In the wake of another outstanding Broome sailfish tournament, Rick Huckstepp reports on successful tactics for tempting billfish into taking a fly.

The obstacles encountered in any fishing situation are the very challenge. The great part about fishing, and especially fly fishing, is that no problem is insurmountable. I cut my teeth on the briny and, just like any freshwater fly caster, I had my share of difficulties to overcome. In my case it was seven metre tides, big and fast pelagic feeders, a hostile environment that made bank casting and wading suicidal, and, worst of all, there was nobody to help show me the way as I blundered through this new-found form of angling.

At the time when I was running charters out of Darwin, Rod Harrison came along for a trip. Back then, 'Harro' was one of the very few to have nailed a billfish on fur and feather - the Holy Grail of many saltwater fly rodders. This became my greatest challenge - catching billfish on the fly.

SWITCH & BAIT - This technique has been around in the States for some time and plays a big part in the game plan on some of the more successful charter boats. It involves the vessel towing teasers until a billfish is raised. Once the fish is excited (or angry) enough from the teaser being continually pulled out of its mouth, a bait with a hook is fed back to the fish and the teaser removed. The fish pounces on the bait and hooks up.

With fly fishing, the fly must be cast when the vessel is out of gear. This ensures that no fish is taken by trolling a fly, which wouldn't be cricket, or fly fishing! This transfer of fish from teaser to fly in conjunction with the vessel being knocked out of gear, creates the first major challenge. This technique, the only viable way to catch billfish on fly, is one which must be practised by crew members that are both diligent and disciplined.

Firstly, let me explain the teaser systems. 'Flat lines' are teasers on heavy cord or light rope lines and usually one is tied off to each transom corner. They need to be run only 20 to 30 metres either side of the prop wash, and whilst I have seen blowup dolls, kids floating pool toys and a string of beer cans dragged around with some small success, the most tried and proven teasers over the 400 odd billfish that I have raised have been those from Mold Craft. Consisting of a pink skirted 'bird' followed by five small plastic squid about one third of a metre apart, this system is attached to the cord line by a 150 lb swivel.

Other soft-headed marlin type lures can be used but under no circumstances should anything hard, such as epoxy head lures, be used in this system.

In addition to the flat lines, two rod teasers are used. These are generally baited with a belly flap of tuna sewn up with its ventral fins forward and tied up to represent a skipping type bird. I have found it much easier to roll up a small amount of tuna belly flap, sew it up with waxed thread, and then put a small pink skirted bird in front of it. This means the billfish is leaving one pink teaser and switching to another of the same colour, with the substitute having enough flavour to keep it interested.

A garfish can be used as a teaser but must be carefully sewn along its length to prevent any of it being removed by the billfish. Should a single fish be raised and get a mouthful, it will often leave the scene. A small 'bird' can also be used on a garfish teaser.

The ideal teaser rod set-up is a heavy 3.5 metre surf rod and an over-head reel with 60 lb superbraid attached. The braid is run up through the centre of the blank, entering above the reel through a modified eye, and coming out at the top through a modified tip - this prevents the braid from tangling around runners when the rod teaser is ripped from the water.

The teaser bait usually ends up in the cabin or fly bridge (or wrapped around the skipper), and sometimes has to be redeployed immediately. The lack of guides on the teaser rod will facilitate its quick reuse.

TEASING TECHNIQUE - Having four people on the boat is ideal - everyone has a task. The skipper stays at the helm at all times running the vessel at 5 to 8 knots for sailfish and up to 14 knots for marlin. The fly rodder has one transom corner to himself, fly line stripped into a bucket at the ready. The other two bodies work the teasers.

Quite often a fish will rise to the plastic squid teasers, totally ignoring the more succulent tuna belly flap. The first indication is a dark brown patch swimming behind the teaser, then perhaps a dorsal fin or a bill protruding through the surface as it takes a swipe at the plastic. If the fish is on the flat line, the nearest rod teaser is brought up alongside and just in front of the fish and then the flat line removed quickly from the water. All other teasers are removed.

The fish will switch to, swipe at, and attempt to swallow the rod teaser, but the crew member must rip it out of the mouth as soon as contact is felt and slowly work the fish closer to the fly rodder. By the time the angler has his line in the air, there is one and often up to half a dozen very angry billfish tearing the water apart competing to swallow the rod teaser.

The angler calls "OUT!", the skipper knocks the boat out of gear and the angler shoots the fly as the rod teaser is ripped clean out of the water. Whilst you might be tempted to place the fly directly in front of the fish, it is often best to shoot the fly past the target and to one side. The fish will look around for the teaser and turn and attack the fly whilst swimming away from the angler.

