HAND LINES
“Well, you broke it, now you’re going to have to do without,” was a familiar cry from my mother during my pre-teen years. Here it was the middle of the summer and I had either broken another rod or reel, but I was a Spider Boy, and I would not be denied my sea bass and flounder.
I would wind off enough of the nylon or daron line from the spool and make my way to a dock somewhere on the bay in Somers Point. A quart milk bottle with a string attached to the top with a piece of bread inside was expertly thrown into a small ditch nearby. Soon the bottle was filled with minnows for flounder.
Tieing the loose end of my line to a piling nearby I would tie on the hook and sinker, slapping two clams together, I would cut a piece of clam off with a broken piece of shell. I would lower the offering into the water below. A couple hours later a peach basket would be full of sea bass and flounder. Looking back I could say that most of my fish in those days were caught on hand lines.
This nearly lost art was put aside for many years. When I put a few together for flounder some 30 years ago their efficiency far surpassed the spinning gear that was left at home, as when I returned from the trip I had over a hundred pounds of fluke.
The idea was shelved again until a few years ago when I was taught the art of hand lining while spending a winter in the Florida Keys. The first trip I found me with a lot of cuts on my hands in spite of wearing wearing rings of rubber cut from an inner tube of a bike tire. A run to the store and I found a pair of leather gloves and I promptly cut off all the ends of the fingers and thumbs. I had an extended conversation with a tauhtog fisherman and tried to convince him of the advantages of hand lining over rods and reels.
First of all, they’re faster than any other method. Secondly, the amount of torque you can put on a fish is equal to your arm strength. Try to lift a ten pound block of whatever off the ground with your rod and reel. Next attach a hand line and do the test again. See what I mean?
Were I to get serious about catching fluke, the rods and reels would stay home. Hand lines for fluke would be 80 pound test with a tree foot leader to the terminal end. Hand lines for tauhtog would be 100 pound test with a two foot leader to the terminal end.
As good hand line is a serious piece of fishing equipment and a fair amount of preparation is needed to set them up. A large spool of 24 inch on the outside plates to a smaller spool on the inside is required for any length over 30 inch. The larger the coil, the easier the job. With no tangles. The lines, regardless of length, must be streteched in the sun and allowed enough time to accept the stretch. Next, the lines must be coiled in the large loops of at least 18 diameter.
Were I to go after fluke, I would have three lines, twenty-five feet each, which would be attached to three, eighteen inch bungie cords. Each line would be attached to one of these. I would cover a large area. Finding the lines is simple, but a lot of speed is needed if you want to sort out a limit of fluke fast. This is the way to go. The depth of the water will determine the length of the line.
I would only use a single line as setting the hook and turning the fish before he can wrap you up on the piling is critical. This is the reason for the hand line to begin with.
A small investment could lead to a lot more fish for time spent. Using hand lines I will out catch anybody using rod and reel. Upwards of three to five fish per their one, and I’m gone. A good rinse, a careful recoiling of the lines and cool storage space will ensure they’re ready for the next trip.
Don’t knock the hand lines before you’ve used and mastered them.
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