Moving your reel hand from the reel seat when landing a fish.

[Bazoo]

I am wondering about your reel hand when landing a fish. Lets say you catch a fish, you have the reel and rod in your left hand, the fish gets close to shore (or boat for that matter). For whatever reason you don’t want to flip the fish and you don’t have a net. 

 

Do you move your reel hand from the reel seat and put it somewhere up the rod, or perhaps hold the line? Or do you keep your reel hand on the reel seat?

 

I’ve done both, and I feel much more confident when keeping my reel hand on the reel seat, but I find myself almost instinctually grabbing the rod about halfway up. I also don't feel like I have as much control because with the fish being close, the rod tip is up and it doesn't have as much spring pressure on the fish. But I feel like this is a mistake.

 

So I want to know what’s best and why, then I will ingrain this into my habits.

 

Thanks, Bazoo

[Columbia Craw]

Lip the fish with your strong hand or dominant hand.

[Susky River Rat]

I always keep my hand on the reel and either net it or grab the line. That’s just me. I may not be doing the best practice either. 

[islandbass]

I try to keep my reel hand on the reel seat but sometimes I feel compelled (case by case) to sometimes hold the rod somewhere above the reel seat, more so with casting rods for some reason. 
 

I don’t like doing this, because IMHO, if my hand is above the reel higher up on the rod, I am no longer in a position to take advantage of the rod’s power and I think I’ve effectively changed the fulcrum point and risk breaking my rod. I could be wrong here but it’s the conclusion I’ve drawn. 
 

As I mentioned, I try try not to do this but I sometimes my short arm just can’t quite reach the fish. I’ve been considering getting a long handled net to see if this might help but I’m a minimalist angler from the shore and I don’t like lugging extra things around if I can help it. 

[Catt]

Reel hand on the reel handle. 

[thediscochef]

I usually move very carefully up the rod when landing a fish, mostly to maintain better control. Don't want to grab the line against the rod, want to make sure you can still let out line if there's a dart at the bank. I don't like keeping the reel in hand as it can create sharper angles on the line through the tip top as the fish gets closer to you. I've had line break doing that.

 

I think the main goals are to avoid putting your line under extra stress, and to maintain enough control of the fish to lip it. However that happens is the right way to me. Everyone has a little different feel for it. It's OK to be different but it's not OK to lose bass at the boat 

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Reel hand on the reel handle. 

Ditto

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Bird]

Smaller fish get flipped into the boat, reel hand stays put.

Larger fish that require a net, no real formula.

Pretty sure that I'm grabbing rod somewhere above the reel to draw the fish in.

 

[GRiver]

I don’t know what I do…. I know I’m scanning the area to make sure a gators not coming for my catch. I check next time to see if I move my hand from the reel seat. 

[dodgeguy]

Get a net.

[casts_by_fly]

If I’m fishing one of my longer rods (7’3” or longer) when the fish gets boatside I will let me hand creep up the rod as far as the label.  High sticking is the worst thing you can do to a fishing rod besides a car door or a ceiling fan. And with a long rod I can’t get the fish close enough to the net without high sticking it. Shorter rods are no problem and I don’t creep my hand up. 

[Catt]

I keep my thumb & index finger on a handle knob. If I need to apply more pressure with my rod or the bass surges I kinda "palm" both knobs. I don't want the reel to torque at all. The reel is palmed in my left hand.

[rgasr63]

I broke a expensive rod moving my hand up too far. A good net saves me money. 

[king fisher]

I always land the bass on the left side of my kayak, because the fish finder is in the way on the right side.  In order to do this, I have to switch the rod to my right hand, but I'm not exactly sure where I hold the rod, but I don't seem to have a problem with the switch.  I do loose my share of bass, but usually they get off early in the fight.  I take my time, and always use a great deal of finesse when any fish is at boat side.  If a bass has made it all the way to my kayak, I assume the hook will hold as long as I don't horse the bass.  I have landed many large bass that were skin hooked, because I was gentle with them when they got near the boat or kayak.  I am right handed, so I probably should lip them with my right hand, but the way I have my Kayak set up it is better to land them with my left hand.  I don't use a net because I am awkward with a net unless I can hold the net with both hands.  I'm already at the same level with the bass making grabbing them by hand almost as easy as using a net.  Slowly reaching to grab a DD. bass when she is only inches from me is a magical moment.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for everyone's replies.

