When I was about 10-12 years old, bait fishing with some friends in the Mississippi near Keokuk, IA, I caught a water moccasin. I just reeled it up to the tip top and kept it on the hook and beat it against the side of the boat until it was sufficiently subdued that we could cut the head off with a knife. I don't know that I would want to do this with a valuable fly rod, but with my old solid fiberglass Zebco, it was not a problem.

Ted