If I know its going to be wet/rough I carry a 7ft gaff along with me. (otherwise a 3fter resides in the Jeep)I also agree with MikeP here that you have to find a safe place to land the fish before that first cast. At least know where you want to walk the fish after you hook it. A 3 ft leader with a large swivel is nice to get the fish closer to the gaff if needed. The large swivel helps me from losing my grip on the leader and slicing my hand on the braid!
I too grab the leader and lay the rod down IN FREE SPOOL and get the fish. At least if you drop it or get swamped the fish won't leave with yer rod!
With the long handle gaff you can stick the fish and climb a litttle higher before the lift up.
I've tried the rope trick and maybe I'm not fast enough at it yet but I REALLY feel the need to get the hell outta there sooner than that and sometimes you just can't reach that fish leader or not depending on poundage of said bass.
