How To Play And Land Your Fish (Part Five - Reels)

By Chris Haycock

How To Play And Land Your Fish (Part Five - Reels)
When using a fly reel, there isn't always a brake, or drag
to help you. To prevent big fish from running you can exert
varying degrees of thumb pressure inside the spool. Without
such pressure there is a real risk that your line will
overrun and backlash, with the sometimes "interesting"
feature of the "bird's nest," however, watch out for your
knuckles when the reel handle starts spinning.

With an automatic fly reel, you retrieve the line by
pressing a lever, and the reel does the work. Having said
that, never play a fish on the spring of an automatic reel.
Use the hand retrieve method to take the line in. When you
want to wind the retrieved line onto the reel, then use the
lever. The automatic reel was never intended to be a
mechanical fish player.

Another point with automatics, always run the line between
the fingers of your free hand. Pressing the lever without
controlling the line this way will mean that there's a good
chance you will run ALL the line onto the reel before you
have a chance to release the lever. Resulting into the hook
slamming into the tip of your rod, with the almost
inevitable result of breaking something.

Line reeled onto the spool of a single action fly reel can
form ridges high enough to jam against the cross braces of
the reel frame. You can avoid these ridges by using your
little finger on your non-winding hand as a level wind
device. As the line comes in, simply push it to the right
side of the spool, then hook it back to the left side. This
will give you a smooth, level spool of line that won't jam
your reel at the critical moment when playing a large fish.

So, we can see that an item that many of us take for
granted is actually an integral part of the fishing
process. As a final thought, always keep your reel(s) well
maintained. This is especially important when fishing salt
water, given it's highly corrosive properties. It doesn't
take but a few minutes at the end of the day to clean, dry,
and lightly oil your reel, and you will be repaid with many
years of trouble free service. When using fixed spool
spinning reels, give a thought to having a couple of spare
spools in your tackle box, loaded with different breaking
strain lines. This will give you more flexibility when you
actually get to your fishing spot and see what type of
conditions you are having to fish.

About the Author:

Chris Haycock is an information publisher. One of whose
many hobbies is fishing, of all types. Also researching
resources to help the angler. For details of one such
amazing resource go to:
http://www.lostflyfishingsecrets.com
Source: www.isnare.com

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