Wind-On Horror story

[JahMussa]

True Birddog.... Windon leaders are useless when you crimp on 15ft of leader.

The use of a Swiveled hook crimped to your windon leader is the way to go for live bait. I even used a swiveled circle hook to catch that Leatherback turtle and we rigged a squid on that. But if you must use a swivel or snap swivel on the end your windon, the use of 3 to 6 ft of leader is all that's needed. With a 6ft leader, by the time the swivel hits the rod tip, the gaff will already be in the fish.

Guys that buy rigged squid... don't freak out! Just cut the premade leaders down and recrimp your loop if you are using a snap swivlel.

BTW... anyone know the best place to harpoon a Leatherback??? Just kidding and for the record, the turtle was released to cause havoc on someone else.

[BirdDog0219]

I don't know why they would but This is what I have seem alot of guys do. I personaly don't use windons my theroy is less connections less chance of failer.

[LIGHTINING STRYKER]

two things ken someone should of had the leader in hand i cant belive davie didnt.after five hours do you think the chances of a different connection holding up are any better.

[JahMussa]

You have a point Troy... 5+ hours tells me the windon was probably ok for the most part. I will need to see and hear more about the fight to figure this failure out.

The battle wagon might have added to the failure. How was the serve done?

[CaptKen]

Tek
It has nothing to do with the $15 bucks , for me it was understanding how and why they work and not trusting just anyone to do it for me. I spent way more than $15 bucks on line,dacron,glue etc. And you are one of the 3 I menchoned as a teacher, Maybe I didn't pay attention close enough, I thought I had it down dam good or I wouldn't have even put them on my rods. Its 3 days later and my arm still aches from winding and I havent stopped thinking about the whole deal, You will never ever be able to convince me that they can hold up to the kind of pressure we had on that fish for that length of time. We could have landed 2 or 3 marlin in the time we were on that fish with that much pressure. I think they do have their applications like smaller swords, But if I ever get a shot at SWORDZILLA again I hope a wind-on is not in the equasion.
Just about anybody you talk to that has been doing this type of fishing for any length of time knows of someone who has a similar story to tell with sword zilla. There is just too many tales of wind- failures for me to ever trust the fish of a lifetime again. maybe if the technolgy changes in the future I may re consider, they may be alright for a marlin or tuna you have boat side in an hour and a half but sword zilla is an entire differnt animal with amazing power.

I appreciate your offer for free wind-ons but to be honest I would just give it away. And if it were one of yours that failed I would be looking for someone to choke .lol thats yet another reason I elected to do it on my own, So I am now going off to choke myself.

Stryker
Hind sight being 20/20 we should have grabbed the leader and started wireing that bad dog up, Paul asked if we should, and If I had it to over I would have said yes in a heartbeat, No way I could have ,my arm was cramped so bad from winding that my fingers were balled up in a fist, I had to take my other hand and open my fist up.

[CaptKen]

Originally Posted by JahMussa

You have a point Troy... 5+ hours tells me the windon was probably ok for the most part. I will need to see and hear more about the fight to figure this failure out.

The battle wagon might have added to the failure. How was the serve done?

It was a stand up battle station on another mans boat.

I will show it to you teacher, grasshopper is done.

[Momentum]

Hey Kenny,

Take Tek up on that wind-on offer...then give them away to me.

How many swords do you have in the freezer for our Mako trip? Can't wait man...let's git' 'er done.

[CaptKen]

Originally Posted by JahMussa

You have a point Troy... 5+ hours tells me the windon was probably ok for the most part. I will need to see and hear more about the fight to figure this failure out.

The battle wagon might have added to the failure. How was the serve done?

OK Teacher Tek here is some evedince to analize that I cant stand to look at myself days later. In this photo with 35 lbs of drag we would at times have to pull the line into the reel an inch at a time, then he would take it away in an instant.



Troy Notice how all the rods are clear form the gunnels ??? .lol



I will save the rest for you for further analization, As you can see the battle station you can put some serious heat on them, With 35 lbs of drag it was nearly impossible to even pump the rod. There is no way in a cold in hell would you ever had me strapped to that rod in stand up gear, It would have whipped the Incredable Hulk !
Which leads me to a new design of a station that will be gunnel mounted in a blue water 0 degree rod holder for the SERIOUS small boat blue water angler. There is no way possible to put the kind of heat we had on that fish for that amount of time from a small boat otherwise. I know the stand up guys will call me on this but so be it.
I can say now that I think that only 1 mistake was made the whole night, Not handlining the leader when we were almost there for the 4th time.
The Capt did not 1 thing wrong all night, I would rate him with the top 3 BBC Capts. A very dear buddy of mine won the BBC overall and Master angler the year before last, I dont even want to tell him this story.
Ken
[/img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/CaptKen/swordzilla004.jpg[img]
[/img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/CaptKen/swordzilla003.jpg[img]
[/img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/CaptKen/swordzilla002.jpg[img][/img]

[JahMussa]

wow! I was thinking you were in your boat and that your battle wagon held the rod in a more vertical fashion. Seeing these pictures kinds eliminates the vertical angle theory.

