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Posts: 66
Location: Padova - Italy | Know that this was discussed in the past.
But I don’t find a lot and I’m just curious to know how do you prefer to set your reel for the figure eight.
Open, less tight?
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| Free spool with a right thumb on the spool. |
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Posts: 1938
Location: Black Creek, WI | I'll second the freespool....
I never start a figure8 without having my reel already in freespool.
Edited by jlong 7/25/2006 11:11 AM
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Posts: 1916
Location: Greenfield, WI | Freespool before going into the figure-8. Set the hook in freespool and let off the pressure with your thumb after the hook is set and allow the muskie to get 10' out from the boat while getting ready to land the fish. |
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Posts: 1168
| Count me in the freespool camp. Drag is cranked tight, bait comes in close to boat, pop the button/thumbar, and away you go. Don't even have to think about doing this, it's just natural to me.
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Posts: 281
Location: Girdwood, Alaska | I also do this, thank God for thumb bars!! |
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Posts: 3915
| Well, I'm doing something wrong then because I do not freespool on an 8. I should learn it I guess, but I've never lost a boatside fish either (I've had like 12 or 15 over the years). But I have confidence in my reels - my reels are always clean, properly lubed and I use the higher grade Smooothing drag washers on all of them. I make sure my hook points are sharp as can be and when I get a boat side fish it always drags some line away, I lighten the pressure by lowering the rod tip as I hit the button with my thumb on the spool, carefully give her some line, reset the real, then play the green fish 15 or 20 feet from the boat. A bigger (40"+) will often take even more line via the drag, but that's ok, she usually stays down in the water and not on top. Wear her a little and bring her back to the net. I don't set my drags super tight, big fish always take line. I count on sharp hooks and zero slack to not lose the fish. I wonder if I get a better initial hook set than those who freespool from the beginning? I'm certainly in the minority on this one though. |
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Posts: 208
Location: North East PA , 20 mins from Chautauqua | I always click into freespool as I go into my L-Turn and if I don't see a follower I'm already in freespool for the next cast pick it up and let it fly again .
THE FERD |
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Posts: 32954
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Free Spool, force of old habit, I guess. |
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| I go with ranger on this one, I never freespooled,
not saying that either way is better because i never tried to freespool.. |
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