Rule #1 when hiring a guide. Follow their instructions. I doubt they will make a stink about it or even care BUT if they do then just go their way. Yes its your money but do you want them to work for you or just sorta take you around?
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If a guide tells me what to do, I do it! Why, cause the last thing I want to do, on any boat, is feel or make someone else feel uncomfortable but thatās just me.
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Yes some people do.
Guides can be wrong, even the really good ones.
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We can all, at times be wrongš
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We can all, at times be wrongš
I must be an overachiever. Iām wrong most of the time, according to my wife. The only time I am right is when I agree with her.. 
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I got one in in 2.5 minutes, but Iām younger and stronger
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I once thought I was wrong. But I was mistaken.
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Weāre talking about landing big fish, not your sex life. 
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16# will work fine and if it was my boat I could care lessā¦ but the last thing I would want is to spend $1k on a ābutt hurtā guide. Picking a fight with them over something as trivial as leader material is a good way to have a mediocre trip and a āsorry i am bookedā next time. Plus most guides talk to each other so in an extreme circumstance you may find yourself unwelcome among a whole network of guides.
Guides are people to and at the end of the day, the goal is mutual respect between guide and angler and a good time of course.
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You really want to bring that subject up?
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Love this!
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Steve Huff has never tried to land a big mako on 16#ā¦for an 850# mako, 16# is like sewing thread. If Iād had 30# on my 850# I might have been able to land itā¦ Never bring a knife to a gun fight. Steve Huff is a great guide but he doesnāt know everythingā¦no one does.
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Apples and oranges - there are every day fish, and then there is the extreme like you mentioned. Iāve landed a lot of bull reds on 16 and never felt like I needed more and never had broke any off. I wouldnāt get on a boat for large makos and say āletās throw 16lb at themā either.
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I mean ā¦. What do I know about catching bull redfish.
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Youāre still a newbā¦Iāll give you black drum and slots though.
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I know, I only did 167 days last year
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Those are rookie numbers. We gotta pump those numbers up!
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The 16 pound record for Mako shark was caught in 2011 by Graham Beaufill in New Zealand.
The fish weighed 46.4 KG (102 pounds, 4 ounces).
Is it likely that that record will be beaten 8X over in our lifetime? Probably not. But Iām pretty sure there are more impressive records with other species out there if you look around.
If youāre targeting mako sharks on a fly rod youāre bringing a knife to a gun fight dude. Thereās way better tackle to be landing mako sharks with.
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Iām very well aware of the record. I never said I could land one 8x bigger, but that I would have had a fighting chance using 30# and not 16#. The whole idea of light tackle records is knife to a gun fight, but itās the challenge, thatās the point. Why else do we fly fish? Your statement that there is better tackle for the job is BS (which I define as Bogus Statement); there is better tackle than fly in general for almost every fish out there. We fly fish for the challenge that by imposing limits on ourselves, to intentionally make it harder.
There are plenty of impressive records out there, not sure why you seem to want to put down the mako records. Iāve landed plenty of makos on conventional and fly, and itās as hard as any other pelagics Iāve fought. Iāve landed sharks up to 350# with a fly, and near world records on conventional - they are all tough fights. Did I ever feel outgunned? No. Itās the skill of the angler more than the gear that counts. To say thereās way better tackle for makos is a complete BS remark as itās not about the tackle, itās about the challenge.