Fish-Hawk.Net

Do you reel it really slowly or do you crank it in quite fast?

Blatent "Smarties" ad rip-off but related to my post. I have been shorebound for a number of weeks due to a torn rotator cuff. I slid down a river bank and tried to grab on to a branch... Bad idea. So I cannot get my new ride onto the roof rack without help and a lot of casting (lures) is not great so I am mostly bait fishing and often on or near the bottom.

Had a couple of hours today so I went to an Ottawa river spot and dropped my bait on the bottom. Forgot my cosy chair and I was plagued by snags and no bites for about one hour. Thinking about packing it in while Chatting with a family who had three young kids and bingo. Seriously big fish on. First bite, first fish, and I had the Dad manning my net. Play it he says..... What would he know... I was landing this fish... snap!! My 25 pound fluoro leader broke.

Back to my smarties: When I catch the big fish after some success or near the end I take it easy, play the fish and bring it in easy. I have always hated catching the big fish first... The drag is not tuned right, I tend to be a bit more excited and I end up muscleing the fish in! Despite my frustration after the big loss I quickly landed five solid cats much to the delight of the three young kids watching me. Finished the session with two decent smallmouth who both provided lots of arial acrobatics.

In the end I cannot complain but when I catch my big fish, I like to catch them last!

BTW water levels are going down really fast!

Rod

I have always done it the same way by running a light drag and letting my rod do the work for me on a bigger fish. Take your time and the fish will come in. Have never been a fan of heavy line and mostly run 10 or 12 lb test with never an issue.

Yeah, I have had similar misadventures... Really annoying, kicking yourself for loosing what may been the. Best bite of the day.

When I landed my first gar this year I was so eager I tried to horse it into my net and luckily the line snapped but it fell right onto the dock and I managed to pick it up.

Great post Peron. I catch or lose the big one first, right away, most of the time... After that, I might as well go home because that was the biggest moment of the day.

Yeah I noticed the water levels are going down fast. The Rideau River seems to be really low already.

Perhaps the rain we're having today will make it rise

I had a fish hit my line this weekend in 60 feet of water that made the drag "scream". I was convinced that I was on a big Laker, the fight was incredible and I played it slow to make sure my line didn't break!

Finally got the fish to the surface... hammer-head pike. Wow, couldn't believe that such a small fish had put up that much of a fight!