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Jan 15 2019

Timeless Tips: Avoid Breaking your Rod when Fighting Fish

Solid form while keeping the second hand off the rod. Photo: Kyle Shea

We are going to keep it simple for you here. For the sake of this article, try and forget about your two handed rod (I know this is hard, I hated even typing the words) but lets just focus on a 9 ft 8 wt rod.  The perfect weapon for Andros South among many other fisheries.  How many cork grips are on the rod?  The answer is 1.  How many different places should you put your hand on the rod?  The answer is 1.  

When fighting a fish, never use your free hand to grab the rod above the cork.  This is the quickest way to break that expensive toy that has an 8 pound bonefish on the other end.  The best way to tire out a large fish is to fight it with the entire rod.  Not just the rod tip, but with the butt of the rod as well.  If you grab the rod 2 feet up with your free hand, you are now fighting the fish with a 7 ft rod.  This changes the freedom the rod has to flex (it is designed to use all 9 ft when flexing) and often ends with a broken rod.  Don’t let your 9 ft shock absorber become a 7 ft one. If you do, you will probably be taking advantage of that lifetime warranty when you get home..

More Tips on Fighting Fish:

  • Fight King Salmon with the Butt of the Rod
  • 5 Mistakes when Fighting Fish
  • 6 Tips for Landing Big Fish

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Deneki Outdoors thanks Peter Viau, Tosh Brown, Abe Blair, Kyle Shea and Kara Knight for the beautiful photography used on our sites.

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