Boss 270 Wins on Giant Rooster Fish

Accurate Gents,

I fish fairly frequently out of Las Arenas (Isla Cerralvo area). The
beach at Punta Arena is known as one of the best, if not the best,
roosterfish beach in the world. Typically, we fish Isla Cerralvo and
its surrounds in the morning, and if we've caught some ladyfish or a
cocinero that would serve as bait for roosters, we slow troll at Punta
Arena on the way back to the launch. On Saturday (Aug-30-08) we had a
single Spanish mackerel which barely fit the description of
roosterfish bait. Spanish Mackerel are not all that common in the Sea
of Cortez. So I asked my captain, Lalo Lucero (supporting actor in the
attached photo), if he had any experience baiting roosters with
Spanish Mackerel. He said this was a first, and regarded it as another
of our experiments. Occasionally our experiments pay off but usually
they flop.

We fish light gear (20 pound P-Line, Accurate 270C, Calstar GFGR
700XL) for roosters, and prepared the Spanish mackerel as if it was a
ladyfish; 9/0 Eagle Claw circle hook through the upper lip, slow
trolling about 150 feet behind the boat. Usually, large live baits
have to soak for a while with roosters; sometimes for several hours,
which is why ladyfish are the first choice. But in this case the bait
got picked up within about a minute of reaching trolling distance.
That initially caused us to suspect it to be a needlefish..Needlefish
typically don't pester ladyfish, but one of our initial concerns was
that a Spanish mackerel might be more attractive to them.

Clearly this was the real thing, and the battle that ensued caused us
to be very late getting back to the launch. The Accurate 270C needed
to be flawless in operation. Roosters take long hard runs and the drag
needs to be smooth and consistent from beginning to end. For most of
the fight, the line was making that "plinking" sound monofilament
makes just before it breaks so any variation in the reel would have
caused us to lose this fish. Kudos to the Calstar as well, for such a
soft touch, especially as the fish neared the boat and the amount of
elasticity in the line went to zero. Between the Accurate and the
Calstar, I was able to wear the fish down and bring him to the boat
for a great photo-op.

I won this particular Accurate 270C as a jackpot prize on a long range
trip. It was my fourth Accurate reel, but it has become my favorite. I
especially like the long throw of the lever drag, which helps a lot
with roosters where you want to increase pressure evenly and gradually
as you set the circle hook.  This reel makes it possible to target big
fish with light tackle, and that makes fishing more fun.

Thanks,
Jamie Lawson