Part 2

So, how big is this guy?
Whether the trout hooks itself or you set the hook, the initial feeling will be a “wham”. Your fly will suddenly be attached to an animal that is mostly muscle. I’ve found that the “wham” can happen even with little fish. You can get the brief feel of something big when setting a sinking fly hook on a little guy, but you may find yourself launching a 5-inch trout into the air if you set your hook too aggressively.

You’ll be able to tell very soon if you have a little guy or a big guy on your hook. The little guy will feel like a wiggle on the end of your line as you reel him in. The big guy will let you know he has some muscles and heft. Indeed, that big guy may well have enough power to snap your tippet or unravel a poorly tied knot. Your tactics will change as soon as you have made the little guy versus big guy determination.

The objective with both fish is to get them to your net as soon as you can, without letting them throw the hook, snag your line on a rock or tree branch, or break your tippet.

That sense of urgency is based on two facts. The longer the fish has to work things out, the more likely it is going to find a way to get off your hook. More importantly, the fighting tires the fish and causes it to build up acids in its bloodstream. These stresses can cause the fish to die, even if you are careful in handling it and release it gently to the water. As a catch-and-release fisher, you want to net it, but also to have the fish to survive after release.

There’s a reason for your rod’s taper
Now that I have you visualizing a hooked fish on the end of your line, I hate to take you away to an explanation of how your rod works. I must, though, or you won’t understand the best way to get that hooked fish into your net.

Your rod is thickest and least flexible at the lower end. As it tapers to its thinnest diameter at your rod tip, it becomes more flexible. You can control the overall flexibility of your rod, and the amount of pressure it is putting on the fish –and your tippet. You do this by changing the angle of the rod tip to the direction of the fish, vertically or horizontally.

When your rod is pointed at a 45-degree angle away from the fish, it is bending fairly low on the rod and you are typically putting the maximum pressure on the fish that your rod was designed to give. As you change the angle to point increasingly towards the fish, you are increasingly reducing the rod’s pressure on the fish.

If you point your rod directly towards the fish you have a choice of doing two things. If you don’t have the line clamped with your rod hand index finger, your rod is putting absolutely no pressure on the fish. The only pressure is coming from your reel’s drag. If you have the line clamped, however, you are putting the most pressure on the fish that you can, but the rod is offering no flexibility to cushion any shock the fish may put on your line. Without the rod’s flexibility, you stand a pretty good chance of having the fish break your tippet if it makes a lunge before you can release the line.

As you change the angle from 45-degrees to pointing at a 90-dgree angle away from the fish, you are again reducing the amount of pressure your rod is putting on the fish. The rod will begin to bend more towards the tip, where it is most flexible. Though it is not putting much pressure on the fish at the 90-degree angle, your rod is acting as a shock absorber for your tippet.

If you point your rod at more than a 90-degree angle from the fish, it could be argued that you are not fishing – you are trying to break your rod. If the fish can pull your rod tip so it is pointing perpendicularly away from your rod that is generally fine. Having the rod tip point down parallel to your rod is bad. If you hold your rod so that the tip ends up pointing down towards the reel, there is a good chance you will break your rod, or damage it so that the next fish breaks it.