Alan's Workbench
A Different Point of View
Mar. 31 2009, 3:33 PM
Mar. 31 2009, 3:33 PM
If you’ve been reading these blogs, then it means you have to be as obsessed with fishing as I am. You remember the fish you’ve caught. You also remember the fish you’ve lost. Fine-tuning our art is often just a matter of eliminating those weak links in the chain that result in lost fish. That means taking a hard critical look at everything, from the handle grip to point of the hook. So let’s do just that, but this time let’s start with a different point of view.
Most guys look at the reel first and then work their way out to the fish. Let’s reverse that and take at things from the fish’s point of view. Bait selection or lure presentation have to be addressed by the guys that fish that specific body of the water in question, so I’m going to start from the point of the hook. In most situations, sharper is better, but I’ve been known to knock the point off a circle hook or two. Pick a hook that works for the fish that you are targeting. Test your knots with a scale. A uni-knot, Palomar or San Diego should break at 90 percent of your line rating. Test a few; otherwise, you may not know that you’re doing something wrong until you’ve lost a few fish. Pick a fishing line, and stick with it for a while. Tie a few connecting knots, and test those as well. Change your mono or fluoro topshots often. If you use a braid, have it spooled on tightly by machine. Loosely spooled braid will dig into itself and lock up. A double wrap of black electrical tape on the arbor will make sure the Spectra does not slip on the spool. Don’t laugh. It’s a very common mistake for first timers.
The line has to go through the guides of the rod. We’ve already talked about rod selection and rod problems. When the fish takes a run, it is pulling against the drag system. The major reel manufacturers put greased carbon fiber drag washers in their most expensive two-speed lever drag reels for a reason. If there are no weak links in this chain, then a fish on a run has a direct connection from the point of the hook to the drag system of the reel. That’s right. This fish’s interface with the reel is the drag system. This fish does not know (or care) if your reel is graphite or gold; lever drag or star; level wind or topless; single-speed or two; domestic or foreign. All it feels is the drag system. If your reel comes stock with greased carbon fiber drag washer, or if you’ve upgraded to greased carbon fiber, it will never be able to tell the difference between a $50 reel and $500 reel.
Ah, but you will be able to tell the difference. Your interface with the reel is the handle grip. That continues through to the drive shaft, then the gears to the drag system. And it is at the drag washers that the two of you meet. Like I said, just a different point of view.
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