need help fightin the biguns!!!

[George Welcome]

Setting the drag requirements will vary based on enviornmental conditions. There is no set answer or formula to this problem via drag set.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Setting the drag requirements will vary based on enviornmental conditions. There is no set answer or formula to this problem via drag set.

Good thing, this post is reminding me how terrible I am at math,lol

[RoLo]

Welcome to the forum

"Wismallie", Hmmmm.....Wisconsin Smallmouth?

First I'd suggest some heavier line then I would forget the advice about the drag. Tighten the drag down and learn how to back reel.

Your suggestion takes me back to the late 1960s and to Al & Ron Lindner.

I agree that "backreeling" is an open option, but after backreeling for a few months,

I began to wonder why I paid top dollar for my rod and reel,

and then decommission my equipment by being a human drag.

There is an alternative that I use, and one that works very well when fighting a really good fish (e.g. PB).

As the brute nears the boat (or bank), back-off some on the drag, because most fish break-off on a short line.

The obvious downside is that you've got to remember to retighten the drag each time you chicken back.

On the upside, you can use a heavy drag setting to quickly yank the slob from heavy cover,

but then back-off on the drag as the big girl nears the boat. If she makes a boat-side lunge,

even if she's lightly hooked or there's a nick in the line, you've seriously limited her ability to tear off.

Roger

[Fish Chris]

I didn't even think I was going to reply to this, figuring enough had been said already..... but then I started seeing posts I couldn't pass up !

First off, Rolo said a mouthful when he said > Losing a fish is one thing, but line-breakage is quite another thing. < !!! Amen to that brother ! I certainly lose a few fish here and there, but basically NEVER break them off.

T-Rig, YES ! Braid ! Absolutely ! I have caught a 14 lb bass in a field of water plants. It was an amazing sight to see the fish, on a dead run, then make a hard left, and the line cutting all of those weeds off, like an industrial mower :-) Left a 40 foot triangle mowed off flat like a crew cut !

Hello wismallie. Welcome to the forum. And please don't mind me too much.... but there are a few things which I am really opinionated about. And one of them is BACKREELING !!! AHHHHH !!! Just hearing that word makes me want to Laugh ! Cry ! Scream ! Or just generally freak out !

I have just never seen any logic in this ! Nobody.... and I mean NOBODY can exactly predict what a fish is going to do next ! The best "back reeler" on the planet, cannot possibly react as fast as a properly set, smooth functioning drag system, which reacts "litterally" in the same instant !

And speaking of smooth drags (and subjects with which I am rediculously opinionated about ;-)) one thing which is rarely talked about, when discussing braided line, is that braid will make any drag system, even a lame one, work WAY better than the same reel loaded with monofilament. Why ? Because mono will stretch, and stretch, and stretch.... then finally, the drag will "break loose" and release all of that pressure. Then the line will stretch, and stretch,  until the drag lets loose again, and on and on. This is known as drag surge, and it is almost completely eliminated with the use of virtually zero-stretch braided line.

BTW, I use my swimbait rods for both "little ol' 15 lb bass", and rediculously strong 100 lb Bat Rays...... yet, I set my drag close to the same, and fight the fish close to the same also. The only difference is, I land the Largemouth in 1 to 3 minutes, while I have to fight the Bat Rays for 45 to 90 minutes.

So anyway,

1) A smooth functioning, properly set drag.

2) Non-stretch braided line, to prevent drag surge (among many other positive assets).

3) Experience, in playing fish, or more specifically, not trying to reel when they are ripping drag, but not waiting even 1/10th of a second, to rip on them when they let up, or turn towards you.

Of course fishing is fishing.... and anybody can have one simply come unbuttoned. Those are excusable though :-)

Peace,

Fish

[wismallie]

We all have methods that work for us. Back reeling works very good for me I prefer to have all the control over the fish. With the drag being pulled out the fish has some control.If a fish pulls hard I can backreel in time because once I hook a big fish I flip the switch right away if I need it or not even on hard diving smallies which are faster and stronger than equal bigmouths I can backreel in time. It just takes practice. Like I said everybody has methods that works. I'm just sharing mine.RoLo my name does mean wisconsin smallie.

[RoLo]

Fish Chris, I'm real glad you brought up braided line.

I wanted to mention braid in my post, but figured the guys are tired of me sounding like a broken record,

so I left it out against my better judgment. Anyway, I'm glad that you provided that sound advice.

I can't imagine anyone trying braided polyethylene and then going back to monofilament line.

I've got more monofilament and copolymer line in my den then most Ma-and-Pa Sport Shops,

all brands, all line-tests just sitting there growing old.

Roger

[Fish Chris]

Hey wismallie, that's cool. I typed my response this morning, then was concerned that I might have come off sounding arrogant. But like I said, "Don't mind me" :-) Their are just a handful of things with which I feel so opinionated about;  backreeling, and braided line are two of them :-)

BTW, even with a properly set drag, in those rare situations when I just cannot let a fish have line.... like its headed for a dock piling, or sunken tree, etc. I can, and sometimes do, reach up and feather some additional pressure on my spool. Of course, along with my drag, I can put so much pressure, as to flat stop it from running...... but this is where you risk breaking off.

Hey Rolo, yea' I hear you.... But talking to me about braided line, is like preaching to the choir :-)

Mono = stretchy, kinky, coily, something or other....

