Mel wrote:
"If you have to think about how to reel when you have a fish on you are missing
the reasons for angling."
This is true. The style of fishing and the target fish and how you will fish it
has to be settled as you set up your rod. How you reel, righty or lefty, has
to be settled and practiced (comfortable) even before that. For me, I hear all
of the discussions in a different way. Some people catch a fish. That is true
most of the time. I catch trout, too. But some fisherman (on some trips- like
me) have to fight a fish, and then the story changes.
Whether you use a direct drive or an indirect drive reel is settled when you
purchase the new reel while considering the target fish and your busted and
bloody reel-hand knuckles from the last trip (salmon, dorado, billfish,
stripers, tuna, etc- big gamefish- over 40#).
Reeling in a trout or panfish in is not like reeling in a big gamefish.
Everything is different with big gamefish. One mistake and the fish is
history, and maybe with your expensive gear to boot. You must re-think your
gear, your strategy, yourself. Everything will be challenged to the maxumum.
Any weakness equals a lost fish, lost gear, and maybe an ended trip.
I need to make this clear to anyone targeting the big fish with a fly rod. You
shouldn't reel the fish in. You can reel in slack line- off the deck or a
belly in the line. You can reel in line below the drag setting after the pump,
which is pretty low because of the low tippet strength used compared to the
fish. Other than that, it's pretty much a stale-mate on the reel. Drop your
left arm and rest it- you'll need it refreshed real soon. Pump the rod, then
reel in as you drop the rod. Then, if he comes at you, reel in like the
dickens.
The most dangerous time is while casting and hooking the fish, and there is
slack line from the cast and from stripping. Once you hook the fish, forget
him for a second and mind your slack line. He's taking off at 50mph and isn't
stopping for anything being caught up by the line- toes, fingers, clothes,
gear. Use a line-set to hook the fish (#1) and then just guide the line out
while guiding the slack until it's on the reel. Hurdle #2 over if you can get
him on the reel. Now you can pay attention to the fish as he runs for the
horizon. Now you can tension the drag by the angle of the rod to the horizon.
The lower it is, the more pressure you are putting on the fish. You have time
here, 400 to 700 yards of backing on your reel. Stop the run or give chase.
By the way, this all has to happen with the rod in the casting hand.
Then, when the fish is not running out line against the drag, you pump the rod,
always keeping it as low as possible. Lift the rod high under pressure and it
may explode. Keep it low to the horizon. As you pump the rod, you'll feel if
he comes in with the pump. If not, stop pumping and rest a little, keeping
pressure on the fish to wear him down. With fish that go airborne, like sails
and dorado, different drag and rod tactics are needed. I prefer a bent rod
with backed off drag. Others point the rod at the fish. I've never lost a big
fish, other than to sharks.
The fighting mate to your rod is the drag, not the reel handle. The battle is
won or lost on rod and drag control. Reeling in is just a method of keeping
slack line off the deck or getting big bellies of slack out of the water as the
fish changes directions. Most of the battle will be in the dacron backing,
which will cut you to the bone in an instant, so again you want to keep the
fight on the reel from hook-set slack-up to landing. I reset the drag 20 or 30
times or more during a fight, depending on what the fish is doing and what I
intend to do. Drag and rod angle are the keys. Once you're into the fight, you
can give your right arm a break by swapping it to the left hand, best done
suring stale-mate sessions. A fighting glove helps your rod-hand not to wear
out. After the fish is landed, you will drink your water with your left hand,
as you can barely hold the right hand up. What is challenging is to have the
next fish come in and cast to it with a wore-out arm. Then the fight starts
with no gas in the tank. Fun! I've caught five 40# + dorado, one hour each to
land, back-to-back, no rest. (My exercise- hedge-clipping and pruning with a
20# weight attached to the pruners halfway out, hanging from a rope.)
REELS: Direct drive or indirect drive. I have an direct drive Able 14 wt and
an indirect drive Billy Pate 12wt. Neither is best- each has it's advantage.
