Fishing Thread

[ChemEngineer]

Look, people, millions are addicted to watching overpaid athletes play baseball, basketball, football, and soccer to name a few, but don't participate in those sports themsel
On the other hand, lots of you reading this probably fish in good weather. So this joint needs a good place for fishermen to share tips and fish stories and help the rest of the schleps not lose the next "big one."

The very best tip I can give anyone is how to set the drags on your reels. Most fishermen just pull and set.... somehow. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The spool acts as a lever with the fulcrum at the center of the spool, and the end of the lever is the distance from the center of the spool to the outer layer of fishing line, right? So as any big fish is pulling out line, the drags automatically tighten down due to decreasing leverage on the same pressure exerted by the drags. In other words, say your line is loaded 2 inches out from the center of the spool and you set the drags at 25 pounds. When the line goes out to only 1 inch, the drags now pull at 50 pounds because the lever (spool) is shorter, and continues to get shorter.

So you set your drags at 30% of the pound test of the line you are using. And DO NOT tighten down when your big one is running hard. You'll break the line for sure.
I set my 40 pound test at 13 pounds and brought in a 70-pound bluefin tuna that almost spooled me twice. It was three times as big as the next largest fish caught on this trip.

Tail hook live bait and if it doesn't run out fast when it hits the water, bring it back and put on a better bait.
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[The Duke]

Good info in the OP, thanks!

 

[DukeU]

That's fine when fishing in open water.

But when you're fishing around heavy cover like I do around rocks, trees, etc. you can't afford to give the fish any line.

I tighten my drag as tight as it will get.

 

[Plagerist]

Look, people, millions are addicted to watching overpaid athletes play baseball, basketball, football, and soccer to name a few, but don't participate in those sports themsel
On the other hand, lots of you reading this probably fish in good weather. So this joint needs a good place for fishermen to share tips and fish stories and help the rest of the schleps not lose the next "big one."

The very best tip I can give anyone is how to set the drags on your reels. Most fishermen just pull and set.... somehow. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The spool acts as a lever with the fulcrum at the center of the spool, and the end of the lever is the distance from the center of the spool to the outer layer of fishing line, right? So as any big fish is pulling out line, the drags automatically tighten down due to decreasing leverage on the same pressure exerted by the drags. In other words, say your line is loaded 2 inches out from the center of the spool and you set the drags at 25 pounds. When the line goes out to only 1 inch, the drags now pull at 50 pounds because the lever (spool) is shorter, and continues to get shorter.

So you set your drags at 30% of the pound test of the line you are using. And DO NOT tighten down when your big one is running hard. You'll break the line for sure.
I set my 40 pound test at 13 pounds and brought in a 70-pound bluefin tuna that almost spooled me twice. It was three times as big as the next largest fish caught on this trip.

View attachment 994909

Tail hook live bait and if it doesn't run out fast when it hits the water, bring it back and put on a better bait.
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Was it good eatin'?