We went back out fishing for dolphin offshore again today. The conditions actually looked better than yesterday, but there were not as many fish today. We had bad luck on a couple of keepers. They hit the deep troll and jumped off. Most of the time, you don’t want Dolphin or Sailfish to hit the deep troll. Both Dolphin and Sailfish usually grab a bait and turn it around head first to swallow it. So, with both Dolphin and Sailfish, you try to get a “Drop Back” and let them do it before you set the hook. You don’t get that with the deep troll.
A Drop back is where the mate feeds the line to the fish on the strike by putting the reel in free spool and gently keeping his thumb on the spool of the reel to keep it from causing a backlash. It takes a mate that is paying attention, so he can get to the reel before the line gets tight. It also takes a little practice to keep from putting too much or too little pressure on the spool with your thumb. Too much pressure and you pull the hook out of the fishes mouth. Too little pressure and you get a backlash and usually pop the fish off when the line jams. It is not uncommon for a Dolphin or Sailfish to jump off the Deep troll line. They are usually not hooked very deep.
It happened twice today and the angler was doing everything right. The fish just hit the wrong line. We run a deep troll line even when we are fishing for Dolphin offshore, just in case there is a wahoo around. It works well for Wahoo, Barracuda, and Kingfish because of the speed with which the strike and because they don’t turn the food head first. They bite it and swallow. No need for a drop back.