The rail technique comes in handy when the fish are in this 100 to over 200-pound range as caught recently on the Legend.

Dock Totals 6/23– 6/29: 3355 anglers aboard 137 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 16 barracuda, 1550 bluefin tuna (up to 250 pounds), 357 bonito, 3257 calico bass, 10 halibut, 6 lingcod, 1648 rockfish, 141 sand bass, 25 sanddab, 34 sculpin, 42 sheephead, 1 triggerfish, 69 whitefish, 11 white seabass, 1 yellowfin tuna, and 301 yellowtail.

Saltwater: The number of bluefin tuna caught may have dropped a bit this past week over the week previous, but the size of the fish is back up into the back-breaking range with some well over 200-pounds. Yes, there are still fish in the 30 to 60-pound range, but the big bruisers are straining anglers and gear, with quite a few fish breaking off or spitting the hook after prolonged battles. Captains are still advising bringing three setups from 30-pound to 100-pound rated rods and reels. 

The trick, though, is to use the right gear at the right time, which can be a difficult task as many of the schools are mixed. One may be fly-lining a bait on a lighter setup on a surface bite with mostly smaller fish when the larger fish come up and wind up getting spooled by a tank. Even when using the heavy gear, the larger bluefin, able to dive unabated by the cold depths with their remarkable endothermic system, will often prevail. With the heavier gear and fighting a 200-pound bluefin, it can become akin to lifting weights much heavier than a body can handle in a prolonged battle.

This is where using the rail comes into play. Modern standup rods typically have an extended fore grip and are tapered to handle the stress when rested on the rail. The method is simple, squat down low with the rod fore grip on the rail and use the leverage to reduce the strain on the angler while fighting a large fish. The technique is not a new thing; anglers have used the rail going back in time beginning with those old rail plates back when we fished 15-hook ganion setups for rockfish and during long-range battles with cow yellowfin tuna. 

These big bluefin we are catching now in good numbers are a more recent development within three-day range and using the rail is advised and taught by crews as it will increase the odds of landing a large fish. With the heavier gear and drag pressure, holding on with a 250-pound bluefin pulling hard can be nearly impossible standing up, so anglers will loosen the drags, which often allows a fish to spool them and break off at the reel or even spit the hook. For smaller anglers and those with handicaps or that are just getting old like me, the rail can be our saviors. 

I have atrophy on the left side, which, as a right-handed person, means the arm I am pulling with on conventional gear is weak. I use the technique on my kayak when fighting big fish, and typically, as a kayak will be towed along and I am sitting, it is actually easier on the body when fighting large fish than when on a heavy platform like a sportboat. Once the fish is more vertical, I will put the rod on the edge of the kayak at a 45-degree angle. Enough to ease the strain on my arm, but forward enough to not create a lever effect that can tip me over. It works very well, and I have been able to get fish to the gaff that I otherwise would not have been able to. 

My good friend and standout captain, Juan Cook, recently posted a picture of an angler squatting and using the rail while fighting a large fish near Bahia de Los Angeles in Baja. Juan works out of San Quintin where he lives, but spends much of the winter into mid-summer fishing out of Bahia Magdelena, Ensenada de San Luis Gonzaga, and Bahia de Los Angeles and  is usually booked solid as one of the better known and very knowledgeable captains on the peninsula. The caption to the photo of the angler on another panga included a line about using the rail not being sportsmanship. 

Well, my friend caught enough flack in the comments that the post was eventually removed. In knowing Juan very well, I know he was being mostly facetious, but many took him seriously. Even I gave him a bit of ribbing on the subject. In his defense, Juan is one of the fishiest captains I know and it is well worth booking a trip with him wherever he is working. In fishing with Juan Cook, you will not only have great odds of excellent catches, but can also learn much about the fisheries along either coast of Baja from the sage lifelong angler. But, even in jest, he did bring up a point worth mentioning.

There are many reasons using the rail is a good technique to apply. It allows kids and weak old folks like me the ability to land a fish that might otherwise have been impossible to land, for one. It reduces lost fish when the big fish are biting, and an angler can get a fish to the boat quicker, reducing the buildup of lactic acid. Lactic acid buildup can cause a more sour and fishy taste in the flesh. To reduce any acid burn, quickly bleeding and icing the catch will ensure a better quality filet. Lactic acid buildup in a prolonged battle can also make a successful release harder with marlin and other large species. 

The physical exertion causes lactic acid to build up in the fish's muscles. This in turn leads to blood acidification which can disrupt the metabolism of the fish. So using the rail is not a lack of sportsmanship, it is working smarter, not harder, and can make for better odds of survival on catch-and-release fishing while providing better food for the table. Stand up and fight like a man may be an outdated mantra, and certainly should at least have exceptions. Were we anglers really wanting to even up the odds, we would have to forgo our modern boats, rods and reels, rod belts, harnesses, fighting chairs, and any other unnatural thing, and swim out and catch them with our teeth. 

Jeremy Mitchley with his massive white sturgeon caught at Lake Cuyamaca.

Freshwater: Another beast of a sturgeon was caught at Lake Cuyamaca this past week. Jeremy Mitchley of Escondido, CA, caught a white sturgeon over just over 6-feet in length on June 26th at Pump House Cove while using a live crawdad on 10-pound test line on a bass setup. He fought the fish to the shore in 40-minutes, took a quick photo and released it. Though mostly known as the only alpine trout fishery in San Diego, Cuyamaca also holds smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white sturgeon, black crappie, bluegill, bullhead catfish, and channel catfish. It is the only lake in the county with smallmouth and sturgeon, though the smallmouth have not done well and must be released. The sturgeon population is doing better, and only those caught over 40-inches long and under 60-inches long may be kept at one fish per angler. Both species were introduced in 1995 and 1996. For information about fishing Lake Cuyamaca visit lakecuyamaca.net

Wherever you wet your line, they’re out there, so go get ‘em!