fighting a fish

[steelefishing]

My friend and i recently had a big argument. He said when fighting in a big fish press down on the button and let the fish run. I said to set the drag.

[Callison]

is your friend retarded?

what??????????????????????????


set the drag so he can runa little but just enough so your ulling him in to.

the main thing is tire out the fish and then he/her will soon be yours


ps: give your friend some meds or something!! lol ;D

[Bill_D.]

how long has your friend been fishing?

[jglassguy]

Southern as soon as you feel your line twitch or see it run, set the hook as hard as you can, just make sure before you ever even set line in the water that you adjust your drag so that you can pull line from the reel with some tension but not to much, pump up and reel down. but don't go spastic, play the fish out if possible and then get it in...
I know , I know..tell that to a tournament fisherman
and never let one play, its straight to the boat for some cash!

[Bassin_Dude]

press down on the button? do you have a spincaster? what you have to do is get just the right drag setting(tight enough to set the hook, but loose enough to not break the line. after you fix your drag dont mess with it. keep reeling even if the fish is pullin off drag. make sure its not to loose tho, you have to get a good hook set. after the drag is set, keep reelin and dont stop, if the drag is set right, you should not have to worry about the fish breakin line or not gettin a good hookset.

[Bassin_Dude]

i dont like to play the fish, i think it stresses them out to much. i reel them in as fast as possible, then get the hook out, take a photo, and release em back into the water for another day.

what kid?

[Bassin_Dude]

i deleted the comment, we will know wether or not he is, i shouldnt assume things yet. if any body is wondering, i posted ?'ing wether or not that kid is back. but we will see.

[n2b]

[quote author=bassfisher02 link=board=news;num=1112047185;start=0#6 date=03/28/05 at 17:34:16]i dont like to play the fish, i think it stresses them out to much. i reel them in as fast as possible, then get the hook out, take a photo, and release em back into the water for another day.[/quote]

oh my god that is exactly what i do straight to the boat no playing around and if the fish has got it back in his throte it pays off because bu the time you ware him out the line will ware out before and SNAP thare goes your fish.

[Rob Mak]

play with them after they are in the boat


zooker

[quote author=zooker link=board=news;num=1112047185;start=0#10 date=03/28/05 at 18:46:31]play with them after they are in the boat


zooker[/quote]


8) :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/

Your sick zook,, sick I say

[catfishtonyd]

Actually that's just what I do. Â*I don't trust any drag on any reel. Â*If I set it on a casting reel particularly so that it slips like it should, it will slip on a hookset. Â*So I tighten them down and if I think I need to give line, I'll push the reels freespool button and use my thumb as the drag. Â*Same thing with a spinning reel. Â*I tighten the drag down all the way so it won't slip, and leave the anti-reverse off and if I need to give the fish line, I backreel. Â*It's not hard. Â*It takes a little practice is all.

And no. I'm not retarded, and I have caught a fish or two in my life.

[BassNva]

after almost every cast i give a little tug on the line to make sure the drag is set.i've screwed up some good hooksets due to too loose of a drag.
mostly it used to happen on my first couple outings after cleaning all my reels over the winter. till i got the drag set right on all my rods.

[fredhatch]

Tom you should have said that earlier. The first one I nailed last week almost spooled me. I cleaned and lubed everything about three days before I went out. Never checked the drag. I tighten my baitcaster drags tight, use freespool and thumb if needed. Spinning reels, I keep it fairly tight but enough that a bigger fish will be able to run. I dont play with them to much, seems everytime I show off and try to get one on a long fight I become fishless. Little fight and in the boat, kiss the fish, take a picture and let it go. 8)

[Rob Mak]

actually i have my crank bait drag set fairly loose. my casting sticks most are set tad tight but a big fish will pull some drag. but my flipping stick is locked down tight. i don't play. if you are flipping in round trees and docks it don't pay to have the drag loose at all. just get the bass's head up out of the nasty and coming toward the boat is the biggest step in landing a fish. the lakes i fish regularly have large population's of striped bass and huge cat fish. if you do catch one chances are they will be on the crankbait. also a loose drag prevents the fish from tearing free as quickly.

