High Stickin'

[*Hootie]

I notice all the rod makers say never just lift a fish out of the water with your rod. Yet I see the pros do it all the time. What's up with that?

Hootie

[mjseverson24]

when you lift a fish out of the water all of the weight of the fish is on the rod and it bends at an unnatural angle causeing more stress and increased chance of breaking the rod. the rod makers tell you not to do this because it is expensive for both parties involved when a rod breaks. most of the time you have to pay for shiping and also wont have a rod for a few weeks. The pros do it becuase often times when you dont have a landing net to use the best way for a fish to get off is when you try and hand lift them out of the water while keeping some kind of tension on the line. pros dont care if they break rods they care about landing fish.

 

Mitch

[ww2farmer]

Because a lot of rods they are using when they are lifting fish can take it. I rod lift most anything under 4lbs............on my jig/worm rods, or flipping and pitching gear. Yet I will net, or lip a 12" on a spinning rod. If you use the fishes momentum, on stout gear, it puts little stress on the rod.

[WRB]

Bouncing bass is new to bass fishing and came about when B.A.S.S. tournament rules changed to disallow the use of landing nets. This happened when ESPN owned BASS and I believe that happened not as a conservation tactic but as more exciting TV. Bass flopping around on carpet does more scale damage then any net can.

Flipping, the original presentation, used very strong and long rods (without reels) and lifting bass out of the water and into the boat was how it's done. This technique also contributed to bouncing bass or high sticking by weekend bass anglers. Tournament anglers are also in a hurry so getting under size bass in and released as fast as possible factors into lifting smaller bass out of the water to unhooked it and toss it back has always been part of bass fishing.

The rod rating system that uses power ratings; 2, 3, 4, 5 for medium light, medium, medium heavy and heavy came from how much dead weight a rod could lift before bottoming out or be fully loaded. Live weight is very different because the bass can help by swimming itself out of the water or apply more pressure by turning at the wrong moment, then something is going to give!

Rod mfr's can tell when a rod has been over loaded verses a flaw, hence the warning.

Tom

[BobP]

High sticking isn't lifting bass into the boat with the rod.  It's playing or lifting a bass, or really any loading of the rod with it held vertical which places unnatural stress on the rod's tip section.

[21farms]

exactly what bobp says. if you want to see high-sticking, watch any stacey king video on youtube. now, regarding using the rod to lift the fish into the boat, watch the latest video over at TW of a shimano rep fishing the new cumara rods...i was dumbfounded...the first guy brought in fish like he was using a 3:1 ratio reel just reeling like mad...the second guy (the shimano rep) did what rod companies always tell you not to do: hoisting big fish into the boat with a rod.

[38 Super Fan]

Pros also stomp all over their rods, break them over their knees, throw them down in the boat, and even throw them in the water...just sayin'.

[fishingman88]

When a possible $50,000 fish is on the other end of the line you best believe I will high-stick to get the fish in the boat

[.RM.]

Here is one of the true defenitions of High Sticking that is on-line.  

http://www.torquedfishing.com/HighSticking.pdf

 

Tight Lines! 

[A-Rob]

Well FLW and me use a net haha

I find i lose less fish at the boat

and I have to pay for my own rods so I try not to break them haha

 

Also, I've heard that the boat rash a bass gets from getting flipped onto the carpet is bad and can be detrimental to their survival post tournaments. 

 

I'm just a rec angler without 50k on the line so I just take my time.