Fort Lauderdale, FL, entrepreneur Merrill Brooks Smith leads Atlanta, GA’s InComm Payments, where he delivers global transactional solutions. An avid sailor, Merrill Brooks Smith skippers the vessel “Uno Mas” and competes in billfish tournaments off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean.
One of the classic billfishing techniques for marlin is the bait-and-switch. This requires the coordinated efforts of two anglers. The first angler handles the teasers, or a set of colorful lures that is dragged behind the boat and attracts big-game fish. The other angler handles the rod. As the billfish chases, the teaser is retrieved at a speed that matches the fish, while a pitch bait is free-spooled from the rod, in line with the teaser that is being taken in.
The teaser is wound past the pitch bait and then jerked quickly in, which shifts the attention of the attacking billfish from the teaser to the bait. This maneuver requires deft execution. The pitch bait must not spin, but swim realistically from the moment it touches the water. In addition, the pitch bait must be cast at the exact moment the marlin rises to chase the teaser.
One of the classic billfishing techniques for marlin is the bait-and-switch. This requires the coordinated efforts of two anglers. The first angler handles the teasers, or a set of colorful lures that is dragged behind the boat and attracts big-game fish. The other angler handles the rod. As the billfish chases, the teaser is retrieved at a speed that matches the fish, while a pitch bait is free-spooled from the rod, in line with the teaser that is being taken in.
The teaser is wound past the pitch bait and then jerked quickly in, which shifts the attention of the attacking billfish from the teaser to the bait. This maneuver requires deft execution. The pitch bait must not spin, but swim realistically from the moment it touches the water. In addition, the pitch bait must be cast at the exact moment the marlin rises to chase the teaser.
