Hauling Fish Onboard By Rod

[JellyMan]

I haver personally broken two rods and I wasn't even trying to bring them in the boat using the rod.

How is everybody getting away with this without braking their rods? Every YouTube video or on tv has guys hauling in fish one after another with just the rod. It irks the crap out of me. It's becoming an epidemic. I don't remember ever seeing this.

I personally would not think bringing in a fish by rod over 2lbs is healthy for it. Unless its a broom stick flippn' rod. Are these guys not braking rods doing this? Or are they just not worried because they have plenty more at home and or warranties in place?

[Blues19]

I have had same thoughts. I can not afford to break a rod and replace it, so when I get it to the boat I go down and get it myself.

[SirSnookalot]

In a boat it is difficult to "spring" them up you're just too close to your work, on land from elevation it's much easier.  Whether I'm fishing a freshwater high banked canal or sea walls and jetties "springing" them up is a very common practice most of my gear is med or mh spinning rods, there is a limit to everything.  Offshore I'm usually using a 30 or 40# leader, once the fish is boatside and it's one we don't want to gaff we just grab the leader and lift them up fish up to 15 maybe 20#, grabbing the leader with a towel can be helpful.

[Hooligan]

I don't like to boat flip fish I I can help it. That said, when you do it, you're not moving the fish from a stop and letting them, when at all possible you use their momentum to vault them over the rail. The second key, never go beyond 90 degrees angle from your rod to the fish.

[The Next KVD]

When I boat swing fish in, I use the fish's momentum and sweep the rod from the one side of my body to the other at a low angle.  I also never do this on anything over 3lbs unless the fish is really coming at me.  Never broke a rod yet, but than again I am using St.Croix's.

[Long Mike]

I boat the fish with my rod 98% of the time.  Haven't broken a rod yet.

[Darren.]

On a yak, I'm close enough to the water (unless standing) to quickly lip the fish. However, if my net is handy, I'll use that more times than not.

[The Next KVD]

Are you possibly High Sticking the fish?  By this I mean grabbing the rod far up on the blank to provide more leverage to get them out of the water.  If you are that is a BIG NO NO!  This will put extra stress on the blank and does not allow it to load up properly thus breaking the blank.  Just a thought seeing as how no one else has asked this or mentioned it.

[BrettD]

I do in a tournement with anything up to 4# or so but when fun fishing I will reach down and lip them. If your going to flip them in the boat you have to make sure you keep you rod as horizontal as possible. I've never broke a rod while flipping them in the boat most of my rods are MH or heavier. I also wont do it if Im using a bait with treble hooks.

[Marty]

I hoist them up much of the time. I've done this with fish up to 4#, but usually do it with 3# or less. I'll lip them if convenient, but I'm more likely to hoist if it has a mouthful of trebles. Assuming you don't just let the fish flop all over the boat, hoisting is probably better for the fish than netting.

[flippin and pitchin]

Bouncing fish accounts for high percentage of blank failures. When you place the stress of the weight of the fish on a small portion of the blank, and that stress was in excess of the design, it will break. I have a friend who is a rod designer. He was becoming frustrated because anglers were bouncing fish and grabbing the blank at or beyond the shut off point and iscolating the stress where the tube is smaller diameter and the wall thickness of the tube thins. That's what allows the blank to flex at all. Lay a rod on the floor, pick it up with two fingers at the last guide before the tip. Now try and lift the rod from that location so the butt cap comes off the floor. SNAP. It's the same principle.

IF you plan on boat swinging any fish, you better use momentum, gradual lift and speed and place the stress of the weight on the lower section of the blank. The rod makers will love you for it. Better yet, reach down and grab that fish by the lip......look at it face to face, spit a little and yell...I got you....I got you sucker.

[Sherlock 60]

I've wondered about this myself on more than one occasion.

 

In my home waters a 3# bass is pretty rare, so I never use the net when catching bass or panfish. If it is a larger bass I lean down and lip the fish or put my hand under it's belly. The muskie fishermen use nets all the time, of course.

 

The BASS pros never use a net so I presumed it was against the rules; the FLW guys use nets all the time so obviously it is not prohibited in FLW.

 

Of course it could just be that it may seem to be more "macho" to not use a net.

[JellyMan]

Are you possibly High Sticking the fish?  By this I mean grabbing the rod far up on the blank to provide more leverage to get them out of the water.  If you are that is a BIG NO NO!  This will put extra stress on the blank and does not allow it to load up properly thus breaking the blank.  Just a thought seeing as how no one else has asked this or mentioned it.

 

No sir. I dont do this unless they are under 2 lbs. My rod that broke I was actually lipping a fish while holding the rod tip up and CRACK, but I'm sure the rod was defective.  

 

I dont do this at all. I try to lip any fish over 2 lbs. It just does't seem worth it to take the chance. I see some of the guys lifting these fish it with the tip torqued to almost 180 degrees. Just makes me clinch my teeth waiting for the "CRACK"!

[Jay Ell Gee]

I have personally never seen someone "brake" a rod before. Neither have I witnessed a fellow fisherman "break" a rod before. However, working for a fishing retailer, I see them come back all the time, usually trying to free snags or setting the hook on logs.

The rod breaking at the boat while reaching to lip your fish could have easily been caused by damage to the blank prior to the accident. Even the smallest dent or chip in the blank creates a weak point. I always check rods under a light before I buy them. It's just a guess, though.

More on point, I boat small fish with the rod but lip the (rare for me) larger fish. I would be sick if I snapped a blank.

[OkeechobeeAngler]

Momentum. 

[backcast88]

I swing my fish into the boat all the time and have never broken a rod.  Like other have said, use the momentum from the fish and keep the rod as horizontal as possible and don't go past 90 degrees. 

[Bankbeater]

I lift dinks all of the time.  If I get a bass any size, I lip it when it get close to me.  To me, lifting a bass out with the rod is the same as the bass jumping.  I don't want to give the fish a chance to get off.

[fishingman88]

+1 to all who said to use momentum and never exceed 90 degrees.  If you are not high sticking your rod, then flipping the fish into the boat should not be breaking your rod.

[0119]

Why do you guys risk loosing a fish swinging him in?  The "pro" on t.v. doing it just adds fuel to the peta fire.  Slapping the fish into the deck even the carpet scrapping its slim coat off.  BPS has a $8 lipper if you cant afford a Boga.

[J Francho]

I learned a great trick from wnybassman ("No Good") and that's to leave a rubber landing net out on the deck. Makes it real easy to swing a dink over to a wet, non carpeted surface.  Then you just grab the net, and unhook the fish.

 

Here he is grabbing a dink after landing him on the net.