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Water temp, current, fish size and the fishes mood determine how hard it will fight. I've had big fish come in like nothing, and had small fish 20-25#s fight like hell. This spring for example when the water was cold, the fish were tired from a long migration they came in like dead weight. One or two small runs and it was over (fish to mid 30#s). A couple weeks ago I had 12-15 pound fish that just wouldnt quit. This could be due to water temp, and that they were well fed and rested.
When I fight fish from the rock (exclude b-ways or inlets) I set on the fish with a fairly hard drag. From there I will loosen it quite a bit. If you keep a tight drag in this condition the hook could rip or tackle will break. Everyone always talks about "you gotta turn the fish, thats your only chance" or "I had to keep him outta the rocks. The problem is that when you fish braid it cuts like nothing under tight tension. So the fish goes in an area where the line touches a rock or barnacle and snap... fish off. With a loose drag the fish will have a hard time breaking you off.
The second issue is that if the drag is tight the fish cant pull line so it goes straight to the bottom where the odds of breaking off are even better. If it can take line they will run parallel to the bottom and you have good chances of landing it.
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