We’ve told you in the past about one of the biggest mistakes we see anglers make when fighting big fish – simply not exerting enough pressure on the fish, either by bending the tip of the rod or by not pulling hard enough.
We stumbled across a little video that illustrates just how hard you can pull, and in fact how hard you need to pull, to land big fish using spey rods.
This hapless angler hooked a big chrome Kanektok king salmon on his Sage 8134-4 Z-Axis (yes it’s a little light for kings, but man it casts nice). Note how deeply the butt section of the rod is bent. Note how hard the guy is working, putting his…ahem…”substantial” weight into the fight. It’s not pretty, but there is a lot of pressure being put on this fish, both on the upriver pull to bring him close, and on the sweep towards the bank to get him into the net.
VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: We think this is what you need to do to land big fish with spey rods. However, fighting fish like this, you’re very close to the breaking point of your rod, your Maxima and your ego. Sometimes it doesn’t end well. Don’t blame us.
NOTE: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to see a very bent rod on YouTube.
P. S. It was a buck, somewhere north of 36 pounds. You’ve seen it here before.
Interesting video, but i really don’t think you’re putting maximum pressure on the fish by having that much of a bend in the rod, side pressure but not that effectively.
http://www.americanangler.com/images/stories/how-to-catch-a-100-pound-tarpon-/Andy-Mill-Fighting-Tarpon.jpg
Pointing directly at the fish is going to put more pressure on it then having your rod doing a full 90 degree turn.
Hey Derek,
Agreed – having the butt of the rod pointed further downriver would result in more pressure, but pointing directly at the fish in this situation would result in an instant break-off with the fish out in that current. 15 pound Maxima is strong, but it’s not that strong.
hey sometimes im fishin solo with my spey rod,just woudering how to land a fish with no won around yo help
Hi Bill,
Flyswinger.blogspost.com passed on a link to this great video showing how to land fish by yourself with a two-hander.
http://bit.ly/bQkSo2
Have fun out there!
I have had rod builders tell me not to do this. At least that is what they say when all you mail them is a small section of the butt of the rod to obtain a rod replacement/repair. The fish had took the next 12 plus feet.