drag setting
 

need some answers to drag setting when fighting abig fish in current over structure.lost a big fish last fall in river.fish was on for 10 minutes with 3/4 drag ,fish finnaly decides to make a run under bridge between pilings if fish gets through no shot at getting to her.tighten down on dragand aply two thumbs totry and stop her.hook straightens out what should i have done?any thought on this ,need some insite.fishing with conventional tackle.

Don't tighten drag just use thumb/hand to apply increased pressure.

6X Hooks

Mono instead of Braid....better chance of the line not breaking when the fish gets into the pilings. No reason to think you still can't land her after she goes through the pilings. a looser drag might even help if this happens so the same spot isn't rubbing against the piling

and sometimes there's nothing you can do but tip your hat to the fish and wish her well.

Agree with TDF –

Keep the drag set normally and apply thumb pressure to stop the fish. Depending on the situation especially fishing bridge pilings or other heavy structure you sometimes have to keep them from taking any line and it becomes a tug of war that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Heavy gear is a must and I think single hooks are less likely to pull free or bend under the pressure so I pretty much stick to Eels, Bucktails or big swim shads.

I go back and forth on mono vs braid in this kind of situation and am currently back to favoring braid for the feel .

chains

sorry forgot to say i was using heavy casting eqiupment with 65 power pro 40# leader and a 2oz. jig head with an 8inche swim shad.

I only clamp down on the drag with my hand if I absolutely have to (ie a situation like the one you described) I wouldn't tighten the drag down because you'll never get it back to wear you want it with the fish on. When in doubt I always use less drag.

You're not going to land every big fish you hook--especially in current, in water with a lot of nasty structure. I get my ass kicked by a fish that just doesn't want to be caught almost every year, in the Canal. When I'm fishing near one of the bridges, I use an All Star rod rated to 12 oz, heavy braid and a winch of a reel that holds 15# of drag all night--and there are fish that I just can't turn trying every trick in my book.

Bridge fishing is tough. You lose a lot, but you usually are talking quality fish when you hook up---and after all, 3/4ths of the fun is the fight. Landing them is just gravy ;)