Well, this doesn't mean anything to most people. When I say, "Don't reel against the drag", I know I'm speaking another language. It's ok, I'm learning to slow down a bit. But, here I go with an explanation...
If you're using a conventional reel, this doesn't apply at all. Go ahead, reel as much as you want and whenever you want. If you're going to gain line, it'll come in. If not, no harm done. But, if you're using a spinning rod, and you "reel against the drag", you have a chance of really messing up the line, causing horrible line twist and possibly breaking the line or ruining it forever.
Here's what I mean. The "drag" is a part of the reel that allows line to slip off of the reel once enough pressure is put on the line. That is to say, if the drag is set to slip (adjusted by you or myself) at 10 pounds, and a fish swims away fast and strong and creates 15 pounds of pressure on the line, then the fish will pull line off of the reel. If you're line is known to break at 15 pounds of pressure and you set your drag to break at 20 pounds....then a big fish will break your line if it pulls away hard.
But what about those big fish? The drag is designed to tire the fish out. If a fish pulls line off of the reel and the drag does it's job, then the fish will tire out before you run out of line! When the fish tires out, it'll stop pulling line off of the reel and you can then reel line in. That's the best case scenario. In 2008, we hooked a couple of mako sharks that we couldn't stop regardless of how high the drag was set or how much line we had on the reel. One shark took 700 yards of line off of the reel with the drag set at 26 pounds of drag!! We had to chase that fish with the boat, reeling line in whenever we were driving faster than the fish was swimming. We did this three times before losing the fish an hour into the battle.
With a spinning rod, when a fish "pulls drag", you'll hear the reel make a clicking noise. Reeling when the reel is doing this is what ruins the line, because the physics of a spinning reel mean that when you're reeling in as the drag is going out, all you're doing is twisting the line (which is bad). Better action is to lean back as to bend the rod, while watching the spool of the reel. As soon as it stops going out, you can reel. Sometimes. Sometimes when you reel, you add enough pressure to fish's pressure that you engage the drag once again. This is the tough learn.
Think of it this way....Imagine standing in a parking lot and tying your line to the bumper of a car. The car takes off and line peels off of the spool. There is nothing you can do to stop it so you hold on. The car stops. You try reeling in and you reel and reel and reel. The rod bends like mad and you keep reeling. Have you moved the car? No. You've just twisted the line the whole time. This is what it's like sometimes with big fish. You can't just reel them in!
So what do you do if you have a big fish that you've stopped, but can't reel in? You palm the reel by cupping your cranking hand gently on the spool as you pull back. If you can move the fish, great. Here's what you do.
Cup the spool. Pull back gently and firmly. When you have the rod at about 11:00, take your hand off the spool and start reeling, as you start reeling, imagine reeling the tip of the rod to the fish--the rod tip will "lower itself". When you're pointing at the fish, quickly cup the spool. Pull back and repeat. And keep repeating until you get the fish under control and don't have to palm the spool any longer. Sometimes, you have to palm it to the boat. Remember, though...
Remember that when you're palming the reel, there is NO DRAG!! This means that if the fish runs, it'll break the line. You have to be ready to get your hand off the spool immediately if that fish makes a run. Sometimes, I'll lower the drag setting a bit when I know I'm going to palm it. This way, the drag has a little more give if a fish runs. I know that I can add a little extra drag with educated fingers.
You'll lose some fish this way, but it's the only way some times!
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