Yak-Jitsu

Author: josh

Category: Technique & strategies

Created on Saturday, 07 May 2011 14:41

Written by Josh

Defeated by a 22cm Rapala Magnum Countdown lure via YJJ leglock submission

The phrase 'fight' is bandied around in fishing circles liberally and by that, often people mean to describe a fish that darts all over the place and gives a spirited account of itself as the angler winds it in. As far as fishing lingo goes, you can safely use the word 'fight' in a sentence with almost any species these days. But in the literal sense of the term it doesn't always fit. Sometimes it does though... 

If we go by the literal meaning of the term, if the fish in question truly gives you a fight in the sense that it truly tested your will, strength and cardio throughout and or made an attempt (and possibly succeeding) on inflicting injury on you, then yes, that's a real fight. There are some species that will almost always put up a serious fight and such fish present a physical and psychological challenge for the angler in a way that many other fish don't. This is especially true when the fight comes to the side of the kayak and particularly so when it's then taken onboard. This is when fighting fish are most desperate and unpredictable and of course when things are most likely to go wrong.

If things do go bad, at best the fish will spit the lure and start flapping about wildly in an effort to escape. When the angler is caught unawares they will often succeed, as evidenced by the spirited spotty mackerel that eluded Steve Foster at Woody Head (as seen in YCKFS E4). At worst, that frantic fish might find a way to share it's newly acquired treble-equipped mouth-bling. Perhaps even worse (depending on the species) the fighting fish might get a taste test on it's captor and if that fish happens to be a shark or Spanish mackerel (for example) it's not going to end well for the angler, possibly winding up in a technical knock out awarded to the fish. 

If you're somewhat new to dealing with larger, more aggressive and toothier fish and haven't put a whole lot of thought into what you're going to do when and if you bring them aboard, the chances are good that the fish will get the upper hand when you least expect it. Just like any fighter worth his salt, you're going to need a gameplan before climbing into the ring so to speak. 

The approach I take (and recommend) isn't terribly dissimilar to the approach taken than by, say, a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (BJJ) specialized mixed martial artist in a cage fight. That is to metaphorically say that I start out with a stock-standard strategy of tiring my opponent out and when the time is right taking it to the mat (deck of the kayak) and then applying a 'ground & pound strategy' (bleeding and or donging the fish cold). If there's enough strength left in the fish for this to be overly challenging I'll then use a BJJ-esque tactic of restraining and incapacitating it's ability to struggle & resist, using a few devices to achieve it. Primary among them are my legs and feet, which I'll use to guide the business (chompy) end of the fish towards front deck (pointing well away from the seated position), as well as to subdue the fish by crossing a leg over it's body. Sometimes I incorporate the miragedrive pedal arms as well, using it as a barrier between myself and the fish. I've also used the aka arm to keep the fish's ability to move restricted. It works. I call it Yak-Jitsu (YJJ).

It might sound like a silly analogy to make (and in a way it's supposed to be) but as someone who has spent some time training in basic mixed martial arts (including some BJJ) it's not quite as out there as it sounds. Examples of this approach are littered throughout the Yakass Coastal Kayak Fishing Show and if you haven't yet experienced the kind of on-board fight I'm talking about here (but expect to) it might be worth your while paying attention. And not just to the examples that go well either, but also the ones that don't (pay special attention to the fact that in each of these instances at least one of the processes mentioned above was neglected).