Q: My crew and I are discussing what line we should use in the Los Sueños tournament. The event allows us to use 50-pound line, but we usually use 30-pound while fishing here in Costa Rica. We just ordered four new 30s, and the captain who helped us out loaded them all with 50-pound IGFA line. Our regular captain (not the guy who ordered the reels for us) thinks we will get a better hookup percentage with 30-pound, so we ordered a big spool of IGFA 30-pound to switch back to again unless you tell us otherwise. I've found that I have the best luck catching sails by using a very light drag, trying to keep them on the surface so we can back right up to them. What do you suggest?

Tom Conroy
Naples, Florida

A: The line class you use really doesn't make that much difference on your hookup percentage. However, the size and weight of your rod and reel can make it easier or harder to hook billfish. The heavier the reel's spool, and the weight of the line on it, the more inertia required to start a drop-back. Lighter reels with light spools free-spool almost instantly.

The weight of the reel will not change with changes in line class. For a given reel full of line, you will just have more line in lighter sizes. We often use quite small reels, even on IGFA 80-pound class, to help us get good hookups. Since most mass-produced reels can't handle the drag settings we use for line in their stated class (often because they lose free-spool at high drag settings), we have them blueprinted and modified by Cal Sheets in California or Jack Erskine in Australia.

On sails or striped marlin, the technique you described of using light drag and backing to the fish will work fine but can be improved upon with better boat-handling techniques that allow the angler to apply more drag. However, I don't suggest experimenting with new techniques during a tournament since it may make things worse instead of better.

Use all of the drag the line can stand if you hook a decent blue or black marlin. You will probably need to go to a fighting chair if you use more than 22 pounds of drag (you can use up to 40 on 50-pound line if your gear is tight) for any significant amount of time.