Braid = fishing line ;-)

Peace,

Fish

[Guest avid]

Hey FC.  Do you ever catch 8 lb plus bass or other species floridia like conditions, meaning shallow and with enough weeds, so if you let the bass take drag she's gonna find a clump to wrap up in and maybe shake loose.

My dilemna continues to be whether to use tight drag and back off at opportune moments, (if one arrives)  I can't help but wonder if a strong bass pulling against no stretch, no slip tightly drag set braided line isn't digging a huge hole in his jaw.

But when they get into the weeds, unless it happens to be hooked in one of thre really boney spots, they are a gonna fer sure.\

What's a basser to do  

[Fish Chris]

Hey Avid, one of my old favorite trophy lakes is slam full of weeds. Typically when the fish run through them, my braid saws most of it like a knife ! Only once, I had a fish bury in so deep, that I pulled, and pulled, and pulled some more, but it was just not coming......

So, I threw out a claw anchor beside my line, and pulled up a huge clump of weeds, but no fish. It was still buried deep. So I rotated around about 120 degrees, and threw the anchor out again.... another huge clump, but still no bass. Finally, I moved around about another 120 degrees (in other words, I had drug a complete triangle shape around the fish) and I pulled up the final huge clump of weeds.... but this clump had a 12.2 lb bass in it :-) ..... and my Huddleston :-)

Pretty cool, huh ?

Peace,

Fish

[Cajun1977]

chris i almost didnt recognize you without that little ol lifevest ;D

[Sam]

And something else to consider.

If you have a backlash, you can damage the line when repairing the backlash.

In addtion, I agree with the suggetion to run your fingers over the line after every fish or about 20 casts.  You can feel the knicks and tears easliy.

I have seen my spinnerbait continue out into space when the line snaps on a cast.  I was using YoZuri linewhen this occurred, and even though it was probably my fault, I have never used YoZuri again.

I have also kept the rod tip down towards the water or in the water to keep the bass from jumping.  It seems to work for me if I hook a "jumper."

Thanks for the method to set the drag.  I have lost some nice fish by forgetting to reset the drag and having it too tight. I will try that 2.5 pound bag trick (20% of line poundage) from now on.

If my wife sees me weighing the line with a paper bag she will know I am totally out of my mind.

[Fish Chris]

Hey Cajun, good eye you got there :-) That was taken about 3 years ago "right before" I started using an auto-inflatable PFD. Even then, I always wore one of the big, bulky, uncomfortable life vests when I was running.... but this place allows no gas motors, so I used to just keep it on the boat.

It only took me about 1 trip with an auto-inflatable PFD to start hounding everyone about "why doesnt EVERYONE wear an auto-inflatable PFD from start to finish of every trip" ???

Peace,

Fish

[Guest avid]

Hey Avid, one of my old favorite trophy lakes is slam full of weeds. Typically when the fish run through them, my braid saws most of it like a knife ! Only once, I had a fish bury in so deep, that I pulled, and pulled, and pulled some more, but it was just not coming......

So, I threw out a claw anchor beside my line, and pulled up a huge clump of weeds, but no fish. It was still buried deep. So I rotated around about 120 degrees, and threw the anchor out again.... another huge clump, but still no bass. Finally, I moved around about another 120 degrees (in other words, I had drug a complete triangle shape around the fish) and I pulled up the final huge clump of weeds.... but this clump had a 12.2 lb bass in it :-) ..... and my Huddleston :-)

Pretty cool, huh ?

Peace,

Fish

Beautiful fish and clever retrieve.

When you fish this lake what kind of drag setting do you use?

Also I'm guessing you don't use a leader on this lake?

Thanks, Avid,

PS > I fell like throwing a tantrum.  

I wanna break my 7.8 pb and I wanna do it NOW -  

[Fish Chris]

Hey Avid, actually, even at that lake, I still use a leader.

As for my drag setting.... That's always hard to explain in type print. I'd call it medium light. As for pounds, it's definately less than the "1/4 of the rated lb test" rule for mono. I'd guess 6 lbs or so.

Fish

[Guest avid]

Hey Avid, actually, even at that lake, I still use a leader.

As for my drag setting.... That's always hard to explain in type print. I'd call it medium light. As for pounds, it's definately less than the "1/4 of the rated lb test" rule for mono. I'd guess 6 lbs or so.

Fish

Cool, so your double digits will be able to strip off drag and head for the weeds.

I'm guessing you have some sort of svengali approach to choosing the best drag setting for the conditions, but it appears clear that you will let the bigguns take line, you just use your experience to determine how much pressure to apply at any given moment.

You da man dude.  

[Fish Chris]

BTW (and sorry to 'drag' this out :-)) but one more thing I wanted to mention;

And I'm not being fecetious here either; I swear if I make 300 casts in a day, I probably reach up and pull a foot of drag from my reel litterally 200 times in a trip ! And I probably do a slight readjust, 20 times in a trip.... every trip !

The other "overboard fanatical" thing I do, is to check my hookpoints 20 plus times a day ! "Pretty sharp" just won't cut it ! Those hooks had better be surgical 'sticky' sharp, or I just can't make another cast, and keep my mind straight too.

Now are these some serious personal issues, or what ? :-)

Peace,

Fish