as novice fly fishers we all occasionally hook into a big fish this experience usually is short
due to the lack of experience fighting these large animals as the fly fisher becomes more experienced
the chances of hooking into a large fish become more probable and sometimes predictable today
we'll talk about fighting big fish in moving water and also in stillwater
at the earliest time possible you must get the line on the reel though only do this once you
have control of the fish many fish are lost as the angler tries to get the line on the reel
while forgetting to keep tension on the fish once the fish stops take this opportunity then
to reel in the slack often once a large fish makes its first initial run the slack line
is picked up off the water automatically it's important to use your finger to pinch the line
against the rod as it's being drawn out this will keep a firm and even tension on the line
see if we can hurt them back using side pressure
let's get the net here once that fish is starting to show its sides
usually it's beating this one's starting to retire
he's got it in there i can't see where though to get it out there it is right on the side
so we probably took this flying and turned and that's when i felt it and that drove
it right into the scissors of the jaw right in the upper and lower jaw on me right behind him
there he is get him up so the viewers at home can see him and again if i just support the fish hold
on to his tail don't squeeze them they'll sit quite calm let's get them into the water here
get out of the way just hold them there and admire them look at the coloration
what a beautiful specimen big male see how the jawline comes behind the eye
starting to get that prominent type their eyes seldom extend past their
eye their jaws rather seldom extend past the rye that is a beautiful fish
there he goes he's revving up he's fighting i want him to fight me
a couple of times to make sure he's truly good and ready and off he goes
gotta come to the parkland i was just swinging the fly around and all i felt allow the fish to run
don't hold on for dear life by clamping the line onto the rod with your hand
this is a primary mistake most novice anglers make when fighting their first big fish
not allowing the fish to run will result in a fish pivoting on a taut line
this in turn will result in the hook being torn out or the tippet breaking
instead let the fish run and apply a moderate tension to the line by using the real drag
or palming the reel with your hand using less than maximum pressure will allow a cushion against an
unexpected surge of the fish or a mistake on your part oh what a deadly hit what it does run way
downstream on me and i'm very very concerned about it fighting him gingerly if he decides he wants to
run i'm letting him run that's a that's important when fighting any kind of big fish when they
decide they want to run you got to let them don't try to resist it as long as you can pull them in
pull them in but you see them feel them resist and you can't feel them let them run very good fish
just at the head of the pool he picked that fly up eh there he goes we'll talk about
the tactic itself with mike when we're done here what how we're taking apart these pools
we're not just barging into a pool we're starting at the top and working our way down good fish
ready and nicely done
all right look at that nice egg sucking leech right in the corner of the mouth there
so that's a fully purple marabou egg sucking leech with a big orange bead
and it's tied out of one complete feather which makes it very you can see how it's
moving in the water there just out of the mouth i'll simply go in and unhook that
it's a very nice prime steelhead hen pushing about five pounds maybe
great shape we'll let her go for another day
oh yeah all right when a large fish leaps in the air you must introduce some slack into the
line this is a technique known as bowing to the fish listen as glenn hales and myself discuss
this technique it came ridden in white rain weight seems to be what they wanted right now oh man big
head shakes big head shakes he's staying down which is unusual for a muskie they generally
they generally jump quite a bit and if he jumps i'm gonna bow he comes here cubs hiccups put the
rod down when he jumped it's a good fish don't hold your rod up high when he jumps
i have to tire this guy out very very
oh man incredibly fast egg you know it's just a blur with a fish coming by when you see him take
he's getting there he's getting there yeah he's starting to get tired
he's got a good hook set in let's get a good hook set yeah i'm gonna go all the way around
okay are you bringing it right
good fish still got splunk in them too
incredibly strong what it's all about yeah that's what it's all about that's for sure
very good glenn
that is what it's all about nice fish bill folks almost gone to fly this is my first muskie
on a fly i've caught musky before but this my first one on the fly i'm very excited about it
as the fish runs farther away from you you must decrease your drag now this sounds crazy but
you must remember the mass of the line moving through the water creates resistance this along
with a tight drag will place too much pressure on the fish and will result in either a pulled hook
or a broken tippet as you bring the fish in closer you may again start to carefully tighten your drag
apply side pressure when fighting a big fish applying strictly overhead pressure allows
the fish to use its large muscles which are designed to move the fish in a forward motion
when you apply side pressure the fish is not equipped to resist such pressure efficiently
once you feel the fish turn you simply turn the rod in the opposite direction
this will keep the fish constantly off balance and using energy to continue the fight
he's starting to tire you or him both of us actually
wow i just i love catching big fish i love catching big fish
right heat right there give them the right heat there you go okay
i'm not even going to touch leer in this guy we're just going to lift him because if i
grab that leader and he gives one shake he's gone
so i'm just gonna wait till you got them where i can slip them there
so i can put this in a different place
come here baby feel this
all right oh yeah oh and do you have a new record
i can't see it you do 20 pounds 20 pounds all right oh
all right oh man this is something else
i can't hold it up oh 20 right on another 20 pounds yeah two days
two days in a row we've seen fish bigger than this yeah i know we did oh this is something else right
there is what it's all about oh yeah oh yeah oh okay whoo great great all right you want photos
i grew up in the south that is a big park right there the size of the tail
i think he's making a few crawdads yeah you think so yeah oh the way he turned on that my goodness
great let's see how long your record
you