Local Hooker Rods - Fish Tales Blog

TEAM LOCAL HOOKER

admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:00:37 +0000

Team Local Hooker Rods are Back from Battle, tired as hell but unharmed. Final Results 5 Mako sharks between 100 and 150lbs and over 46 blue sharks up to 200lbs in two days. Seriously over 46 blueshark what the hell!!! Talk about wear and tear on your gear! and speaking of beating up gear. Co-Captains Jack and Lou and the rest of the team Robbie ”The Hammer” Taylor, Shawn, Mike and Robbie 2. would like to thank Local hooker rods for sponsoring us and for making such bad ass rods. We strait tortured them all weekend and couldn’t find one issue with them. Nice to see that someone knows how to make rod for guys making money on the water still! If your catching big fish you should seriously consider getting your hands on one! Here are just a few quick pics of the action, we have tons of videos and photos that we’ll post as as video montoge on youtube later! Thanks again to everyone that wished us luck!

Capts Jack and Lou

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:03:57 +0000

Bob,

The rods came in and they look great. The alps rollers have much more clearance than I was expecting which is great. I assumed they were the same rollers that are on the acid wrap rods. Anyway thanks for another smooth transaction and great product. Well be in touch in the future as I continue to upgrade my rods.

Sincerely, Alex Rahkonen

BLUE SHARKIN…

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:45:00 +0000

OTW Sales Rep Anthony “Cheech” DeiCicchi got into a crazy blue dog bite south of Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend and wrote it up for FOTJ. – JTF

Last weekend, I had the chance to hop aboard Mike Pierdinock’s Perseverance to ply the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard for some sharks. Prior to the trip, I did a little research hoping to find some water and conditions that would be likely to hold makos or, better yet, threshers. I logged on to Rutgers Coolroom to take a peek at some sea surface temperatures, and found a nice break over some structure known to hold mako and thresher sharks when the right temperatures were present. I found a 7 to 8 degree break approximately 42 miles from Falmouth Harbor, and it seemed like we’d be able to set up for a nice drift over the structure.

Captain Mike ran his boat from Green Harbor in Marshfield and docked at Falmouth Harbor for the night. We jumped on the 30-foot Pursuit Offshore and pushed off at 5:00 a.m., making our way through Muskeget Channel toward the sharking grounds with high hopes for finding makos and threshers.

Big bluesharks were thick as thieves south of the Vineyard last weekend.

As we approached the structure the temperature slowly crept up from 57 degrees to that 65-degree water we were looking for. This was a relief since the fog and cloud cover prevented any readings from the Furuno Navnet system equipped with Sirius SST overlay. We started our chum slick with freshly ground bluefish, baited the shark rigs with blue fish fillets, and deployed one of the live harbor pollock Capt. Mike procured the day before. Positioning the bridled live bait farthest away, we then set a bluefish fillet about twenty feet down. Next, we dropped a weighted bluefish fillet 55 feet down under a balloon, just above the thermocline, and set that about 30 yards from the transom. The last bait, a flat line, was dropped down just below the thermocline at 65 feet, right off of the transom. As the chum slick materialized, and our starting point was marked on the GPS, the wait was on.

Captain Mike Pierdinock releases one of many big blue sharks.

Within minutes we had our first customer of the day take a shallow-set bluefish fillet fished on one of the Local Hooker Acid Wrapped rods we were using. These rods entirely take the torque out of the reel seat, preventing the reel to want to naturally turn over. In about 15 minutes we had a quality 6-foot blue shark to the boat. We tagged the shark, cut the leader, and reset the bait. Before getting the bait all the way to its position, we were on again. While fighting that fish, another rod went off. Doubled up! We made quick work of these two “blue dogs.”

At times, we had three or four sharks on at once, with free swimming blue sharks all around us. It was mayhem! We had so much action we started to experiment with lighter and lighter tackle. Hooking up on a 30-pound-class rod with an Okuma Cedros made for a fun challenge with one 250-pound shark.

Although the mako and thresher sharks did not make an appearance, the action was non-stop throughout the day! We counted more than 30 blue sharks caught and released, some easily over 300 pounds!

Cheech grabbed a spinning rod to battle one of the big blue dogs on light tackle.

