To Fight Or Not To Fight.

[basshole8190]

Depends on a few things. Location, can i let the fish swim around without fear of wrappibg itself up? Tackle, if its conventional gear i will let them fight a bit. if I'm using big baits there's no grace in my method. i set the hook and try to ski them to the boat like an excited boy with his first bluegill.

[Teal]

There shouldn't be a question of fight or not to fight. There should only be controlling the fish. That can mean different things, I'm going to respond differently if I'm punching or pitching thick brush or grass as I am a treble bait. Control the fish. Sometimes, you are going to simple need to keep pressure on the fish while reeling and sometimes you are gonna be in the thick stuff and you are gonna need to yank hos butt out there fast before they get you wrapped up.

[WRB]

What a lot of bass anglers don't do is plan ahead and position themselves when a big bass strikes and you set the hook the bass needs an escape rout out of harms way.

Lets say the bass is in heavy cover at the base of a tree, looking out toward deeper water to ambush passing prey. If you position yourself in deeper water in front of this bass and present a lure in front of it, the bass strikes, you set the hook.....where is the bass going? The bass will pull and fight against you line/rod pressure that is trying to pull it out, the bass turns and runs the opposite direction into heavy cover. Bass always fight against line pressure, the harder you pull the harder the bass fights back, going deeper into cover...you lose.

If you positioned yourself behind the bass or to one side and bring the lure towards it, the bass strikes, you set the hook and the bass fights out into deeper water, away from harm and heavier cover....you win.

Try tp plan ahead when targeting big bass. Hook them and control them, that's what it's all about...catching, not losing.

Tom

[Wbeadlescomb]

I just like to catch fish I try not to overthink it.

[J Francho]

I leave this up to the fish, and what gear I'm using. My personal best NY largemouth fought about as hard as a water logged boot. Another fish, just an ounce off that fish made three drag stripping runs before giving in. My philosophy has always been that the longer that fish is in the water, the better it's chances of escaping. If I was in it just for the fight, I'd be targeting different species. In fact I do, winter steelhead are probably the most spectacular fighters out there, especially in tight tributary quarters on light line.

[RoLo]

My personal best NY largemouth fought about as hard as a water logged boot. Another fish, just an ounce off that fish made three drag stripping runs before giving in. My philosophy has always been that the longer that fish is in the water, the better it's chances of escaping.

If I was in it just for the fight, I'd be targeting a different species. 

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

 

If you're in a tournament, the only time to play with a fish is 'after' it's in the boat.

But if you're not in a tourney, you might as well live-on-the-edge and add a couple Bill Dance hoists to cause some tail-walking.

You're going to release her anyway, so whaddaya got to lose?

 

Sadly, even a hippo will rarely give the angler more than one-minute of pleasure (pretty sexy, eh?)

In truth, if you squeeze 2 minutes out of a largemouth bass, you might've reduced her survival rate

or you might be under-tackled.

 

Roger

[Darren.]

I do not horse fish in like I've seen some tournament anglers do on TV, I don't know why, but that bothers me. I fight/play the fish until I can net it, or get my hand on its lower lip.

 

I never "play" a fish for the fun of it. The other week when I caught the 14 pound / 32 ¼" striper in local waters, I didn't time the fight, but the beast pulled me over 100 yards in my kayak. My tackle was fine for the task, as I was able to let the fish run until it was basically done. Then I netted it, took pix, and let her go gently. She swam off quickly.

 

My PB was pulled in fairly quick as it was in a short distance in thick slop.

[Big Jon]

First of all nothing I hate more than the scenario I had a couple of days ago. Was fishing for 3 hours and then my first fish hit my spinner bait about 3 feet from the bank, I got to fight him for about 1 second before lifting him out. Usually its a blast to see the strike right in front of you, but when you work so hard for it and don't get to enjoy it you just feel robbed!

 

But to give you a straight answer I am probably on the shorter end of fighting the bass, I basically go as fast as I can but still try to keep it from coming up and jumping. I hate to see a bass ripped to shore, and I hate to see a nice fish played to exhaustion. So medium fast I guess you could say.

 

I'm with ya.