28 August 4 - 18 , 2017 VOL . 36 • ISS . 17

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can ’ t be improved .” AND so ... time marches on . Being an enthusiastic student of human history , I have always marveled at the progress that humankind has made in the tools and inventions at his disposal . Sure , we have been walking for millennia , and walking still gets us to where we are going , but think about how fast we can get from place to place in a Bullet Train or a new Ferrari .

Certainly , we can still look at each other and talk face to face , but think about the miles we can cross with a smart phone . You get my point . The old way may still work , but the new way can be much , much better .

The same goes for fishing . I can still use my old fiberglass rods for fishing ( and I still do on occasion ), but I would trade them in a heartbeat for a modern graphite rod . I can still cast with my old Pflueger Summit direct drive casting reel , but why would I when I can use a Daiwa Steez ? And why would I stick with thick , springy , stretchy nylon monofilament when I can use one of the new PE superbraid lines ? Why , indeed ?

As impactful as these many developments have been in the fishing world , you still have to sucker a fish into biting your hook , and the more natural your offering is , the higher the percentage you have of being successful . That is one rule that is hard to argue .

For decades , fishermen have been catching fish in the briny deep , and San Francisco Bay has been a focus of a lot of that effort . When I used to have a boat in the bay , my friends and I would harvest hundreds of fish every year , and without bragging , I would have to say we were one of the most productive boats out there . It has been many , many years since I sold the boat , but still , when

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I started getting out fished in the bay , I had to take notice .

Whether fishing from shore or a party boat or perhaps a friend ’ s boat , I took note that certain anglers were getting a few more fish than I was , and that disturbed me a lot . A lot of poking and prodding around and a few astute observations brought me to the conclusion that the one thing they had in common was ... a fluorocarbon leader .

It was hard for me at first to swallow that fact , that a fluorocarbon leader was the factor in these anglers ’ successes . After all , we are talking about big , vicious , voracious predator fish swimming around a murky , swirling , tide driven environment , not trout fishing in a still , gin clear reservoir ! And to make it even harder to believe , even dumb old cross-eyed halibut were more susceptible to fluorocarbon leaders !

Fluorocarbon , of all the common leader materials , has a refractive index that is closest to water . That is a fancy way of saying it is nearly invisible in water .

If you think your favorite nylon monofilament is invisible , think again . There are so many YouTube videos of lures as they are moving underwater where the line attached to them is sticking out like a neon light bulb that it is revelatory .

Let ’ s face it ... most fish have pea sized brains and aren ’ t mental geniuses . If they were that smart , most of us couldn ’ t ever catch one . The laws of natural distribution say that in any given population , there will be the smart ones and there will be dumb ones , and I am of the opinion that for the average angler , we are content to use means and methods that will catch the dumber half of the population .

But ... if you could do or use something that would let you catch more fish in the smart half of the population , then you could be one of those irritating fishermen that catch fish after fish when everyone else is just sitting there getting sunburned or seasick .

NEXT TIME : Finding out the fluorocarbon advantage .

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This big East Cape roosterfish was landed and released on July 11 . Photo courtesy of VAN WORMER RESORTS , East Cape , Mexico .

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“ We are still seeing good numbers on striped marlin , blue marlin and sailfish . Some days guests are hitting the triple crown by landing all three in the same day . Something that was very difficult up until these last few weeks ,” said Dalmau .

When buying a new trolling lure the fisherman has many options . Most tackle shops offer lures that are already skirted , already skirted and rigged and most offer just the lure heads . A tackle shop that has employees who are experienced in skirting and rigging lures can help alleviate the expenditure in time involved with doing the job yourself , but for many of us the hands on aspect of the process is an important part of the fishing experience . In order to get a new lure to run properly a fisherman must pay attention to three different areas .

The first area is the head itself . It is preferable to purchase a head that is not skirted or rigged in order to determine if the lure is properly balanced . This is especially true if you are purchasing the lure from a shop with which you are unfamiliar or purchasing a specialty head .

I know anglers that have many heads that cost in excess of $ 100 each , and with that kind of money involved you need to make sure everything is as perfect as you can get it .

A very good method of determin-

“ Our anglers are seeing decent size dorado in the 30-50 pound class . This is the first time in 3 years that we have seen a consistent run of dorado of that size and it is a welcome sight . All in all the fishing has been very good and we are off to a much better start all around than this time last year . With the return of the bigger dorado and the wahoo bite off and running , this is a great time to be down here ,” Dalmau exclaimed .

ing the balance point is to string the head on three feet of line . Tie one end of the line to a fixed object and hold the other end so the line is level and tight . With your free hand spin the head on the line and note the position where the head comes to rest . After doing this several times you will have a very good idea of how the head is balanced .

The balance point is the section of the lure that ends up closest to the ground when spun on the line . If the head is cut at an angle the balance point should be centered vertically through the high / low points on the face . If the lure is not properly balanced it may run to one side or not have the proper action , constantly spinning instead . If the lure is flat faced or bullet shaped make a note of the heaviest side , as this will be important when skirting and rigging the lure . When skirting the lure try and make the eyes , if any , or the demarcation line is using a multicolored skirt , centered and at 90 degrees from the balance point . While this will not affect how the lure runs it is more esthetically pleasing .