Toward the end of the drift, I grabbed a 30 to 50-pound class spinning rod with a Penn 950 loaded with 80-pound-test braid, clipped on a shark rig and cast it into the slick. I hooked up and broke off a nice shark as I was palming the reel to turn the fish. I quickly re-rigged and came back for round two. Quickly hooking up again, I fought the fish for about 30 minutes. Again, palming the reel to stop the fish and turn it when necessary. The fish took me all around the boat a few times, and I finally had it moving toward us while I was fighting it from the bow.

As I got the fish directly below me, it was time to see what this Local Hooker spinning rod was made of. Palming the reel and pumping the fish closer and closer, I almost had the tip of the rod below the butt of the rod! Very impressive! We got the fish to the boat, leadered it, tagged it, and sent it on its way. What a day! If we only had a fly rod on board it would have made the day complete, aside from a the obvious goal of boating a mako or thresher shark.

For one last shot at one of these tasty sharks, we rigged up some trolling baits with shell squid tipped with the last of the fresh bluefish to troll our slick on the way home. We set out at about 8 knots, zig-zagging back along the waypoints we marked along our drift. Deploying two trolling rigs just past the second wake, we hoped for a mako to come bombing out of the deep, taking our offering to the air. I set out a bluefish rack and skipped it along the prop wash about 30 yards back and hoped for one last thrill. When we reached the end of the slick we knew it was time to head home, tired arms and all. We got some great video footage and plenty of great photos. All in all, we’d had our fill of screaming drags bent rods and great weather. Get out and try your hand at some sharking! You just never know what will make its way into your slick…..

SHO*AFF

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:31:26 +0000

Bob,

Fishing with Billy Shouldice on the Sho*Aff with the Local Hookers. Had another great day can’t wait to get the other two tuna rods. Will send some sharking pictures at a later date.

GET BENT, Tyler and Billy Bad Fish

A HOOKER & A PORCHE…

admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:27:19 +0000

Bob:

Good morning. I finally got around to picking up a 7’ fast action Local Hooker Rod spinning rod from Taylor over at Sports Port. I immediately threw on a Penn 5500SSg and took a drive down to the mouth of the Centerville River at Dowse’s Beach in Osterville. It was a flood high tide with a 25-35 knot SW with white caps on the river.

The rod handled like my wife’s old 1990 Porsche 911. The sense of control and the ability to load on a 1.5 to 2 oz Kastmaster and cast in those conditions made one outing with the Local Hooker rod worth the money. Next weekend I am going to try at Penn 6500SS, a little heavier reel, perhaps out at Ballston in Truro or the Race.

Again, best of luck.

Wayne

Wayne A. Janelle

Assistant Vice President

Commercial Banking Group

Middlesex Savings Bank

LOCAL HOOKER….

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:38:10 +0000

FLORIDA HOOKER...: Tim with a MONSTER…

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow fishermen of all ages, my name is Tim Brown, and I am a believer. A believer in Local Hooker fishing rods. Let me tell why…..

In the summer of 2010, I was in need of some new fishing gear, so I took a trip to my local outfitter, where I was introduced to a rod that would quickly become my favorite and replace every other rod in my arsenal. Ever since that fateful day, I no longer fish anything other than my Local Hooker rods. In the corner of my garage is now a dusty group of Star, St. Croix, and G. Loomis rods, none of which can compare to my trusty Local Hooker rods.

In my mind it would be hard to find anything that I would rather fish than these rods. I fish 3 to 4 days a week, chasing everything from redfish to cobia, and I catch them all on Local Hooker rods.

I recommend these rods to all my friends, and I DEFINITELY recommend them to you.

Good Luck, and Good Fishing,

Tim Brown

IGFA WIN; Capt Sammy

admin — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:28:54 +0000

Bob,

It’s been non-stop since we returned from the IGFA World Championship in Cabo.

After practicing and tournament fishing with the 12-20 and 20-40 lb Local Hooker rods the last few years on Atlantic sailfish, we knew the Local Hooker 20-40 lb acid wrap and spinning rods were all we needed to tackle the larger billfish found in Cabo San Lucas at the IGFA Offshore World Championships. Winning the Islamorada Captain’s Tournament was a clear indication we had the right gear for the job.

They didn’t disappoint us, they worked flawlessly. We punished the rods and we never had a single problem! We were able to put the heat on the fish and get most of our 15 marlin and 2 sailfish to the boat within 5-7 minutes, in a tournament format where ‘time is of the essence’! Thanks Local Hooker for building a bad ass rod, that helped us to victory and becoming world champs!!

