Handline fishing is complementary to fishing with conventional rods and reels but offers the following advantages:

• Rapid landing of fish
  
  • Increased yield
  • Fewer shark bitten fish
  • Improved food quality - avoids ‘burning’ the meat by a prolonged fight
    
• Lower cost than rods and reels
• Very low maintenance

Landing Fish with Handlines

• Using your gloves, grab the hand line and pull the fish toward the boat -
  always keeping the line away from sharp edges – like the motors or hull.
  
  
• If it is a large fish it might pull back harder than you can hold – that’s OK – just
  let the line slip back through your fingers and allow the shock absorber to
  handle the load until the fish tires a bit. Always maintain tension on the line.
  
  
• For fish small enough to bring aboard without a gaff, (usually anything under
  about 40 lbs) bring the fish alongside the boat and, after making sure the coast
  is clear, swing the fish right up and into the boat in one smooth motion. With
  some practice you can use the fish’s energy to help propel it out of the water
  and into the boat. If you’re really good, you can swing it right into the cooler.
  Remember – make it smooth and steady.
  
  
• If you anticipate large fish, you will need strong leader on your lures and
  hooks that won’t bend. For trolling we recommend hooks no smaller than
  9/0 and 150 - 300lb leader. Bring the fish alongside the boat and have a gaff
  ready.
  
  

Safety Warnings

Two notes of caution when handline fishing:

1. Never allow the handline to get wrapped around any part of your body. Please
   use caution when bringing in your fish. The last thing you want is your hand or
   foot tangled in the line with a very large fish on the other end. Remember, your
   small fish can turn into a large shark very quickly. If you have large sharks where
   you are fishing, consider carrying a knife on you in case you need to cut yourself
   loose.
   
2. Fish caught on the handline are usually pretty green when brought on board.
   Be careful. Mahi Mahi especially will go spastic in the boat and if you use double
   hooks or a tandem hook rig, there is a risk of getting someone injured with an
   exposed hook. Don’t pay this kind of fishing license. Also, be very cautious if
   you have a green marlin near the boat – you don’t want a marlin greeting you, or
   your mates, bill first.
   
   

Handline Fishing Tips

• When running multiple handlines it is generally advisable to keep them the same
  length to avoid tangles.
  
  
• We strongly recommend that you unwind the entire handline on the deck while at
  the dock and anchor the handline to a cleat along with the shock absorber. Have
  a lure rigged and ready to go so that once you’re offshore you can simply put the
  lure in the water and let it out. We do not recommend letting the lure in the water
  without the other end anchored to the boat – you risk losing your handline should
  you get a big strike or your fishing buddy has a mental lapse and lets it go…
  
  
• One of the best features of the WaayCool Handline is the ability
  to recover quickly from tangles. While thinner lines get easily
  tangled, the ropes we have chosen recover from tangles rapidly.
  Even when it looks hopelessly tangled (e.g., after a Mahi Mahi has
  thrashed around on top of the handline for a while), just simply pick
  up the end starting with the hook and put your lure back in the
  water. Using one hand to keep the tension of the lure from
  tightening the knot, use the other hand to simply shake the tangle
  free using gravity. Should there be a knot in the line (rare actually),
  pull it back in, undo the knot, and repeat the process.
  
  
• Use rubber bands for an audible alert of a fish strike.
  
  
• Keep lines away from motors and put the engine(s) in idle if the fish is cutting
  under the back of the boat.
  
  

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