Lifting Bass With The Rod

[tomustang]

Yeah like you see the pros do it on tv, but really do you horse up the bass?

First trip to Erie I was stuck on a bank and figured why the hell not, well I didn't have a problem and the rod sure held up. Premier MH with 2-4lb bass. Usually I find good spots by the banks where I don't have a choice but to pull them up. I would figure some of you guys do this too but to an extent with rods and bass weight being factors.

[Hamby]

Little guys that are hooked well i do. If they get over 3 lbs, or look like they could fall off the hook into the boat, then i'll lip them. I don't usually fish with very heavy tackle though. MH at the very most.

[SirSnookalot]

This subject was brought up not long ago. Just about every time I go to my jettie Im catching fish larger than your average bass and we all lift them up from maybe 5' to as high as 10 or 11", depending on how high the tide is and different sections of the jettie, 6-8# fish are no problem at all. My buddy Bassn Blvd has been to the jettie and seen it done, probably has done it himself. We do it by " springing" the fish up using m or mh rods, just got to learn how to it, many times it's isn't possible the fish are just too big. I posted a pic yesterday of a fish about 12# that I lifted with no effort at all from about a 2' seawall using mh rod. That said, I'm using spinning gear and maybe a spinning rod has more spring effect, I don't really know.

When I'm doing my bass fishing in my canals which are probably 6' high, still using med spinning gear, a 4-5# bass pose no lifting problem at all, at about 6 or 7# I have to drag them up, I fish leaders and use 20#, I'd have no chance to lift them with a light leader. If I were bank fishing in a confined area, I'd have a net. I walk and cast too much, nets are not practical for canal fishing for me.

[Sam]

Broke two rods this year lifting 5+ pound bass with the rod.

Usully lift them if by myself.

Will use a net if with another guy.

Both rods were replaced by the manufacturers: Berkley and Shimano.

[Fishing Rhino]

Only the little guys, and if they wriggle off the hook, all the better.

Fishing seated from my canoe, there is no need to lift even the tiny ones out of the water. Just reach over the side and grab 'em. From the platform of a bass boat, I'll lift the little ones. Anything over a pound to a pound and a half, I'll step down into the cockpit, sit in the port seat (which I refer to as my "landing chair") and land them just as I do in my canoe.

I fish light line, and while the rods might withstand the strain, the line might not. Most of the time I'm using 4 or 6 pound test line.

If it got knicked or scuffed during the fight, it would be considerably less.

This past year, I had a nice bass alongside my canoe and it made a last ditch effort for freedom and it broke my rod. In spite of that, it did not get away, thanks in no small measure that I had a light setting on the drag. Even then, it snapped the rod like a twig.

[scbassin]

I don't do it it's an easy way to break a rod.

[bman310]

I do most of my fishing on the shores and I lip every bass I catch. To me it just seems like the way to go. I did lose a very nice bass earlier this year while getting ready to lip it, but it was before the sun came up and would have been too dark to get a good photo anyway.. At least that's my story.

[JigMe]

i do it if the bass is < 3lb, or I just lip them. I have broken a good rod trying to lift up a big bass, so I am trying to becareful now.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Swinging fish is one of the practices I discourage to my rod customers but in circumstances like Snooks jetties or the tight bank spots you may not have a choice. If you must, deadlift capacity of the rod cam be maximized by keeping the rod horizontal so the tip is not flexed past 90*. Don't grab the rod in the middle, let it flex into the backbone. The only way to find deadlift capacity is to stress to the failure point so you'll have to use some judgement. The only difference between a spinning or casting blank is its reccomended application. Many blanks serve dual application. The blank doesn't know what you put on it.

[SirSnookalot]

Swinging fish is one of the practices I discourage to my rod customers but in circumstances like Snooks jetties or the tight bank spots you may not have a choice. If you must, deadlift

I don't deadlift, that could break a rod. I spring them up like a trampolene effect, the mometum plus a healthy pull up at the apex hoists them up, key is to let the rod do the work, it does take practice and there is a size limit of course. The closer you are to the water the harder it is to spring them up, be hard to spring them from a boat and there is a max height of about 10', I could never do it from a pier, they are very high. Our average snook is about 6-7#, we get them up pretty easy.

[Fat-G]

It depends, really.

When I'm fishing jigs/plastics, I'm using braid with the drag locked down all the way, and set the hook hard. With a high-modulous rod, a hookset like mine could potentially break the rod. This spring I was catching a lot of 3-5 pound fish on a 1/2 oz. swimjig using a Cumara CUC-72MH, 50# braid, and a Curado 200e7. Admittedly, the rod is a little underpowered for that technique for me, so I was really nailing them on the hookset. My Cumara was also my first rod over $200, so I was only getting my feet wet with a "nice" rod. I did a lot of "no-no's" this spring with the Cumara, and it held strong. A couple of times I was suprised the rod didn't explode in my hands.

If a fish is under 2 pounds, I lift it straight out of the water into my hands and grab the line. Basically, high-sticking. Anything in the 3-4 pound range is usually dragged onto shore, then grabbed. When I hook a 6+ pounder, I'm usually trying so hard to just land the fish that I pull it straight up on shore then get behind it incase it pops off and flops back into the pond. If I'm fishing a treble-hook lure, I play the fish out until it's tired, then grab it. Several times, though, I've pulled 6+ pounders on a lipless crank straight onto shore if they're only barely hooked. That's definitely risky though, and I've lost several really big fish doing this, LOL.

I guess it just depends what rod I'm using, lure, line, and how well she's hooked.

Good topic!