GET BENT!
Captain Sammy Worden

CAJUN HOOKERS…

admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:37:52 +0000

Bob, Its only been a couple of days!! I received a couple more calls about your rods!

Here is a piece I’m going to run in The LA Fisherman:

If you have heard about how GREAT and TOTALLY DIFFERENT Local Hooker Rods are, BELIEVE IT! My customers are some of the most finicky and objective fishermen you will ever meet, but people value their opinions because they fish every day and are the best fishermen around! When I told them I would start carrying a line of custom built rods out of the northeast that are tailored for the way we fish down south, they were skeptical to say the least. But I have changed some of their old habits and swayed their opinions before, so they were curious.

We receive our Local Hooker Rods last week and got them in the right hands for trials. The response after a few days of fishing was unlike any other product that we have introduced here. I received one phone call after another – They were stunned! I have never heard these guys so excited about something that they do every day – it was the rods! They couldn’t wait to tell someone about how great the Local Hooker Rods are. I listened to story after story about the fish that were caught and the casts that were made. It was like they had been out fishing for the first time! One of the main things we have found that makes the Local Hooker Rods different is that the entire rod works for you – not just one third like other rods. From tip to butt, the rod is working to cast farther, feel the bite, set the hook, and ultimately land the fish. People on the Gulf Coast are in for a treat when they order one of these!

I received a call from a guy who’d heard about the rods and ordered one sight un-seen today!

I’M BENT!

Terry Rodrigue

CATCHDAT.com

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:46:57 +0000

Bob, the rods you built for Jeff “Topper” Thompsen and Thaddeus “Thaddeo” Kochan have been flawless….The big bass bite has been incredible in Long Island Sound. The action of the rods while pumping the spoons is perfect. Thank you again!!!! … Continue reading →

WHY WORLD CHAMPIONS…

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:42:18 +0000

By Capt. Peter B. Wright–Described by many as the “Olympics of Sportfishing,” the IGFA Offshore Championship tournament earned this lofty accolade by presenting a successful worldwide format. You can’t just show up, plop your money down and compete in the IGFA Offshore Championship; you have to win one of the more than 110 qualifying tournaments in 35 countries to get an invitation to this dance. No matter what you choose to call it, in just six short years the IGFA Championship tournament took on a life of its own, becoming one of the most prestigious blue-water fishing competitions in the world.

During last May’s competition in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the event hosted 31 teams from foreign countries or territories and a total of 70 teams overall. The international fleet set a new tournament record in the four-day event releasing 503 marlin and 14 sails. (For a bit of comparison, during its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, once known as the most prestigious international event, fielded around 20 international teams and might catch around 100 billfish in a good year.)

Around the United States, and all over the world, anglers compete in hundreds of tournaments with nearly as many formats as there are competitions. Tournament rules range from “jungle rules” where almost anything goes (including line so strong the IGFA does not even keep records for fish caught on it) to others that demand adherence to strict rules and more sportsmanlike standards.

In the IGFA Championship, participants must conform to even stricter standards than those required by the IGFA when applying for a world record. Tournament anglers must release all billfish, and the heaviest line allowed is IGFA-rated 30-pound-test. The tournament put these rules into effect to assure a level playing field for all contestants and to avoid potential conflicts.

Anglers must cast their own live baits and hook and fight their own fish unaided. And if you choose to use live or dead baits, you must rig them with nonoffset circle hooks.

A Successful No-Kill Format

Mike Leech, former president and current ambassador-at-large for the IGFA, was the driving force behind starting the competition (see “History,” page 63). “We wanted to show that a tournament could be successful without having to kill fish and hang them up on a scale in order to determine a winner,” says Leech. “All our major prizes, including Rolex watches for the winning team, are primarily based on the total points scored for billfish released. Dolphin, tuna and wahoo weighing over the minimum limit of 25 pounds also score on a 1-point-per-pound basis and are donated to local charities. This year a 42-pound tuna made the difference in the point score between the first- and second-place teams.

