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Posts: 49
| When fighting a fish is it better to keep your rod tip low near water or up like in most fishing situations? I think I've heard that it's better to keep the rod tip down when fighting a musky, is that to discourage it from jumping?
Does it change if it's spinning or baitcaster? |
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Location: MN | Fish comes up rod tip goes down. Fish goes down rod tip up.
If that is too much thinking during a fight just keep it down. You do not want a fish to jump because it is more likely to shake a hook in the air than in the water.
(This has been discussed in depth on here multiple times. The search function is a beautiful thing) |
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Posts: 49
| Search=
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/board/search/query.asp, line 212 |
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Posts: 46
| I think that the optimal way to hold your rod is whatever way puts pressure on the fish. Examples include hookset to higher when the fish is neutral depth or diving. Opposite would be hookset to lower if the fish is at the surface/near the surface/out of the water. I think the hardest part about the process is when to change direction. That seems when they are most possible to come off. Watch some video and your boat partners as much as possible. It is no substitute for time on the water, but can be a great start for sure. |
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| vpsaline - 2/6/2014 5:45 PM
Search=
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yeah i have seen this message a couple of time.to answer your question i put mine down,why no idea. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | Rod tip down. Worst two things you want a musky to do, jump shaking its head, vertical in the water shaking its head. |
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Posts: 8781
| Up, down, sideways, whatever it takes to control the fish. Slack line = BAD. Nowhere to go to steer the fish = BAD. Don't get all worked up over it. It's no different than fighting any other fish. Whatever 'ya gotta do to get the fish in the net. |
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Posts: 280
| Search in one forum at a time and it works fine.
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/search/query.asp?fid=0&action...
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Not too often do I lift the rod much, but do whatever it takes to keep good pressure on the fish. That's the most important thing. Keep the line tight and you'll land most of them. I tend to fight them pretty agressively - reeling hard and keeping the fish coming whenever I can. I've only been lucky enough to catch a couple big enough that they dictated how most of the fight went.
When using the search function, search just one forum at a time, and I always select a date range rather than searching "all." That usually works for me. |
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Posts: 5171
| Up ,seen a few times guys put rod down lose fish ,lack of pressure reason for losing a musky.0723 |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | 0723 - 2/7/2014 9:50 AM
Up ,seen a few times guys put rod down lose fish ,lack of pressure reason for losing a musky.0723
good luck with that … you ever catch one? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | if you are filming a tv show and want some really neat aerial action put your rod tip high ... and then watch them throw the bait! yah that'll do the trick. 
rod tip from level to down is best imo.
Edited by BNelson 2/7/2014 10:00 AM
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
What I try to do is always have the rod tip going in the opposite direction of which ever way the fish is going. I have found, for the most part, the line stays taught and the bait is working back into the mouth rather than out of it.
Granted, the fish does not always follow this logic though and there are times, especially when netting where you are leading a fish in... and if it hasn't happened yet, it will to everyone on here when a fish comes unbuttoned right before the net. Heartbreaking...but just a part of the sport.
Steve
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Posts: 785
| Down. I lost a lot of fish learning this. A lot of times during the fight the tip of the rod will even be under water. If the line starts coming up fast I'd go so far as to bury the rod to reduce the intensity of the jump. Keep good pressure on fish but don't force them up to the surface too quickly. Usually the harder you pull the crazier they get. The only time I may pull up on occasion is when a fish is almost to the net and I need to keep it up for that final second or two. The only really big fish I lost last year made a hard run for the outboard in the dark. Pulling up kept her away but it also made her thrash violently on the surface throwing the hooks. |
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Posts: 785
| BNelson - 2/7/2014 9:59 AM
if you are filming a tv show and want some really neat aerial action put your rod tip high ... and then watch them throw the bait! yah that'll do the trick.
rod tip from level to down is best imo.
Exactly! A lot of TV personalities do this to get the fish to go ballistic. Any newb watching thinking that's even remotely a good idea has a lot of frustration ahead of them. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | musky-skunk - 2/7/2014 10:30 AM
Down. I lost a lot of fish learning this. A lot of times during the fight the tip of the rod will even be under water. If the line starts coming up fast I'd go so far as to bury the rod to reduce the intensity of the jump. Keep good pressure on fish but don't force them up to the surface too quickly. Usually the harder you pull the crazier they get. The only time I may pull up on occasion is when a fish is almost to the net and I need to keep it up for that final second or two. The only really big fish I lost last year made a hard run for the outboard in the dark. Pulling up kept her away but it also made her thrash violently on the surface throwing the hooks.
This was a really good lesson! If fighting muskies is new to you, I'd read this one a couple times to make sure it sets in.
Tucker
Edited by curleytail 2/7/2014 12:19 PM
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Location: 31 | I think it's pretty awesome when they jump and sometimes try to provoke them with a little extra pressure and high rod tip… if they get off I was going to release them anyway J.