 

I almost always grab the bass with my right hand, then... switch to my left hand for pictures/weight/unhook. I can hold the fish left handed, but need my dominate hand for unhooking and working the phone.

 

1 hour ago, Catt said:

I keep my thumb & index finger on a handle knob. If I need to apply more pressure with my rod or the bass surges I kinda "palm" both knobs. I don't want the reel to torque at all. The reel is palmed in my left hand.

I don't follow. It seems that what you describe is that of reeling the fish in, but I am talking about the transition to when you go to actually grab the critter.

[Catt]

@Bazoo 

 

This is how I hold my rod-n-reel, from the reel seat to the butt of the rod is against my forearm.

 

That never changes!

 

I either boat flip em, thump em with my right hand, or net em with my right hand.

 

[Bazoo]

15 minutes ago, Catt said:

@Bazoo 

 

This is how I hold my rod-n-reel, from the reel seat to the butt of the rod is against my forearm.

 

That never changes!

 

I either boat flip em, thump em with my right hand, or net em with my right hand.

 

Thanks for explaining.

[Catt]

12 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

Thanks for explaining.

 

I'm old school, I let my line, rod, & reel's drag work in unison.

[Bigbox99]

14 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I am wondering about your reel hand when landing a fish. Lets say you catch a fish, you have the reel and rod in your left hand, the fish gets close to shore (or boat for that matter). For whatever reason you don’t want to flip the fish and you don’t have a net. 

 

Do you move your reel hand from the reel seat and put it somewhere up the rod, or perhaps hold the line? Or do you keep your reel hand on the reel seat?

 

I’ve done both, and I feel much more confident when keeping my reel hand on the reel seat, but I find myself almost instinctually grabbing the rod about halfway up. I also don't feel like I have as much control because with the fish being close, the rod tip is up and it doesn't have as much spring pressure on the fish. But I feel like this is a mistake.

 

So I want to know what’s best and why, then I will ingrain this into my habits.

 

Thanks, Bazoo

For a right hand reel I hold in my left I use my right hand to grab the fish because I am right hand dominate.  This also allows me the ability to depress the thumb bar and feed line to the fish if it pins the rod to the side of the boat and goes under since i am holding the rod while paming the reel.  For my left hand reels I move the rod and reel from my right hand into the left gripping the blank in front of the reel and use my right hand to land the fish.  I don't have the ability to pay out line in a controlled manner this way but I only use lefty for bottom contact baits and the fish typically get stuck pretty good and don't come off.

[Zcoker]

Rod stays in my right hand. When I'm ready to net the fish (which can happen at anytime) rod goes to left hand and I use my right hand to net fish. This all happens impulsively, which should be the goal. The less thinking, the better! 

[Bankc]

It all depends.  I don't have a set procedure.  It's just whatever is needed in the moment. 

 

But I'll often grab the middle of the rod with my left hand to free my right hand up to grab the fish.  Part of the trick is to keep just the right amount of line out so you can control the fish, but also maneuver the rod around.  And, the higher up you grab the rod, the less the rod can flex, so you kind of have to play with the angle and distance so you don't stress your rod too much or allow the fish to throw the lure when they first surface.

 

Like I said, it's not a set procedure.  I just do whatever needs to be done.  Moving quickly and deliberately, without putting too much thought into it, helps to get the fish in your hands quicker and safer, so you don't lose the fish or catch a hook.  Just don't be scared, hesitate, or make second guesses.  Do it like you do it all the time. 

[WRB]

You learn to set and trust your reels drag when fishing for powerful off shore big game fish. I am a believer in accurately setting my drag in the advent a bass makes a last second turn nothing breaks.

I am right handed caster that changes over to my left hand holding the rod during retrieving lures, fighting bass and landing them using my right hand for the net or hand landing bass. My rods have a foregrip and I use it to hold the rod when landing bass. Sometimes with 8’ swimbait rods may slide my hand up the rod blank hand landing big bass.

Tom