Follow-up comment on "rod wt vs fish size"

[fcch]

Bill,

Sorry if I added any confusion.

Light gear "can" lead to prolonged fights (all other factors you mentionned being equal).

I've seen too many anglers on my home waters, outgunned (tippet) to be able to bring in a bruiser, ... Instead of breaking off, they put up a fight to exhaustion (usually it's the fish that gets exhausted first).

I'm in full agreement with your comments. There's a nice hole on a pool here. There is only ONE place to cast into it and its 15 ft over the pool. From there, the presentation to the salmon is PERFECT and chances of connecting are good.

We just don't fish there for C&R. It is impossible to get from the perch to the river's edge. Once hooked, the fish jumps into the current and will take out HUNDREDS of ft of line in the main flow.

The only way to get the fish landed there is to have a partner stream side and to exhaust the fish. So regardless of the rod or tippet, this is not a good C&R situation.

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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://www3.sympatico.ca/chris_chin/:4eb4b]http://www3.sympatico.ca/chris_chin/[/url:4eb4b]

[Royal Wulff]

RW here,

I agree with lee s completely. It is the tippet strength in the hands of a person that knows how to play a fish, not the rod that determines the outcome of the fight. Not just the rod alone.

This argument can and has been argued time and again, but here's a test that can prove a light rod (within reason) can whip a big fish just as quickly as can a heavy rod.

My editor gave me a simple test to prove it to doubters. Here it is verbatim as he told it to me: By the way, I'm defending the light tackle afficiandos cuz I'm one myself.

"About 10 or 12 years ago, Paul Angelo of the Great Outdoors in Winthrop, Me. showed me a neat little test. Have someone kneel onto the floor, make a fist and put the knuckles on the floor with the thumb side toward someone 10 feet away with a rod, line and leader. Have the person kneeling hold the tip of the leader between the thumb and index finger. The guy with the rod starts pulling on the leader, and in good fighting fashion, keeps the tod tip high - say 12 o'clock. Despite the rod size, the man on the floor can hold the tippet all day long."

"Now, drop the rod to about 9:30, which puts the fighting pressure in the butt. It does not matter whether it is a 3-weight (which I tested) or a 10-weight. You cannot hold
the leader once the pressure has been put into the butt...Period!. If you wrapped the leader around your hand, it would cut the flesh. I'm sure this would work with even a 1-weight. Putting the pressure in the butt works great energy against the fish. In short, a man smart enough to do that would
subdue a big fish easy enough with a 1-weight, 5-weight or a 10-weight."

That said, I'll stick to my light tackle, thank you very much, and without worrying about playing a fish too long or applying undue stress to the quarry.

As I said earlier, lee s is right on with his determination on the subject. I hope all my 1 and 2-weight compadres will feel better, now that all that is cleared up.

Thank you, thank you very much!
RW


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"We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours." -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-




[This message has been edited by Royal Wulff (edited 26 February 2005).]

[DG]

Catching a big fish on a light rod does NOT mean that it takes any longer to land, does NOT mean that it is going to die, and DOES NOT make you a bad person. If you dispute this, watch me land a fish some time. The person behind the rod is the deciding factor. If someone is going to baby a fish for twenty minutes, the rod MAKES NO DIFFERENCE.

If your mind is made up, though I am not going to attempt to show you that your thinking is in error, cause those who make decision in the absence of empirical evidence cannot be swayed by logic or fact.

[tailingloop]

Heavier rods may help land fish quicker. Depends on a lot of factors. Also what characterizes big fish.

I have been fortunate enough to fish a couple of lakes that produced good numbers of 20-28 inch trout at the time I fished them. Using 4-7 wt rods it took about the same amount of time to bring the fish to hand regardless of rod used.

I have also fished 20-40b yellowfin tuna in a 6 foot swell where experienced anglers that used 10wts took much long to bring in fish than those using 12-13 weights. When the anglers trying 10wts switch to the heavier rods, they were able to get the fish in quicker. In that swell they were able keep more pressure on with out the surge from the swell bursting the rod and the greater lifting strengh of the heavier rods help with the vertical battle shortstoking the fish the the surface.