When the big fish come to play

[chavdaddy]

Over the past week i have been smoked by three fish considerably bigger than the 25-30cm bream i usually catch on the goldy. Three times these fish just peeled line effortlessly off my reel. I was just wondering advice on how to play these fish. The first fish turned my drag up pretty high during the fight, but this seemed to only make the fish pull harder, the second time i was done and dusted before i even knew what happened and third time which happened today i tried to play it with a lighter drag but still ended up being busted off. Im just looking for advice and tips on how to handle situations like these, +fishing from the yak makes it a hard fight. Any replies would be much appreciated,

Fraser.

[purple5ive]

have you got foot pedals, if so why dont you chase the fish with the kayak??

[freshwater.adam]

I sometimes find myself in this situation when fishing land based for flattys etc with plastics and end up hooking into a 6kg+ snapper on the light gear. All I can suggest is to maybe step up your leader by a couple of pounds an stay calm. What ever happens, you will need some luck I you are going to land it. I made the mistake of tightening the drag and it cost me the first few fish. My theory is that of its going to spool you, you were never going to land it. Just let it run and hope for the best.

[scott1987]

What kind of structure are u fishing?

[luke4220]

Drag depends on what ur fishing for.... and line class.... like said before if your going to get spooled there isnt much you can do about it just been outgunned by a big fish. but also try rod angles rather than straight up and down. You can put more hurt on a fish by increasing the angle. Just keep getting on to the bigger fish and you will keep learning techniques to help land them to. Also once you have a fish head turned you can also thumb your spool slightly without upping the drag obviously putting more pressure but making it very quick to let it off if he trys to bury you again... good luck

[echo1]

If it dusts you but doesn't break the line, freespool for a bit, change your angle on the line, then pull again. Sometimes the fish will have swum out.

[bargeass]

Chances are they're jacks and you haven't got a chance to start with. All you can do is cross your fingers and pray Lady Luck is on you're side hahaha

[uh-0hh]

Try keeping your rod tip high and change angle pulling against the direction the fish is swimming to.
Even though i have told not to do this, palming the spool works for me, arch your body to cushion the surge of the fish.

I caught a 9kg jew on 3lb doing the same thing.

Rest comes down to the fish gods.

[ajb]

Originally Posted by bargeass

Chances are they're jacks and you haven't got a chance to start with. All you can do is cross your fingers and pray Lady Luck is on you're side hahaha

+1. Sounds like a jack.

Never forget getting SMASHED on the seaway one year. Cast to the break wall, one hop of the lure, then crunch and snap. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Would love to land one some day.

[chavdaddy]

No foot pedals unfortunately being a student and an aspiring footballer training 5-6 days a week have not had much time to work and get enough money for a peddle yak! Paddle power for me Today where I hooked and lost the fish was a set of oyster encrusted jetty pylons. Fishing 4 pound braid and leader! He came out of the pylons and I thought that maybe he was heading for open water, then bam he turned around and was in-between the pylons before i knew it. If the fishing gods throw some more big fish at me next time ill try and put all this advice into practice!

I just love it when your outgunned out numbered and standing there like a twit holding into a little rod and praying for dear mercy, while a fish peels line off a reel absolutely uncontrollably..

It's got nothing to do with heavenly faith, optimism or reading self help books.

It's happened a few times to me and it truly lets you know that you can be a better fisher man / lady in time, and that's all it takes is time to learn the techniques to manage these marauding fish.

Give it time and technique will come, it's all about learning the ropes - you win some and you loose some.

[Plasman]

As the guys have said they are most likely Jacks. The problem is that 4lb or 40lb they'll bury you in tight structure. The speed at which they go is the tell tail sign if it's a big bream or a Jack. A hell of a lot of luck is needed to get these babies but the 1st run is the key.
The point made about rod angles is your best chance by leaning the fish to the side of the structure so it doesn't bury you straight away. Usually if they do a long run 1st up, they'll head for deep water on the 2nd run.
Oh yeah, if you land 1 in 10 on bream gear, you're doing well.