Outdoors

Big-game fly-fisher works all the angles

By NANETTE HOLLAND
Published April 10, 2005

TAMPA - When it comes to fighting big fish on a fly-rod, few anglers have as impressive a resume as Jim Seegraves.

The retired businessman, who winters here and summers in Alaska, holds 15 IGFA fly-fishing records including the 6- and 8-pound tippet records for redfish (41 and 33 pounds, respectively) and the 6-pound record for black drum (41 pounds).

Seegraves has fished around the world for more than 30 years and has seen advancements in gear that have made it easier to battle and land big fish. He remembers landing 60-pound king salmon on a Pflueger reel with no drag and a fiberglass rod, and he acknowledges that modern tackle saves wear and tear on fish and angler.

But the best equipment won't perform in the hands of an unskilled fisherman, and Seegraves believes there is no substitute for hard work and attention to detail.

"The better you get with the equipment, the less the equipment matters," he said.

He has landed practically every big fish that can be caught on a fly-rod, from tarpon to bluefin tuna. This summer he plans to go after the record for halibut in Alaska. When he decided to target big fish, he practiced by attaching his line and leader to a scale, then pulling as hard as he could to determine the pressure he exerted. Using a 14-weight rod with 20-pound leader and pulling vertically, he was able to apply only about 6 pounds of pressure. Using the same rig but pulling side to side, he could double the pressure. He notes this is the same "down and dirty" technique taught by Stu Apte, a pioneer of fly-fishing for sailfish, tarpon and other giants.

Fly-rodding for the brutes is all about angles, Seegraves said. If the fish goes left, the angler should pull right. If it wants to go to the bottom and sit, the angler should exert pressure to prevent it from resting. For extremely powerful diving fish, such as bluefin tuna, it helps to have a savvy captain who can back the boat to allow the angler to pull at an angle, because fly-rods do not have the lifting power of conventional big-game tackle.

Attaching your line to a scale also is useful for figuring out the breaking point of the line, which Seegraves says is more critical than the breaking point of the fly-rod, especially if planning to fight big fish on light line, as he does.

He rarely breaks a knot, thanks to an obsession with learning to tie them. He uses a Bimini twist to connect the tippet to the butt section of the leader with a surgeon's loop. He uses another Bimini at the opposite end, connecting it to the shock tippet through an Albright or Hufnagle knot. A drop of Super Glue prevents slippage.

Danny Ayo of Louisiana, who has guided Seegraves to his records on redfish and black drum, says he has never seen an angler put as much pressure on a fish as Seegraves or set a reel's drag as tightly: "I am amazed at the pressure he can put on these fish and not break off. He is absolutely a world-class angler."

Constant, even pressure is key, according to Seegraves, who fought his 41-pound red for two hours, during which the fish took him and Ayo on a 1.5-mile jaunt across a bayou.

Seegraves devotes an estimated 95 percent of his time to the long rod. He urges those getting started to resist the urge to go back to spinning tackle when they don't have immediate success.

"Anybody who can turn the crank of a big reel can land a marlin," he said, "but I think there is a higher skill level needed for fly-fishing. With the fly-rod, the person who takes the time to perfect the art is going to do better than the person who doesn't."

Nanette Holland is a member of the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club.

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:40:18]