Rod tip pointed at the fish or obliquely in the water?

 

Pointed pretty much at the fish.

 

I was wondering if it's a rod tip flex inhibitor thing, but not if pointed at the fish (and why that'd matter anyhow). Sound, vibration effect thingy? Line angle and tension doesn't seem to be enough different than rod up. Have to put this in the memory box if I'm about to get spooled, worth a try. The locals who fish the Lake Michigan piers in Sheboygan WI (gear heads) talk about tapping the rod when one of the salmon are spooling you, have no idea if that's just rumor mill stuff.

 

One possibility we pondered was that the direction of pull was more level to the fish instead of upward, but as you note, the difference in angle would be pretty smalI at fighting distance.
I fight with the rod pretty low to the water in any case, but the difference in behavior of the fish with the tip from, say 3 or 4 feet above the surface to 1 or 2 feet under was startling.

 

This is quite interesting, and I’m going to give it a try. I can buy the vibration and angle thing, I think.

 

I've never heard that. But I always fight fish tip down low next to water 9 o clock switching to 3 o clock to unbalance the fish Rinse repeat all depending on hotness. That's not tip in water but close. Maybe why I don't believe in 200yrds backing

 

not the same.

fighting fish with the rod low allows you to engage more of rod against the fish vs just tip up. That’s good and fine.

But related to the original topic, putting the rod tip in the water to stop a run works by changing the angle of the pull of line. Fish only run cuz we provide the line for them to do so and they run away from the direction of the pressure coming from that line.

• Putting your tip in the water allows your line to belly below the fish but stay engaged with continuous pressure from the water. The fish will feel the direction of tension shift from upstream to down and change direction accordingly.

 

Holding the rod high is a big mistake when fighting fish.

 

Yes, it works and works well. "We" started using this on the Alagnak river in the early 90's. I don't remember where/why/how we originally got the info about it but once it was applied to the Kings of that river, we became solidly convinced about its effectiveness. I'm surprised that it never became more widely known and/or used because that technique was then transferred over to the Alaska West camp on the Kanektok, where it pretty much changed the whole "how to fight Kings on the fly" program and the Alaska West camp probably cycled through more King flyfishers every year than any place else. Prior to the rod-tip-in-water technique, the most common way to lose a King was because upon being hooked it would immediately high tail it for the ocean, exiting the pool and taking all the backing. After the technique was introduced, having a King exit the pool became the exception rather than the rule. The hard part was getting your sports to actually trust the technique. I cannot count how often I, as a guide, had to scream at the top of my lungs to a hooked up sport, "STOP,do not run" and then put my hand on the butt section of their rod and press it down so that the tip went under the water and tell them to back off on the pressure. It then takes a bit of time, but in most cases the fish turns around and then starts to head back upstream. If one then raises the rod tip up again, the fish instantly goes back into a blazing fast downriver run. It was very interesting stuff! Holding the rod tip high on steelhead, Kings, or Chums pretty much guarantees that you will get the longest fight possible. Great for making fishing stories, bad for the health of released fish.

 

Also, I don't believe that downstream line belly is what initially turns the fish because the line does not belly below the fish's position until AFTER it turns, though it does have an effect after the fish is turned. I think that it is the side pressure effectively tiring out one side of the fish and producing a state of "unbalanced" fatigue. Think about running away from a point while being tethered to a weight, but that weight is attached to a harness that is centered between your shoulder blades as opposed to that weight being attached to your right hip. Being attached on one side of the hip would not only burn energy from dragging the weight, but also from the effort required to stay balanced. In addition to that circumstance, holding the rod tip high is fighting mostly the skeletal structure of the fish, not muscle... fish don't really bend "up". Rod tip in the water exerts pressure to the side and a fish's main musculature is designed to work side-to-side, not up-and-down.

 

I can't wait to try this. Stuff like this keeps me coming back to Spey Pages for more.

 

It works well. I use it all the time.
I learnt it from buddy about 20 yrs ago when he was fighting a chinook. It was an old guide friend of yours Riveraddict.
I only really do it once the fish has stopped. And at that point I really believe a bow forms in your line and pulls/puts tension from the downstream which causes the fish to move upstream. It definitely shortens the length of time you fight a fish.

Once fish has stopped running and is downstream, point your rod directly at the fish and 2' of the tip under the surface of the water. There will be the odd head shake and a little resistance but you pretty much just walk em right up to you.

It is tough to understand the first few times. You just have to give it a go.

 

They come right to you.

 

Where's the fun in that ?

Anyhow, I will try it next decent fish I hook.

 

At what point do you raise the rod to grab the line (with unspooled loop in hand to release) and tail the fish? A rod length or two, or keep the tip in the water during the tailing (somehow)? I forget who has a good video on tailing a fish, but a video of this whole process would be skookum.

 

I think the cool thing about this technique is stealth of what you are doing. I like to fish in relative solitude. I don't ever hold my rod high with clicker screaming to the river, "Hey look at me suckers!" I just want to quietly do my thing.

 

What reel do you like?

 

Not to derail the thread about holding the tip under water to slow a fish down, I suspect God made center-pin reels so if there are ears lurking you can flick a lever which disengages the pawl….hysterical scream in one position , a prolonged hiss in the other position…instant stealth mode….