. It also helps when at the point where the fish is coming next to the boat if the captain can get the boat turned downsea, so the boat is not reacting to the sea but gently lolling downsea making it easier to either tag or gaff the fish in clean water. Using quality wind-on leaders also helps because in many cases you can eliminate the leader man and simply wind the fish within tag or gaff shot.

Getting to know how your boat “feels” and how it will react when you ask it to do things will help you incredibly, not only at the dock, but also when that big fish comes piling in. Utilizing the boat to help you gain position and line on the fish will help reduce fish losses due to long fights and will help you release the fish quickly with less chance of damage and greater chance of survival for the fish. Gaining position and keeping the boat in the right place during the end game sequence will also help you do what you need without the additional stress and strain of being in the wrong position at the right time and missing the chance, breaking tackle, the boat or worse − putting someone in danger.