[Bluebasser86]

I swing in smaller fish when I'm fishing with heavier tackle but rarely swing in treble hooked bass and never on light spinning gear. With small fish on trebles or light line I'll sometimes lift them by the line, if I loose a bait or straighten a hook it's not as big of deal as busting a rod.

[flippin and pitchin]

I am not an advocate of " bouncing " fish. It's hard on the slime film that coates the exterior of the fish and leaves them more prone to infection. A rod designer I know shared that bouncing attributed to more blank failure than any other cause. To place the stress of lifting a heavier fish on a small portion

of the blank where the diameter is smaller is asking for trouble.

[endless]

I don't for the little guy's I grab the line and lift, Bigger bass I lip or use net if have too. Always out and ready for the Bowfins and pickerels.

[Fish Chris]

Well, keeping in mind that I use pretty heavy gear for my swimbaits + 50# braid....

I've swung in bass, in the 6 to 7 lb range.... but a double digit ? Not. A teener ? Absolutely not !

Even if all your gear holds, there's always the chance of the fish coming unbuttoned, and crashing into the floor of your boat ! Gotta' keep that in mind too...

Lip it, or net it..... or just forget it LOL

Fish

[grimlin]

Very rarely,Since I'm on the bank I get them to the shallowest part of the water and lip them from there.

1lb or under i do sometimes,I usally drag em' in though.

[Bassn Blvd]

Like Snook said, it's all about the "spring/swing." DON"T dead lift them or your chances of breaking your rod or line is very likely. You have to master the swing technique or you will fail a majority of time.

[Fish Chris]

Of course Bassn, I think you would agree that the weight of the gear makes a big difference, right ? .....which is why I probably could swing, even bigger fish in on my swimbait gear.... but as I said earlier, even if your gear doesn't fail > fish do come unbuttoned at the stupidest possible times !

Peace,

Fish

Like Snook said, it's all about the "spring/swing." DON"T dead lift them or your chances of breaking your rod or line is very likely. You have to master the swing technique or you will fail a majority of time.

[SirSnookalot]

The fish don't get buttoned as much as I would like them too, getting a fish very close and and having it unbutton is what we call " a Palm Beach Release ", we find that desirable, we don't keep them anyway and we had the pleasure of catching and fighting them and they swim off in much better shape. The fish that I can swing up are not slot, can't keep them and a 7 or 8# fish isn't photo worthy. I take the occasional photo but pics and weights are a very minor priority to me. Bassn was with me when I caught about a15# snook and was going to walk back to his truck for a camera, I told him wasn't worth the effort. We get tarpon out there quite a bit, not going to lift them up, can't even do it with a net.

I match my rod to the bait not the fish, so I don't use anything near as heavy as swimbait gear and I can still spring most of them up. It's about technique, we all do it here.

It would be very difficult to spring a fish from a boat, too low to the water, why not just use a net.

Saw an interesting way to bring them up last week, I had never seen this done before. A guy catches a 25 " redfish off the jettie on a gotcha, a second guy lowers his lure down to the fish and hooks in the lip, then they lift the fish up using 2 rods.

[Fishing Rhino]

Surely, for fishing off high piers, there must be a rig like a lure retriever with a stout cord that you can slip over the line, let it slide down the line and snag the fish. Then lift it with the stout cord.

Please, no jokes about "but don't call me Shirley".

[SirSnookalot]

From piers and bridges a round net called appropriately a bridge or pier net is lowered down. Now you have to slip the net under the fish then lift up. Guys use these same nets from jetties which are maybe a 1/3 as high at most. Very often in the case of some fish like a barracuda we drop a weighted 12/0 treble hook and gaff them, only from jetties, piers are way too high.

[Bassn Blvd]

Of course Bassn, I think you would agree that the weight of the gear makes a big difference, right ? .....which is why I probably could swing, even bigger fish in on my swimbait gear.... but as I said earlier, even if your gear doesn't fail > fish do come unbuttoned at the stupidest possible times !

Peace,

Fish

I agree 100% . I have flipped bass up to 4-5 pounds with m/h baitcast gear and 10 pound mono, BUT no way in heck would I do it on tournament day. I have had several fish fall off midway from the boat and water I use a net on almost every fish on tourny day. Any other day I use my hands or flip'em.

I couldn't imagine flipping a 15-20 pound bass though. Especially if it were my first time catching a HAWG like you have. I would probably break my rod over my leg if a 15 pounder came unbuttoned because I tried flipp'n her

[Hamby]

My issue with it is more about them falling off the hook and whacking the side of the boat or bouncing around the bottom. I haven't caught anything over the 5lb range, so the weight of the fish is probably a lot less than the type of weight i put on it in hooksets on a fish... or very large snag

Now if i'm fishing for dinner, i don't care where they land as long as it's in the boat. But for catch and release, i like to take those easy precautions to ensure a healthy release. No reason to take the chance if i can easily lip or net them.

[Mattlures]

I agree with Sir snook. Its a technique. You cant just go swinging or lifting the fish. If your breaking rods, your doing it wrong. Its called highsticking. If you high stick the rod you are putting most of the pressure in one small area of the rod and when the weight comes down it, the rod breaks. Saltwater guys know how to bounce a fish over the rails because they fish from high railed boats or jetties etc. I fish a good amount of salt and I have a salt boat so I learned how to do it. Its a timing swinging transfer of weight thing and the fish does not have to land hard. I have swung 8lb bass up but thats about my limit and thats not realy the norm. A 6lber, no problem, if the situation calls for a swing then I will. If not then I lip or net.

[1234567]

Great video of Paul Bailey fishing an Irod with a hudd on youtube swinging an 8is pound fish onto the boat. check it out! If it's bad technique I apologize.