Billfish have a relatively small tongue and instead use water pressure to force food down their gullets. The hooks will often find the corner of the mouth or the soft roof behind the bill. Hook sets attempted while a fish is front-on usually fail to hold in the bony rasp-like mouth. At this point of time, any spare line on the deck is allowed to run through the guides and, if they are finicky, some line may be quickly fed off the reel as the fish swims away. The hooks are set by holding the fly-line in the fingers and using the rod tip in a sideways tug. The tip of the rod will absorb any of the initial hard head-shakes that may pop the tippet as the hook is set. From there the angler must keep tension on the line at all times.

Apart from the aerobatics, the fight displayed by a hooked billfish is, more often than not, fairly clean. They will run in one direction and it will be necessary to give chase. Where possible the pursuing vessel should 'run the fish down' rather than 'back down' on the fish. This gives the angler a better chance to remain tight to the fish, and the skipper better manoeuvrability and vision. With both fish and vessel travelling in the same direction, the gap is narrowed until the fish is alongside.

Particular care should be taken not to cross the path of the hooked fish, as this will change the direction of pull on the hooks in the mouth, which will enlarge the entry hole and cause hooks to fall out should there be a lack of tension. Crossing over on the fish will also increase the chances of the small shock tippet fouling on the fish's bill, or having the bill touch the class section

BILLFISH FLIES - Those that display a bulky profile without carrying lots of water are the best. Sailfish flies should be from 15 to 20 cm long with 7/0 leading hooks and 4/0 to 6/0 stinger hooks. Straight or off-set hooks don't seem to matter but they should be chemically sharpened and checked for burrs on the point before each 'shot'. Marlin flies should be around 30 cm long with a leading hook of 9/0 or 10/0, and a stinger of around 8/0 should suffice.

IGFA rules require that the eyes of the hooks must not be more than 6 inches (15.24 cm) apart and the second hook must not protrude beyond the wing material. I have seen successful captures of fish on flies with the hooks tied close and others with the second hook swinging free and back to its maximum distance. This is a personal choice, taking into account the style of fly you wish to use.

Although some advocate surface popper type flies, I have found that as soon as the teaser is removed, the billfish will drop to around a metre or two below the surface. With all the commotion of teasers, bubbles and remnants of prop wash, a surface fly is hard for the fish to see from below. For this reason I favour flies that will sink, and preferably sink quickly.

Flies with copious amounts of wool type dressing should be avoided as this material will catch in the rasplike finish of the fish's bill, causing short strikes and spooking wary fish when the fly is pulled free for a recast. I prefer synthetics like Super Hair and Holographic Fibres which are slick and will slide easily.

BILLFISH TACKLE - Targeting sails requires a shock tippet of around 100 lb of hard wearing material. A marlin may show its head at any time and fish up to 30 to 40 kg can be taken on leaders of this size, but if specifically targeting marlin a minimum of 250 lb should be used. With leaders of this calibre, Albright knots are not possible, so start looking at crimping flies to the leader and crimping leaders to small brass rings - the double off the end of the class tippet can then be attached to the brass ring.

I keep everything to the minimum length and run the class section (loop to loop) off half a metre of butt section and then the fly line.

I had the opportunity of using Rod Harrison's new pre-tied billfish leaders at Broome recently and found them to be brilliant. These take all the worries out of joining up a leader system and will be the way to go in the future.

Fly lines are a matter of choice, depending on the size of the fly and what you want it to do. I have been using an 850 grain express sinking line, cut in half and joined to thirty feet of shooting line. It casts with no finesse whatsoever and feels like a fencing dropper swinging on the end of a rope, but I can throw big flies in windy conditions with this rig.

I loop it to 50 lb super braid on a reel which holds 720 metres of braid. It might sound like a lot of braid, but with 300 metres out on a rampaging fish, the spool is still quite full, giving me a faster retrieve speed and the ability to stay in contact with the fish. Specialist billfish tapers are now available in fast sinking 13 to 15 weights. These have a 25 ft head backed by thin running line and are a joy to throw after my 'fencing dropper'. I might have to treat myself to one of these lines.

As far as rods go, the minimum size I would contemplate using on a sailfish would be a 12-weight. A marlin deserves a 14 or 15-weight. I cover both possibilities by using a 13-weight. I also prefer the option of an extra 'fighting' grip on the butt of the rod.

Choosing a good billfish reel will leave a soldering hole in your pocket. The reel will need to hold at least 400 metres of 30 lb Dacron, have an exceptionally smooth drag and a spool cut from a single piece of metal. Billfish grounds are no place for spools that are moulded together - they just can't hack the pace on 300 metre runs against sustained drag and will blow out at the side spewing backing all over the deck.

Both anti-reverse or direct drive reels will do the job. A lot of the waffle you may hear on the pros and cons is just that!

Drags should be set at a maximum of one third of the class tippet strength and I like to have mine just slightly lighter than that. Reels also should be of the greatest diameter that you can afford. This allows you to crank fast when running down a fish. A small spool will have you fighting firstly the reel and then the fish, and leave you quite exhausted after an hour and a half, on a job that should have taken you just forty minutes.