Eric
I find this an interesting topic and would like to put my 2 cents in
for what ever it may be worth.
I use to fish for Steelhead up in Michigan and found out by watching
some other anglers successes and failures, that there is more to fighting
a Big fish than meets the eye. I have heard it said also keep your rod
tip high, and keep pressure on the line. I have come to find out that it
is more about steering a fish rather than line tension. Knowing your line
and it's strengths is very important as so not to lose a fish due to over
doing it on your line.
Now my next statement is true and I even have a video of it to
prove it. My friends and I hooked a 30 pound class Salmon on 6 pound
Maxima leader and took us through 3 large log jams and it never broke,
all because we never cranked on the lines full potential. I will also
never forget when I learned to put my rod tip in the water so the current
of the river could also put pressure on the line in order to turn a run
away Steelhead, next time a Big Steelhead wants to head back to lake
Michigan like a run away freight train, try dipping your rod tip almost
to the bottom, making a big loop in the line in order to get the current
of the river to put tremendous pressure on the fish, so much so, that she
or he will turn right back up the river and head right towards you. This
comes in very handy in a tight spot where there may be one or more
obstacles in your way above you and below you.
Also I no for sure that you don't want to be a Bass fisherman,
flipping mentality when it comes to setting the Hook, When I was young
and GREEN and full of Spunk I learned this lesson well buy breaking
several of my new rods. I snapped a 8wt. St Criox 2 inches above the
handle on a hook set one time, when it broke it sounded like a 22 cal
rifle going off. I also have lost Big fish by bullying them in real quick
and then while they are still fresh decide they don't like how close I
have become to them and take off like a fighter jet and snap the line
instantly.
Fighting big fish is a real art and requires some trail and error in
order to really be good at it, and about the time you think you have it
figured out, you find out something else you will need to know. And let's
not forget about that Fish that just doesn't want to be landed, no matter
how good you are and how great your equipment is, and how great of a knot
you tied, it just doesn't matter, and that my friends is why they call it
fishing and not catching, it is this that keeps us all coming back for
more big fish fighting action.
Scott Crosby
Rocledge Florida
On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 18:39:44 -0600 "Eric Meredith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
> I just recently read parts of a flyfishing book. It went into detail
> on
> fightering bigger (trophy) fish and some different methods. When
> you are a
> beginner what you always hear is "keep the rod tip up". You are
> told to
> have the rod straight up as much as possible. However this book
> says that
> you should hold your rod at a 45 degree angle to maximuze the amount
> of
> pressure on the fish and this angle allows you to use more of the
> rod
> instead of just having the tip bent. I tried this during my fishing
> trip to
> Yellowstone this last weekend and didn't notice any major
> differences.
> However I do have a couple concerns. Wouldn't putting your rod at a
> 45
> degree angle put a little more stress on the line??? Or would using
> the
> whole rod at that angle actually help? I'm really interested in any
> methods
> people have when fighting bigger fish. Just trying to catch as many
> the
> fish I actually hook that I can.
>
> Eric Mereidth
> http://fishparadise.tripod.com
>
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