trout, you should be able to hear that drag
come out every time he shakes his head.
Too strong of drag on a trout could cause
him to shake his head, and, when the drag
doesn’t pay out line, it could rip the hook
out of his mouth. That nice 5lb trout is now
gone forever. Getting him to the boat is not
a race, either. Hustle to stay on the bite, but
don’t reel in the trout so fast he will come off
the hook.
Redfish have a tough mouth, unlike a
speckled trout, and it’s easy to have the
hook come out due to it not being set correctly. Having a weak drag setting can cause
the hook to set in the skin of their mouth
and not through the side of their mouth.
When sight fishing, I wait until I see the bait
all the way inside their mouth before putting
my body into the hook set. In the glory days
of Swamp Stallion Fishing Adventures, I’d
have my customers fish live bait under a cork
and cast against shallow shorelines or
flooded grass where I knew redfish would be
hanging out. We couldn’t see the redfish
very well, so I told them to wait until the cork
was moving sideways through the water at a
good clip, then take the slack out and try to
rip his face off with the hook set.
Everybody knows their reel drag should
be set accordingly, but what gets them is
that they forget to adjust the settings when
going from targeting trout to redfish or vice
versa. A weak drag on a redfish could let
him fly under the boat and wrap around the
lower unit or Power Pole. You want to be
able to boss that redfish around and keep
him out of structure to the best of your abilities. Having a strong drag greatly aids in this
endeavor. The Shimano Sahara 4000FD we
reviewed has a max drag of 15lbs. However,
I really drop the hammer on redfish with an
Abu Garcia Revo SX, which has a max drag
of 20lbs. I stop them dead in their tracks and
horse ’em to the boat. On baitcasters with a
weaker drag, you can put your thumb on the
spool to prevent it from paying out line.
There are a myriad of different ways to
set your drag. Tie your line to the ball hitch
of your truck (or something similar) and gently pull up on the rod to put a bow in it. No
drag should come off the reel. Jerk upwards
on the rod and it is then that drag should
pay out. Some agree the best way to set a
drag is while fighting the species of fish
you’re targeting.
Drag at an optimum setting will keep
pressure on the fish but let the line slip when
it’s needed. It’s okay to adjust drag settings
on the fly, too. At the end of the day, it will
be experience that determines the drag setting you’re most comfortable with. This
boils down to your getting out there and
fishing your behind off!
FOLLOW THE FISH
AROUND THE BOAT
You don’t have to stay in one spot on the
boat when fighting a strong fish. Provided
you don’t clobber your fishing buddies, it is
fine to “follow” the fish and not let him rub
the line against the hull of the boat, possibly causing it to break. For example, if
you’re on the bow of the boat fighting a fish
and it decides to run around the stern,
calmly walk to the stern while maintaining
pressure on the fish. Otherwise he could get
wrapped around the motor. If you watch the
video below, you will hear me coaching little
Ella to “follow the fish” as she walks from
the back of the boat towards the front.
You may find yourself doing this with
bigger trout, too. If the fish runs under the
boat then follow him there! This does not
mean jumping in the water, but putting your
rod into the water so the line does not rub
against the hull of the boat, possibly abrading it and causing you to lose your fish.
RETIE YOUR
KNOTS
Hands down,
this is the most
overlooked aspect
of landing nice fish.
You want to retie
Even this Double Uni
Knot should be retied
your knots before
after a day of fishing
every fishing trip. Old
knots tend to become abraded and weak
from exposure to the elements. If it’s been a
couple of weeks since your last fishing trip,
then know that small amounts of rust can
accumulate on hooks and lures, right where
your knots are tied. A sturdy fish will more
likely pop that line than a freshly tied knot.
There is more to lose if you don’t retie your
knots. That pretty World Series speckled
trout or huge doormat flounder you waited
all year to catch can be lost. Then, you
won’t have a wall hanger but a story of the
“one that got away.”
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