Reply To: Put the fish on the Reel?!?!?!

Sorry, been gone. But I’m back now in civilization.  Reference the question above:

Always have your drag set before you start fishing. Don’t fish with no drag and tighten it up when you get a fish on – this is a great way to lose a big fish.  You would be amazed on how much drag you can have even set with 5x or 6x tippet.  I’ll set my drag by pulling it out and making sure I have a “smooth” but firm drag (with some good resistance). If you try to add your drag while fighting you could be asking for disaster.  To get the drag correct you can use weights or a lb metering device – and who has one of those?  Remember 5x – 6x has a breaking strength of around 2-4 lbs depending on the brand. Many reels in the $150 – $250 price range will give you a max drag of say 6 lbs at full strength.

So set your drag so it takes a little bit of strong pull to get your line out – keep a smooth retrieve, head shakes tire the fish not his running, 45 degree bend in your rod so it acts as your shock absorber, once line on the reel don’t touch your reel only to reel in your fish, keep one hand holding the grip and DON’T use the other hand to touch or hold the rod (asking for a broken rod).  Watch the Landon Mayer video – Mastering the Short Game.