Quote Originally Posted by itsbob View Post
You can slow down but do not stop.We have even put in neutral and gliding forward for a few seconds when netting a bigger fish.Question for captain Eric.When we have our yearly fishing charter on PoohBear, Keith makes it a point to make sure we never stop reeling or even slow down when bringing in a bigger fish.When on our boat,if a bigger fish starts pulling hard,I will stop reeling till I feel the pressure letting off before reeling in again.I "play" the fish the same as I would if I were casting.Your thoughts and how do you do it on your boat.
My technique - it's all about pressure! Once that fish is hooked up and off the board line - we want to keep the pressure that we're putting on that fish very constant, combined with full 90 degree bend in the rod. With the braided line we use, there is no stretch, we all know that... so it's up to the rod to absorb the jerks and tugs from the fish. My rule of thumb on the rods: you take 45 degrees of bend out and you lose 90% of the effectiveness of the rod. Do we ever stop reeling? Not too much, but again, depends on the pressure. Walleye don't tend to make too many runs, they just seem to shake their heads every now and then when fighting. The whole key is to let the soft rod bend absorb those head shakes, while continuing to inch that fish towards the boat. The rod bend/constant pressure keeps any slack from forming between us and the fish also. There's a million different scenario's - fish could be swimming toward the boat, you'll need to reel faster... big fish just wants to wallow and shake his head, you'll probably be reeling slower. It's not race to get the fish to the boat - but you don't want to delay it any longer than necessary either! The longer he's in his element, and we're in ours - the greater chance of getting away.

Side note - or slightly off topic of your question maybe??? - Popping the lines off the release clips seems to be the hardest technique to really master... I've had guys want to jerk the rod like their carp fishing, others tap and tap and tap, never hard enough to release it but just enough to cause an earthquake on the tow-line! I personally use a one-handed whip with the rod, but that's the hardest of all to learn - so we try not to encourage customers to do it. We demonstrate the 'rod handle spank'....Here comes the critical part - the very instant that line comes off the clip you MUST take up that slack that was just created!!! Don't do it by reeling!!!!! Simply lift the rod quickly, straight up, and away from the fish, whichever side it's on.... you want to establish that pressure that's so important! Once you taken up that slack, and put some bend in the rod, let the fish center up between the other lines (if necessary...) and then start bringing it towards the boat - steadily!!! Steady pressure - my people hear me say that a million times!

Hope I've answered your question! By the way - people on my boat will also hear over and over "That's the most important fish of the day!" .....they usually figure out why I'm saying that by about the 28th fish or so......