Fish Fighting Skills

[Guest One More Cast]

WHAT IS THE MOST CRITICAL TIME FRAME WHEN FIGHTING A BIG FISH?

 

A ) The First 10 seconds

 

B ) The Last 10 seconds

 

Discuss.

 

 

Joseph

[Mike Clifford]

Gotta set that hook- or we won't be talking about the last ten seconds.

[Jack T]

WHAT IS THE MOST CRITICAL TIME FRAME WHEN FIGHTING A BIG FISH?

 

A ) The First 10 seconds

 

B ) The Last 10 seconds

 

Discuss.

Joseph

 

Right On

[Guest rich mc]

yes ,you must hook the fish first and or get him out of going into a tangle. but i have seen more fish lost in the last ten seconds [ at the boat so to say]. but that is only because they were hooked first. rich

[MikeO1181]

I would say that it often depends on the fish species. But for me more often then not I would say that the first 10 seconds are the most crucial time frame for determining if your going to catch the fish or not. If the hookset is less then ideal then more then likely the fish will be swimming away, while on the other hand if the hookset is good and the line is kept tight you stand a good chance of catching the fish. I am curious to see what other people's thoughts on this are.

[Bterrill]

Most big fish are lost in first ten seconds. You don't prepare, you weren't paying attention, your knot is old, hooks aren't sharp, the fish freaks you out and you panic, you failed to notice your enviornment and fighting hazards, walking the dog you jerk the bait away after initial miss, you didn't think ahead of time how you'd react if a big fish hit.

 

Fish jumps- reel in the slack in the air. Higher drag reels come in handy for this and quick downstream chargers.

 

Once they are on, hooked and sharp, sharp, sharp hooks make up for many a mistake here... they are in near 80%+ of the time. Having a tight drag+ braid has lost me many fish after freeing a snag. Because of the no stretch, the hook hole widens and the fish's head shakes the lure loose.

 

If I'm casting across logs and the fish will have to come over it to get landed I force him to jump with really high rod and tearing in line, or run up to the log.

 

Landing the fish while wading can be a chore with trebles in it's mouth. I pull the pig towards shore until they flop sideways in the shallows. If they come off, you can easily grab them up. If not, you have time to pick your angle and avoid trebles.

 

Brenden

[Mike Clifford]

Great points Bterrill.

It really hits home.

The most critical timeframe is actually the ten seconds before a cast is made.

So true.

[Guest One More Cast]

The most critical timeframe is actually the ten seconds before a cast is made.

 

Best advice I have read this year. This line is going into all of my school's Syllabus

 

 

Joseph

[Mike G]

There is a lot of ambiguity here, Joseph. I guess that is why it will make a good discussion question.

 

Over 50% of the time, the first ten seconds is also the last ten seconds. Read Eric's recent post about "padding.." and getting schooled by the big ones. Add to that the logic pointed out by several,"You have to hook them first." Of the two choices given, the first ten seconds is the clear winner.

 

But that is like debating whether to fish on the surface or on the bottom. It is not an either or question. What about "in-between?" By that I mean that there is a third time period that the phrasing of the question has caused us to ignore. There is the paradox. The 3,600 second period before the first ten seconds is the most important. During this hour, a lot has to be checked off. Is the rod sound? Are the guides free of nicks? Is the reel in good mechanical shape and lubricated? Is it correctly mounted in the reel seat? Is the drag set corectly? Is the line in good shape? Is it laid on the reel without hidden snags? Are ther nicks or abraisions in the tip of the line or leader? Fresh well tied knot? Sharp hook(s)? I think this hour, which could spread out over several days before the big one strikes, is the most important ten seconds.

[Bterrill]

Sometimes, you hook the bass in that thin skin between the lips rather than meaty cheekbone, bottom of jaw, or roof of mouth. Then agonize when the fish shakes loose when that thin skin tears a larger hole and gets off with a headshake or direction change. I don't think anyone loses big fish if you're lucky and the hook sinks into cheek.

[Norm M]

As far as I'm concerned the most important time frame is however long it takes to have the right attitude . You must get to the point where you believe you are going to catch a fish on every cast and be able to sustain that attitude on every cast no matter the result of the previous cast .

 

If you start with the attitude I probably not going to catch anything , it soon becomes a self fulling prophecy .

 

Once the fishing starts and you catch a fish I can't really say that any one part of the fight is more important than another . If you screw up at any point you have still lost the fish .

 

Just a crotchety old farts point of view .