(Copy of _jumping muskie.jpg)
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | ^ very true and although it comes with a risk, it's fun and worth doing once in awhile!! |
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Posts: 5171
| jonnysled - 2/7/2014 9:51 AM
0723 - 2/7/2014 9:50 AM
Up ,seen a few times guys put rod down lose fish ,lack of pressure reason for losing a musky.0723
good luck with that … you ever catch one? |
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Posts: 79
| I know from personal experience that Brad Nelson does not like it when you fight a musky with the rod tip up in his boat.  Sometimes if it is a smaller fish and I do not intend on a photo I love rod tip up for maximum jumping out of the water. I think my personal record is about 4' of launch on a mid 30"er before the hook came flying at me at a fairly high rate of speed. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Depends…
If I'm casting then it's horizontal and/or down depending on the fish. If trolling tip up to horizontal. The reasons for the change while trolling:
- there's little need to control the fish during the fight while away from the boat
- rods are softer and combined with mono keeps them pinned |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | Can't go wrong if you stay horizontal or lower. You want to lose a fish, well then keep your tip high with a lot of pressure.
Also, Jon is a vilas native who could catch just about any fish especially musky. |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | It depends on the situation! Sometimes rod tip down is right thing to do! Putting maximum pressure on a WR class fish is not a good idea! I should have listened to Pete Mania- back off the drag once you're hooked up!
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 2/8/2014 1:51 PM
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Great topic. My belief is avoid high line angles. Thus, when the fish is far from the boat I'll have my rod tip up to get the fish near the surface. Once it is near the surface and as it gets closer to the boat I'll lowever the rod tip... all the way to the water's surface. The last thing you want is a fish deep at boatside. There is no way to avoid a high line angle in this situation and you are most vulnerable to losing them to "the big heavies". Big Heavies is a term that I beleive DickP uses (not sure where exactly I picked that term up....) to describe those dreaded big, slow, and powerful headshakes you get from a thrashing trophy. Combine big heavies with a high line angle and its usually GAME OVER. Long story short... it doesn't matter where your rod tip is if the fish is deep and below the boat. There is no way to "lead" the fish and keep loading the gap of your hook in that situation. In the image below... Green is the best line angle (low rod tip). Yellow is a risky line angle (high rod tip). Red is a disaster waiting to happen (this usually occurs when a fish changes direction on you).
Edited by jlong 2/10/2014 12:58 PM
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Some crude images to help illustrate the how your line angle changes based on where the fish is located. When the fish is far from the boat, a higher rod angle (tip up) has less risk/impact. As it gets closer to the boat, your risk of popping a hook out increases as you become more dependant on your BARB and less on the hook gap to hang onto the fish.
Edited by jlong 2/10/2014 12:41 PM
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Another crude image to illustrate the effects of a fish going deep. Same distance from boat... but different depths of the fish.... radically change your line angle.
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Forgot the most important one as it directly addresses the tip up or down question. Fish at same location.... note how your line angle changes as you raise or lower your rod tip (High vs Low).
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Posts: 360
Location: Algonac, MI | Rod tip can be either for me. I do W/E it takes to keep, what I feel is proper pressure, between me and the fish.
Slack line to me, is the best way to lose a fish.
Proper settings on the drag, and rod bend are both aids to keeping pressure. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I agree that slack line is bad and maintaining appropriate amounts of pressure is important. But, applying pressure in the wrong direction (line angle) can be disaster. When you see a TV star lose a fish at boatside with a tight line and then dismiss it as "sometimes they just get off"..... watch the video again and you will often see that a poor line angle was involved. This often times happens because they want to stay parked on the front deck so the camera man can keep them in sight... but as a result the fish changes directions and their tight line is now working against them. Walk the fish around the boat so you are constantly driving the hooks IN and that won't happen to you. For what its worth.... |
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Posts: 8781
| Missed 'ya around here Jason. Nice illustrations. This is exactly what cost me my largest fish to date. Fish was done, facing away from the boat, near the surface, and just out of reach of the net. She ate right at my feet, and made a few good runs. Managed to keep her pinned through the whole affair. Netman on my left, me up front. When she came up and I realized we couldn't reach her with the net, I lifted my rod over the Netman's head and went around to his left to try to steer the fish into the net. As soon as I did that, she made another run and that was that. I should have stayed where I was at and kept my rod tip low. Who knows if she would have come off or not, but my guess is that the high angle was just enough to pop the hooks out. |
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| Spend some time fighting trophy trout on #24's and you really learn angles and rod control. Has really changed the way I fight the larger fish as well. BR |
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Posts: 46
| Obviously its situational but I tend to keep my rod tip down, sometimes even in the water, with heavy pressure. The river fish I chase seem to look for every excuse to jump and when they do the result is often not desirable. |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Musky-skunk is rite on. Great advice. |
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