zooker

[fisherwoman]

how big/heavy of fish & what strength of line & rods are we talking about here.
this is what i love about the web. it gives me an insight into how others do stuff.
as i fish saltwater & know very little of your bass fishing, this is intriguing.

the heaviest i fish for anything is 6kg approx 13lb, but mainly 3kg fireline, the drag on my reels are usually pulled down & replaced with oil soaked leather when i get them. smooooth. the drag is set at approximately 1/3 of breaking strain of line ie 2kg on 6kg line. my rods are built to specific line weights again a 6kg rod will be at max. deflection when the drag starts to give.
the thumb or palm of the hand can be used to add extra drag if required.

is all your fishing in rough snags or do you get some off snags/dropoffs etc in open water as well??

[Rob Mak]

felix
when pitching you normally have 30 -35 feet of line out at the most flipping even less 12-15 feet. using braid where you can feel a fish fart on it.is a must the whole idea is to fish very nasty/thick /brushy tangle of what ever-think coral reef-on a short line and drag the fish out from the"structure" once free on a short lease put him in the boat. useing a crank bait starts with light line to #1 cast farther #2 to reach deeper depths. with all crank baits they really don't hold a fish very well. you really have to "play "the fish before yanking him in the boat.
2 differant rods and 2 differant lines
i use a 7 foot heavy action casting stick with 20 pound braid-which is considered light-.
and a medium action 7 foot stick to throw crank baits on 8 pound ande line.which again is seen as light line.

zooker

[Radioman]

i set my drag, but just preventativly. all of em' r set to what i think my line and rod couldnt handle straight out. i think iv only heard my drag squeal on my baitcaster 2 times (i do alota steelhead and salmon fishing where u NEED your drag, and those have screached quite a few times). and as far as how long i play em', it all depends on the size and if HE feels like coming in right away.

[Infisherman1]

I set my drag to where I consider it safe to try and force a hog in.I don't want the line to break when a 9lb bass is digging down. I'd rather just have it peel a few yards of drag.

[tinboat]

I will 990% use the flippin/pitchin technique.That means you will barly skoot it out there,so when you get the fish when you set the hook the fish goes fly'n through the air and in the boat.Faster than you can say,''I'M GONE FISHING WITH BILL DANCE TODAY''.


TEXASKAYAKER

[fisherwoman]

thanks Zooker, i figured it was something like that.

do you ever get the chance to fish lighter, ie 5lb bass on 4lb line just to give the gear & yourself an extra challenge or is it all to down & dirty with these bass of yours.

the reason i ask is originally our bass was a river dwelling fish only, ( or so was thought, untill someone decided to try stocking a dam) they lived in similar situation to to yours in the rivers, snags etc. now, in the last 10 or so years they have discovered that in the big open expanse of the dam they will school in open water. meaning if you can find a school you can have a ball in open water on light gear.

[Bassin_Dude]

my drag is set so that if a 5+ bass gets on, it will peel drag, not much tho. but i can still get a really good hookset(im sure of that, i caugght a bunch last weekend with drag set like that) when i had the 9lb'er on, it pulled a few yards of line, i could here the drag peelin off. and all the bass were hooked good. i set my drag with alot of trial and error. but now it is set just right, so i dont have to fool with it any more.

[Bassin_Dude]

i have caught 4lb bass on 4lb line, using a UL pole. it is a blast, but its hard to get a good hookset with a UL pole that has no backbone. but it is fun. i dont bo it alot tho. i usually use 10lb line. that does it for me. the last time i had a fish get off was when the knot slipped. never because off line breaking.

[fisherwoman]

BF02, when you say you have now got it set right, does this mean you leave you drag set on your rell all the time or have you worked out how to set it each time??