The direct drive has better fish control, and the indirect drive won't bust up
your knuckles. Take your pick. I like my Billy Pate because the drag is on
the same side as the handle and I can just play the fish with the drag. With
the Able, I can palm the reel on a low drag setting for some extra drag
control, then tighten up when I can pump him in. With the Able I can hang on
to the last second to try to break that next run. But the Able will then bust
up my knuckles before I can get them out of the way with all that pressure on
the reel.
Landing the big fish. When he is ready to give a big heave-ho to get him in,
gaffed, or tailed, back off on the drag and grab the flyline with your hand and
a loop over one finger- quick release. That way, if he breaks free, he won't
break your rod with the close angles and quarters, or snap the tippet. He'll
just run out a little, and then start the landing all over.
Man, I miss the salt! Gotta get back out there.
DonO
----- Original Message -----
From: mel hocken
To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 9:58 PM
Subject: [VFB] Re: Reeling left-handed
Fellow Anglers
Do what feels the best for you. Reel left, reel right, doesn't make any
difference. If you have to think about how to reel when you have a fish on you
are missing the reasons for angling. Just go and enjoy the great outdoors; the
land, trees, air , sky, water and the fish. Then share your experiences with
your angling fellowship. Some baseball players bat left some bat right; if you
are hitting the ball the only good advise you get is what time the game starts.
The trouble with fly anglers is they try to make everything to damned
complicated.
Regards
Mel Hocken
----- Original Message -----
From: J Balmer
To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 6:17 PM
Subject: [VFB] Re: Reeling left-handed
Been a while since I was called a “youngster”J
From: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com [mailto:vfb-m...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Thomas Eckert
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 4:45 PM
To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com
Subject: AW: [VFB] Re: Reeling left-handed
I do not think we should make a rule who has to reel left or right – we
older (experienced?) reel with our dominant hand
and the youngsters do it (logical) the logic way …
Thomas
alaska info
Thomas R. Eckert
royalcoach...@bluewin.ch
Sonnhaldenstrasse 14
CH 8032 Zürich 7 ZH
Switzerland
Tel.: +41442628367
Mobil: +41796795463
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Von: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com [mailto:vfb-m...@googlegroups.com] Im
Auftrag von George E Vincent
Gesendet: Freitag, 20. November 2009 18:22
An: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com
Betreff: [VFB] Re: Reeling left-handed
Jimmy, I know we have had this discussion on this list before. I do it the
same as you, that is cast with my right arm and switch to my left when I catch
a fish to reel it in. This is the way that I was taught and the way that fly
rods and reels were set up to be used by right-handed people at least back in
the 50s when I learned to fly fish.
BTW this is also the way that Lefty Kreh says that it should be done,
because you are using your dominant hand to do the work.
I don't know when they started teaching right-handed people to cast with
the right and reel with the left, but as far as I am concerned they are wrong.
George Vincent
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com [mailto:vfb-m...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Jimmy D. Moore
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 12:09
To: Virtual Fly Box; Fly Fishing World; Hill Coountry Fly Fishers
Subject: [VFB] Reeling left-handed
I'm right-handed and I've always reeled right handed after changing the rod
from right hand to left I know that in the time it takes to change the rod from
right hand to left hand has cost me a fish or two, but try as I may, I just
can't get the hang of reeling left-handed. I've had this trouble with my bait
casting reel but it doesn't seem to affect how quick I strike at a bass.
I've sat at my tying bench with a reel attached to a reel seat held the
handle in my right hand and reeled left-handed until I'm blue in the face.
After about 5 minutes, reeling left-handed seems natural, BUT . . . . when I
get on the stream and a fish takes, I fall back into the switching rod from
right to left hand and then reeling with my right hand.
I'll try doubly hard to reel left-handed on the next fish, but even if I
don't make the switch, my reeling is an uncoordinated jerky motion.
Maybe I've just got a mental block. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
JIMMY D
<BR
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