Can't spend long on this topic- gotta go back to work- but I wanted to put my 2 cents in. I've missed my time on the vfb.
All these were good comments on drag settings. Most trout and panfishers won't ever use the info to a great extent, as the fish don't 'run' that much. The real challenge of drag settings comes when the fish can put you into your backing. Here you will never play a fish other than 'on the reel', as the backing is impossible to grab and will cut you to the bone if you try. Also, loose line is an invitation for a wrap-up and a quick snap of your leader. I've heard of guys losing their rigs on a butt-wrap and the fish jerking the rod out of their hand. Add to the drag setting the reel inertia. If there is a lot of slack in the line, the reel has to come to speed almost immediately to match a running fish as the slack takes up tight. The limberness of the rod helps absorb some of this, but not all. I've had dorado snap me off because of casting slack and too tight a starting setting on the drag. So I now cast and set on a loose drag with palm pressure, then tighten during the intitial run, to break the run, then re-adjust as necesary. Many big fish- big steelies, dorado, billfish, jacks, etc., will use different tactics during a fight- first jumping, then running, then sounding, then circling, then repeating some or all. The fisherman needs to be aware of what the fish is doing and use many tactics to subdue him quickly. There is the drag setting for casting, for hook setting, for speed-running at short distance or long distance, line sweep drag, for a sounding fish, jumping fish, boating the fish, etc. I have re-set the drag many times during a fight, used rod elevation, used palming- all based on reacting to what the fish is doing at the moment (if it can be seen at all), or on the situation- if the fish is at the boat or 500 yards out. Experience is a great teacher. I never grab the line unless I'm sure I have the fish's number and only then in the fat part of the fly line, where I have some grip. But this is for in-close fighting where I'm trying to turn his head during a body swing in order to make him work harder. The sooner you can turn his head around, the sooner you will break his spirit. When you can do this quickly, you can land him sooner and revive him quicker. If you try this with drag setting alone, a quick head-shake may leave you with a slack line to reel in. If you don't land him quickly, a shark may leave you with just the head to reel in. Just my 2.5 cents, Back to wuk DonO PS Had a fun time in Denver. Dean Endress is a real nice guy- I enjoyed meeting him. Met up with Lefty, Dave and Emily Whitlock, and a lot of other friends. Met up with Kim Boal too. Not much new to report, but didn't have a whole lot of time to look, as I got there Sat. noon and missed the 1st 2 days due to work. Tom Whiting was swamped and I didn't have much time spent with him. I hope to head to Delta soon, for some business and pleasure at Whiting Farms. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jimmy D. Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:27 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] What a Drag! > Wes, > > Are you retired? Or do you just have a heckuva lot of time on your > hands? VBG > > JIMMY D > > Wes Wada wrote: > > > I asked the Drag question on an Oregon flyfishing list, and rec'd > > these responses...you might find them interesting. > > > > Wes Wada > > Bend, Oregon > > > > > >