But it's plain to see now what went wrong... It's all Pauls fault and half of Davie's fault. Paul doesn't have a beer in his hand and Davie only has one beer

That boat looks SWEET and I like the "Standup Chair".

Did mono totally pull out or did the mono snap inside the bridal?

[CaptKen]

[CaptKen]

momp pulled out,dont worry you will get it, I only hope someone can learn from this

[Another Grand]

Originally Posted by CaptKen

Which leads me to a new design of a station that will be gunnel mounted in a blue water 0 degree rod holder for the SERIOUS small boat blue water angler. There is no way possible to put the kind of heat we had on that fish for that amount of time from a small boat otherwise.

I am in dire need of the same thing. I just got 130's and they destroyed my boat........rodholder, leaning post , everything. I am revamping the boat from the bottom up. I fight them out of the rod holder always and put the heat on them.....I have considered something similar to what you have their .....I have also considered a modified fighting chair. Please let me know if you come up with something.

[JahMussa]

Ken.. post a better picture of that fighting system if you have one.

[Verado06]

looks like a cool stand up fighting system..

[Uncle Buck]

THat's a pretty neat gizmo. :thumleft: Was that a custom-made item, or is it a manufactured replacement for the chair?

[Another Grand]

Originally Posted by JahMussa

Ken.. post a better picture of that fighting system if you have one.

Tek,

I think it is this one
http://www.meltontackle.com/catalog/...oduct_id=10351

I have considered it.......Headfirst also has a chair that has been welded and modified......but I dont think it will handle the 130's.

[CaptKen]

Originally Posted by Another Grand

I am in dire need of the same thing. I just got 130's and they destroyed my boat........rodholder, leaning post , everything. I am revamping the boat from the bottom up. I fight them out of the rod holder always and put the heat on them.....I have considered something similar to what you have their .....I have also considered a modified fighting chair. Please let me know if you come up with something.

What I am going to build is similar to what you see in the pict, but it is going to fit into a straight up and down 0 degree blue water 4 bolt swivel rod holder out of some heavy duty stainless, It will swivel 360* but utilize 180* Its a rod holder for a curved butt deep drop rod. You will be able to pump the rod or turn it loose and rest and swivel 180* the rest will be up to the boat driver as it mounted mid ship on my boat. And 130s is not a bad idea, If it had not been for superior boat handeling by the Capt, we would have been dumped in under 3 min flat !

I have a portable chair that you speak of I built, If you would like to get a look sometime let me know, It works dam fine and it wont be left at home when the new model comes out soon.

[CaptKen]

Originally Posted by Another Grand

Tek,

I think it is this one
http://www.meltontackle.com/catalog/...oduct_id=10351

I have considered it.......Headfirst also has a chair that has been welded and modified......but I dont think it will handle the 130's.

That is it

Only thing you are too far bent foward to reach the reel and it will Kill your lower back !! thats the only design flaw. and it better be mounted solid, We tore it out of another boat

My design will be better, more straight up and down and no back fatigue, no taking up room, rod holder will be utilized for deep dropping, cutting board or what ever, no wasted space.

O and one other design flaw for swordies,keep in mind the beam of your boat vs the length of your rods, when swordzillia is straight up and down will your rod reach from the center of your boat out past the gunnel so the line wont be rubbin the side ??? or will you need new rods also ???
the one I am going to build it wont matter if your rod is 2 ' long, it will still reach out far enough.

[Another Grand]

I noticed the same flaw when I played with it on the boat of another. It seemed like there is no way that it would be compfortable for any amount of time and you had to reach way to far to reel.

Please let me know what you come up, I have a friend helping me to design something similar to the same goal you are trying to achieve. The main problem with me is that I fish out of such a small boat.

I do have something I found that may aid you in your design......I will try to put up pics later. It worked nasty for one trip but then broke because it was built cheaply however, I think they were on to something.

[CaptKen]

when I get done you wont be able to pull it apart with a sherman tank !! I Fish from a small boat myself most of the time, I just get lucky from time to time to fish this sweet little ride that spoils the hell out of me.