# fighting technique without harness/fighting belt



## ksong (Jun 30, 2004)

I have been fighting tuna without harness/fighting belts for decades.
Until recently I used long 7' - 8' rod for tuna jigging and it was hard to use harness with such long rods, especially as I have a bad back. So, I delevoped my way of fighting tuna without them.
It became my habit. Even I started using short jigging rods for tuna, I continued to fight tuna without them. 
How effective the technique is ?
I used two 5' Black Hole Cape Cod Special for jigging and bait fishing on the recent 16 days Excel trip and all tuna caught on the rods were fought without harness/fighting belt as you see in the pictures. 

















































I didn't catch any tuna over 200 lbs on the trip.
Can I do it for 200 lbs - 300 lbs with the technique ? 
Absolutely. It just takes a little more time.
I don't think I took more time to land a tuna than other average fishermen on the boat who used harness and heavy tackle on the trip.
My technique is very simple.
I point my rod tip toward fish and pull the rod by moving backward and gain line while moving forward with arm extended.

Try it and you'll find how effective this technique is.


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## Roger (Aug 12, 2005)

Kil, I've read about the way you fight those tuna and at first thought I didn't think it could be done that way. Evidently it works........

By the way, I kind like your color coordinated socks in that 4th pic. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Have a nice day....


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## luna sea II (Jul 11, 2009)

my father used to chastise me for asking for a belt - they never used them back in the old days - they just duked it out with the rod under the armpit like you. of course they were catching cobia, jacks, snapper, etc and not tuna. I can't count the fish I've seen come unhooked while the angler was trying to get the rod in the belt.

your technique is very effective on big fish as long as you have the benefit of a high rail. on smaller boats with lower rails a plate and harness is the way to go IMO.


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## ksong (Jun 30, 2004)

Roger said:


> By the way, I kind like your color coordinated socks in that 4th pic. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
> 
> Have a nice day....


My staff always criticize me not to wear properly when taking picutres. But fish doesn't care.


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## ksong (Jun 30, 2004)

Here is a short video of my fighing tuna with the technique.






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*www.jignpop.com*


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## Swells (Nov 27, 2007)

Forgive me for not being a master tuna slayer, not in the least, but that's called "rail leaning." That takes a ton of stress off your back, quite literally. Most of the guys I know who fish under-arm, no belt or harness or rail leaning, can only fight fish to about 100 pounds. One captain I saw brought up an especially vicious +90# stingray after 45 minutes and he had wore off the skin on his left side so bad he was bleeding onto the deck - but the pole never touched the rail. I don't blame nobody for rail leaning and no fault there ... I'm out of shape and have a bad back too.


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