Fighting larger fish

[capesams]

whenever a question like this pop's up no one ever say's what kind of turf their fishing on.....if it's rock's like the ditch has...what drag?....if it's the beach...lite drag//walk down the beach with the fish till it poop's itself out.....in the boat...med to lite drag...once the fish is hooked you both drift together till she comes along side...now being anchored up is a different story..tight drag/pull slowly.//////every location will dictate a different drag setting.

[GaryK2]

I have had quite a few big fish (say over 30 pounds) that have come right back at me after taking an initial long run, causing the line to almost go slack and me question whether it was still on. My PB of 44 pound did that.

[VeeMike]

Maybe I missed a response to the "setting my drag" question. But I follow the following rule of thumb.

For mono, 1/3rd the lb. test rating; for superbraids/Fireline, etc., 1/4 the lb. test rating.

So when I use 35# Berkley Fireline I set my drag to around 8 lbs. I'll attach a simple fish scale to the ground, hook my rigged line via a snap to the scale, then lean back on the loaded rod until my assistant at floor level tells me the scale is bouncing around 8 - 9 lbs. Same for mono which is more forgiving of the sudden strike so you can go a little tighter on the drag. I set my 20# Cajun mono rigged to my 9'4" St. Croix popping rod with my Penn 704 to about 7 lbs. 7 lbs. of pull on the scale for 20# test is 1/3rd the test rating. Obviusly 8 to 9 lbs. pull on my 35# test Fireline is 1/4th the line's test rating.

[Striperhound]

The right equipment helps also. Last year I mainly fished with a Lami 1084 9 footer and had some issues pulling bigger fish out of the rocks when they would run. This year, I stepped up to a 10 footer and the stopping power is much different and the extra foot helps when dancing around rocks.

[JPowers]

capesams,

Exactly.

[steelhead]

You're right CS. I'm fishing in a very rocky area from shore. A shoal that goes out 400 yards or so. Current and waves come from both sides. On the left there is a very deep hole with a stony bottom. At low tide, the is just uner water. At high its about 12 to 14 feet under, with the usual larger boulders and gullies in between. I'm not too sure about the right of the shoal, as it'sd tough so steep and rocky that I'm afraid to even walk out there. I suspect that when I look at a chart, it drops there too. This place gets huge surf and swells.

[JHABS]

Keep the Pressure on and most Important give the Fish no Slack Line