Bonefish can swim really fast. If you spend much time chasing them, it’s bound to happen eventually – you’ve got a good fish on and you’re feeling pretty well in control of the situation, and then that little silver torpedo decides to swim right at you, much faster than you can reel. Slack starts forming in your line, and we all know that slack is the enemy when you’ve got a fish on. What’s an angler to do?
It’s not a miracle cure, but one thing that you do while you keep reeling as fast as you can, of course, is jam your rod tip in the water. A high rod tip is appropriate in a lot of situations where you’re fighting fish, but a high rod tip might keep 30 feet of fly line out of the water.
If slack starts to form when a fish swims at you, you want as much drag on your line as possible, to minimize the chances of your hook pulling out. Jamming your rod tip in the water will ensure that every possible last bit of fly line is in the water, creating drag, and hopefully maintaining some tension on the hook even if your rod isn’t bent to the cork.
Every little bit helps!
[…] Deneki Outdoors recently had a post about putting your rod tip in the water when you have a bonefish on the line and coming straight at you. I hope, that my trout and steelhead background would come into play in that situation and I’d instinctively do just that. […]