22 kg Amberjack on a 2500 Spinning Reel – Crazy or not!

On a recent trip with my good mate Snap to 12 mile Reef, off Caloundra, I rigged my Daiwa Luvias 2500 spinning reel with a ganged pilchard as a floater out the back of the boat. My thinking being “a spotty mackerel on this rig would be a bit of fun”. We were anchored up on our “secret spot” and as the run started to ease my bait slowly made its way down to the Reef below. I wasn’t too worried about this as we have caught good Snapper this way before.

Within a few minutes the rod bends over and the reel starts screaming. I was hooked up on something big and my braid was peeling off at a great rate of knots. Being anchored didn’t give us the option of chasing this one and winning back some of my 20lb line, so it was a case of having to tightening up the old drag or be spooled. Well, after four goes at the drag and the 10 lb backing starting to show, I finally turned him and started to win back some of my line. Just as I thought I was starting to win this battle and getting close to seeing some colour, off she would go again.

After the forth time I had seen the backing I thought that I was definitely going to lose this fish. At that moment Snap gave me some words of encouragement and told me to hang in there. It gets a bit disheartening after you work so hard to get back every foot of line only to see it get stripped away in a mater of seconds. After another 10 minutes the battle was finally won, Snap quickly swapped the net for the gaff and it was high five’s and photo time.

Catching big fish on light tackle. - Cam's tips to improve your success rate.

• Not being anchored up will let you give chase to enable you to win back line when there is no turning a big fish.


• Always keep your rod tip high. Use the action in the rod and your arms as a shock absorber.


• When you think your winning and the fish is getting close to the boat, back your drag off a bit. I see a lot of fish get lost at this stage. There’s most likely always a big run left at the end especially when the fish see’s the boat or bank.


• Use good gear. My Luvias 2500 cost $400 + when they first came out and it has caught a lot of Jack over the ½ meter mark, Tuna and Barra and still is as good as the day I bought it (it’s gets washed and dried after every use). Remember to always have the drag backed off fully when not in use.


• Use good Line and leader. I see a lot of people buy good Reels and Rods then let the outfit down by spooling them up with average Braid/Mono and very average Leader.


• Be prepared to lose a few. If I have lost a fish by line breakage I will try and work out were I went wrong and learn by my mistake.


• Hang on and Smile!
  

Cam