The wireman!!!!

[shagnrelease]

The joys of the wire man, its not always fun and I have had a few close calls but here are some hectic snaps of the net.....

1. LOOK OUT!!!

 

[shagnrelease]

.

 

[shagnrelease]

This fish was at vidal, damaged the boat!!

 

[iggy]

Wow nice fish. scary looking job mate....

 

[Ace_AFRO]

I'll play..

 

[shagnrelease]

Nice ace where was that taken??

 

[J_Bay]

Leader men have very risky jobs, and a few of them have lost hands by getting tangled in the wire/mono leader and having a big bill fish take off...

The upside is that on the big Marlin boats in the states and australia, they make major tips, so I guess it could be worth the risk?

 

[shagnrelease]

Thats true I think my best one was for $300.00 I was not sure exactly what the guy was after!! but there is between $500-$1000 in some countries!!!!! especially if there is a grander involved!

 

[Ace_AFRO]

Out of Inhaca! Both blacks we had come out the water like that (just like your pic)..

Stomach is out on your as well, was it on a live bait?

 

[shagnrelease]

Hi Ace,

it was on a livie, surprisingly it was on a circle hook too, dont know how it got gut hooked but it did.

 

[Fin-S]

As far as I recall there have been 7 deaths (reported) to wiremen / leadermen in the last 30 odd years caused by fish - I'm sure there have been a few heart attacks as well! Only in 2 cases were the bodies recovered. The one after the fish dragged the poor guy into the props and the other after the fish dropped the hook. One case was caused by a mate getting the second hook into his wrist while trying for a boat side release, all 6 of the others were caused when the fish took off and he couldn't dump the line. A good wireman, with experience, can tell what a fish is about to do and react accordingly. He wraps the correct way so that the line is easy to dump by opening his hands, he always has a knife on a belt, he keeps the centre of gravity low and never gets hands above shoulder height and most importantly (although very rare) he should wear a lifejacket when wiring. This is a huge bone of contention but when I used to skipper it was mandatory to wear an automatic suspender type. Fortunately we never tested it. The most critical ingredient however is experience, with it, you can almost play and guide the fish on the leader hence the value of a good mate!