Staying Unstuck
Skiffs are crowded. When moving around the boat, you need to take extra care to avoid getting snagged, cut or impaled by your own gear. There are obvious things, like protecting gaff points, but you also need to be very conscious of hooks on rigged rods.
One “trick” that we have started doing is this: when placing rods in the horizontal rod rack, we place the hooks on a guide frame, reel crossbar or the hood of the reel seat on the side of the rod that will be against the gunwhale. This uses the rod to naturally shield the hook. So for a spinning rod with the tip forward, on the starboard side of the boat, the hooks would be on the right side of the rod.
Also beware of cleats, levers or handles that can snag clothing at a bad time, throwing you off-balance. Check out what happens at 5:04 in this video:
Sudden Impact
Here are three things to think about:
- Large trolling lures can weigh half a pound or more, and are often rigged to slide up the leader. If the fish shakes its head violently close to the boat, the lure can be catapulted up the leader, possibly beaning the mate or the angler.
- If you fish outriggers with taglines, beware of the taglines snapping back and hitting someone after the strike. A light release clip on the tagline is less dangerous in this situation (Thanks to Capt. David Brackmann of the Caliente for this piece of advice).
- Sinking lines and cross-winds can change salt-water flies into dangerous flying objects. We’ve had flies strike the lenses of our sunglasses on the backcast, yet another good reason to wear eye protection at all times.