I’ve been told the Yellowfin is an extremely difficult fish to land - do I need a fighting chair?

Yellowfin is indeed an extremely difficult fish to land.  Not only are they surprisingly fast, they can put a serious strain on your gear (even smaller yellowfins).  This challenge has made the yellowfin an increasingly popular target for saltwater anglers.  As far as tackle is concerned, if you are going out on a private boat, you need to be prepared.  You’ll need to equip yourself with a 50 pound class, two-speed trolling reel, a broomstick-thick rod, and a line that tests in teh 25-50 pound test range (at least).  Expect the fish to put up quite a fight - against both you and your gear.  You’ll need to use stron leaders, and if you decide to use live or dead bait, you’ll need huge hooks (preferably baited with squid, skipjack, mackerel, balao, or other kind of baitfish).  Yellowfins will also go for artificial lures. 

When it comes to the decision of whether or not to use a fighting chair, the answer (in most cases) is yes.  Yellowfin have an incredible power to weight ratio, which means that unless you are comfortable and well set up in a chair (or at the very least, a harness or butt pad), you will tire very quickly.  You’ll start to grip the rod and reel handle too tightly, your forearms will cramp, and you’ll adopt a bad posture.  This type of fight is especially harmful to your back.  Also, once you are positioned in your chair, remember that you don’t want to try and haul a Yellowfin out of the water using pure force too early in the fight.  If you do this, you stand a much better chance of breaking something or pulling the hook. 

Tags: sea fishing, cape cod fishing, sea fishing, fishing boats, saltwater fishing reels