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Random Quote: Ain't no room in the woods for lying dogs
Mako, Thresher and sword. You can tell the difference. All have got to be fresh. Most $hit you buy in the restaurant is weeks old or worse. Just watch swords on the line and you learn some of that stuff is a month old or older before you plate it.
I was just wondering? How do you all sharpen your dart tips on your harpoons? And what darts you favor the brass or ss? I use the brass , but I don’t sharpen them to a point, I round the tips .
Mako is indeed delish...
I always try to stick the dart in the gills or behind lateral fin...makes for a quicker kill, we usualy cleat it off also...the "fun ball" does sound like blast though...Capt Quint!
BTW; we use both flyer and dart and they both are effective...dart is a little more fool proof.
Mako is one of the best meats I have ever had from the ocean. 100 pders I think are best. I ice doen then cut immediately once I am back home and the vacuum seal...keeps well.
Marinate in Lawry's Hawaiin marinade an it fantastic!
I'm gonna try one for sure. Looks like it would be a lot easier to store and sounds pretty deadly. Anyone ever use em on marlin? I've always gone for shoulder shots or head shots on everything. I would figure the dart would pull out of softer belly areas pretty easy? But I'll givie it at try on some smaller fish for practice before I stick anything big.
Safest way to get a big fish is shoot it with a handgun, then all you need is a stickgaff and no drama at the side of the boat where someone can get seriously hurt. Trying to handle an angry fish that has just been pooned or gaffed can be very dangerous. I think its also more humane and less meat wasted thrashing around.
They are fine to eat. Most people who say they arent let em lay on the deck of the boat all day in the sun. Get em gutted, get some ice in there, cover em or get em in a bag or if they're big enough to measure without the head, take it off too, cut tail fins off, and dorsal and they fit in marlin bags pretty good.
They're great grilled, smoked, just like any pelagic fish. Whites are way better than blues, and easier to keep cold. I don't think taking one or so a year is gonna do much population damage???? I'll keep eating em, you guys do what ya want.
Fish in northern gulf usually get one good shot at a mako every year, and a sword once in a while. Most of the YF we catch are well under 200 so no need for either on those. If I ever see a Blue Marlin any where close to 1,000 its gonna get the steel too!
Have a flyer right now, but it takes up a good bit of room.I fish on a 26 CC. I know I can't use the poon in a tourney, but that's not a problem.
Which do you guys feel is more effective and easier/safer to use?
please do not take this as splitting hairs. But when you say "harpoon" are you describing a dart gaff or an actual harpoon? The reason I ask is a harpoon is thrown and a dart gaff is held onto as the dart is thrust into the fish. I have seen both harpoons and dart gaffs in action many times against mako, large billfish and large tunas. The results I saw say the dart gaff is highly effective but the thrown harpoon is more miss than hit.
this dart gaff you speak of is a harpoon either way in my book, just isn't being thrown. sometimes the opportunity presents itself to poke em before the throw comes up.
The harpoons I have seen in action were real harpoons. That means the barb, shaft, handle and rope are all connected together and stay together after thrown.
A dart gaff is set up so that once the dart has been thrust into the fish, the dart stays in the fish and is attached to a rope but the shaft & handle remain held in the hands of the fellow doing the dartgaffing. Kind of like a flygaff except that there is a dart in place of the flygaff hook. In either case, once the flygaff or dartgaff handle has done its job putting the steel to the fish, the handle is laid aside out of the way, keeping the cockpit free for the crew to get final control of the fish.
Like I said before, the dart gaff is very effective but the harpoon sees more misses than hits. Even when the harpoon makes a hit, then you have all that gear in the water that can become an entanglement problem with your props & rudders. I would not want an enraged large mako, GBFT or 500 pound snarlin marlin at boatside with that stuff hanging out of him.
if your dart is brass, sharpen it with a belt sander.
Also you dont want to sharpen the whole dart. We sharpen just the first 3/4 of it. I have been told a few times that if the whole thing is razor sharp it can pull out easier. Not sure if true but not taking chances.
If you are going to kill it then use a harpoon. So much safer. Cry about the sport of it all you want. I dont see to many rowboats offshore either.
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