“We also wanted to show that sportsmanship and camaraderie could be the driving force and that huge monetary prizes were not an essential ingredient in a great fishing tournament,” says Leech. “We do require contestants in the championship event to be members of the IGFA. One reason we started both the Inshore and Offshore championships was to reach out to new members, particularly targeting tournament anglers. This way we are able to get new members from a worldwide group of avid fishermen and women who have participated in qualifying tournaments with what are sometimes much-less-sportsmanlike rules. And while none of these tournaments are ever really anticonservation, due to some of their rule structures, quite often they are not a positive force for conserving the target species. Many of our new members wind up going back to their home country or hometown in the U.S. and educating their friends and fellow anglers as to how successful and how much fun our conservation-oriented format can be. In several cases they have actually started their own release-only, no-money tournaments.”

Here Comes the Judge

Part of my job as judge for the tournament involves familiarizing participants with how to fish according to the IGFA rules, which were drawn up not to disqualify captures, but to try to guarantee a fair and sporting contest between angler and fish. The original IGFA rules form the basis for many other clubs and national associations around the world.

For a variety of reasons, sometimes including language barriers, even experienced and sportsmanlike anglers do not always fully understand these rules. Still, in recent championship events, less than a handful of fish have had to be disqualified.

These few exceptions were mostly due to either a mistake in the conversion of a metric measurement (regarding length of leader and double line) or an oversight in measuring a Mexican crew’s trace leader. I did have to disqualify one fish this year because of the use of an off-brand circle hook that was slightly offset. I’ve never seen a deliberate attempt to cheat, and, as Leech likes to point out, the tournament does not use observers or require photographs as proof of a release.

Most other tournaments, including some qualifying events for the IGFA Championship, are often structured in such a way that sheer luck predominates, negating the crews’ skill factor almost entirely. Angling and boat-handling skills don’t count for much if the target species can’t break the line you are using.

In some of these events, including most East Coast billfish tournaments, only sheer incompetence or extremely bad luck causes an angler to lose a well-hooked fish.

To emphasize angling skill and to try to provide a level playing field, the IGFA Championship has, since its inception, required angling teams to change boats daily, based on a random draw. No angling team enjoys the advantage of having the best professional crew throughout the entire event.

Still, an unlucky draw on a hot fishing day or a boat breakdown can catapult one team over another equally skilled group of anglers. (Anglers rate the four boats and crews they draw in order to allow a constant improvement of boats and crews in following years’ events.) So luck still plays a role.

When the fishing is good during a tournament based on numbers of fish caught and released, a skilled team and boat crew is more likely to win. Because when fish are plentiful, a more experienced team will catch their fish faster, set back up quickly for more shots and therefore catch more fish over the course of a tournament.

Cream Rises to the Top

As judge at the IGFA Championship, I also inspected the rod, reel, line, double line, leader, lure (if one was used), and hook or hooks used in the capture of every billfish. By examining all these elements, I could quickly gauge the skill level of the various teams. I could commiserate with skillful but unlucky teams, but I also noted that all the top-scoring groups were better prepared and came with more tricks up their sleeves than the majority of the lower-scoring teams.

All the better anglers, at least those I privately and personally identified as skilled, brought their own meticulously prepared and maintained tackle. I can’t remember a top-scoring team in the past four years that did not use at least some of their own tackle. Some teams even bought rods and reels in Cabo after seeing how important it could be to have casting gear.

Some anglers feel that competitive fishing, or fishing for records, is somehow less pure than fishing just for fun. However, thousands of others enjoy both the social and competitive aspects of fishing tournaments. And they have no problem trying their hardest to win and not begrudge one of their friends who catches more or bigger fish than they do. The camaraderie overcomes the competition.

While the contestants in the IGFA Championship still enjoy the competitive spirit, they also enjoy meeting new friends and hearing stories about the fishing in other countries. Since the IGFA boasts representatives in over 90 countries and members in over 125, there is still a lot of room for growth in both the number of qualifying events and the number of teams that can eventually compete in the championship. In its favor, Cabo provides plenty of hotel rooms and hosts what is probably the world’s largest fleet of charter boats at reasonable rates.

It is also worth noting that men, women and even junior anglers compete on an equal footing in this tournament. This year, 12-year-old Martini Arostegui, from Coral Gables, Florida, won the high-scoring-angler award. He took the angler’s race with 3,300 points on 11 marlin releases. Arostegui teamed up with his father to represent the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club Tournament, and they finished tied for 10th place overall.

Like all the previous winners, the Arosteguis have won the angling equivalent of the revered green jacket sported by winners of the Masters golf tournament. Their shiny new Rolex watches tell the world they have a lifetime invitation to future IGFA championships and that they’ve beaten some of the best anglers on a level playing field.