Let's continue with ways to land more of the fish you have on the
line. We covered quality hooks and correct setting of the drags on your reels.
They probably rank as the top two in importance, although there are many other
ways to get the fish to stick. To me there is nothing more vital to my success
on the lake and satisfaction of my customers than a high ratio fish on to fish
in. I am sure there are some that will disagree with a procedure I use to allow
a greater numbers at the end of the day. I pull my lines and stop the boat on
all of the fish over ten pounds or at least that's my goal. Occasionally, in the
heat of the battle, a larger fish will end up close to the boat before we can
clear lines. Then I will take the boat down as slow as we can to avoid getting
the fish around my other lines. The longer you drag the fish around the more
time they have to get off.
Over the years I have found that the harder you pull on the fish
the harder they fight and more likely they will come off. This also allows me to
run smaller terminal tackle and lighter lines both of which improve
presentation. I know pulling lines is a lot of work but I would rather do that
than disappoint a customer and friend. I have the pleasure of a new group of
fishermen twice a day with a wide variety of experience. Most of who have never
caught a fish before. My youngest this year was three and oldest was
eighty-seven. We managed to boat over 80% of the fish we had on. There will be
more on this subject in the next article.
Good Luck!,
Captain Jim
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