7. How to Play and Land Your Fish

There's a great deal of truth in the most frequently heard fish story: the big fish—as well as many of the smaller ones—do get away all too often. The real whopper, the fish that you would dearly love to enshrine in the place of honor on your den wall, can give you the slip because in your excitement you fail to set the hook properly when he strikes. Too much slack line, and your fish becomes en­tangled in weeds and breaks loose. Hold the line too tightly, and when the fish jumps, he can fall on the taut line, snap­ping the restraining strand. Your catch may flop out of your hands as you attempt to lift him from the water. The cruelest blow of all, of course, is when your well-meaning fishing partner knocks a trophy fish off the hook with an awkward blow of a landing net.

In other words, there are factors involved in catching fish other than just presenting your lure to the fish. They include your ability to hook, to hold, and to handle the fish that strikes your lure.

It must be remembered that each species of fish has cer­tain characteristics and fighting styles that call for special tactics by the angler. The environment of some fish and the manner in which they take the lure can cause additional problems. And the limitations and competence of your tackle should be understood, also, if you're to land most of the fish you hook. What might seem like bad luck is very often caused by the angler's lack of familiarity with his tackle. Knowledge of your rod's action and the practical amount of striking power of the rod, line, and leader will determine just how much strain can be allowed in playing the fish. Finally, luck enters the picture. Remember that even experts lose good fish, despite utmost care.

SETTING THE HOOK

Don't hope to land any decent fish unless you've set the hook properly. As a rule of thumb, it's better to wait a little longer than to set the hook too soon. When you're ready to set the hook, retrieve all of the slack line, bring the rod tip down, and point it toward the fish. Then raise the rod rapidly. Chances are you've hooked your fish.

Setting the hook requires a certain knack which comes only with experience and practice. Some species—those that grab the lure and run—are easy to hook. Others, which suck it in and lie still or nibble nervously, are often a real problem. For example, catfish generally swallow the bait after a few chews. Carp and suckers hold the bait gently in their soft lips; you should let them mouth it for a while. When they have sucked it in, pull the line tight and bring in your fish. Perch, bluegills, sunfìsh, and other panfish bite nervously at the bait. These nibblers require a lot of patience and self-control. Many anglers can't wait, and as soon as they feel a series of light pecks, strike back. This jerks the hook away from the fish and loses the bait. It's much better to wait until you feel a strong tug or feel the fish move away with your bait. Then a sharp lift of the rod tip will usually set the hook. You'll learn by experience when the tugs are strong enough for you to strike.

The larger the fish and the larger the hook, the stronger the yank needed. And, confusingly enough, speed in striking back is sometimes essential. For instance, if you're fishing surface lures, you should strike back to set the hook just as soon as the fish hits the lure. If you wait—even for a split second—you may lose your fish. Often the fish will hook itself as it strikes, but the added pull you give will set the hook so that it won't come loose. Even with underwater lures—fish generally hook themselves on these, particularly if you're trolling or retrieving fast—it's wise to give the rod a quick, hard yank.

Water conditions can often determine the timing of setting a hook. For example, in swiftly moving water, the trout doesn't have much time to decide whether or not he should take a dry fly. When he does decide to take it, he generally does it with a rush and makes a considerable splash hooking himself. In still water, he has all the time in the world to look over your offering and to take it in a slow, positive manner, making little surface disturbance. Trout in water of this type seldom hook themselves; you must strike quite quickly to set the hook.

When small wet flies are used, the line friction alone is usually enough to hook the fish. In nymph-fishing down­stream, raising the rod tip smartly will generally be all that's required at the moment the hit is felt. Some fish are slow, deliberate hitters, so your strike should be delayed. For example, when an Atlantic salmon takes a dry fly, let him turn after the rise, and he'll hook himself when the line tightens.

To hook a fish, your barb must penetrate the fish's mouth. For this reason it must be sharp. A good angler tests his hooks for sharpness before attaching his lure to his line and again after a day's fishing. He keeps a small whetstone in his pocket or in his tackle box to hone his hooks as they need it.

PLAYING THE FISH

The longer you play a fish the more fun you'll have, and the more exhausted the fish will become; you'll have an easier time landing him if you have thoroughly worn him down with the play. A small fish can be brought in rapidly, but never attempt to hurl him from the water with your rod. Applying too much rod pressure is a good way to get a broken leader or line, or to pull out hooks. But don't go to the other extreme and coddle a fish for fear of losing it. Don't let your fish do everything he likes. You should control him at all times.

In playing a really tough, heavy fish with a bait-casting outfit, place the butt of the rod into your stomach, pos­sibly hooking it under your belt buckle, and pump and reel. Pumping-and-reeling is the most practical method for fight­ing strong fish, regardless of the tackle used. To pump a fish, lower your rod tip, reeling fast to keep a tight line, then raise the rod tip smoothly. Repeat the procedure until the fish is coming your way. The slow and steady rod lift al­lows you to exert maximum force without risk of breaking line or leader. Never attempt to handle a good fish by steady reeling; it doesn't fully utilize the rod's action, and reeling alone will wear you down and prolong the battle unnecessarily.

With bait-casting tackle, you can apply drag by pressing on the reel spool with your left thumb as you retrieve with the right hand. However, when the big one hits and extra drag is needed, use the right thumb also. Be sure that you do not apply too great a pressure. Allow the fish some free­dom to run, or you may lose him because of line break­age, or a burned thumb. In playing most fish with casting tackle, I hold the rod away from my body. Toward the end of a fight, when I have the fish coming my way, I place the butt against my stomach to reel and pump. If the fish runs again, I quickly extend my arms so that the rod will take the strain.

Some of the new free-spooling, bait-casting reels are equipped with star drags. These drags let you quickly mas­ter such big fresh-water species as walleyes, lake trout, muskies, northern pike, as well as some salt-water species, without burning your thumb. Full details on the operation of star drags can be found in Chapter 8.

With a spinning or a push-button reel, the drag is usually adjusted at a point just below the breaking strength of the line or leader. The fish is allowed to run against the ten­sion of the reel. The butt of the rod should be placed under your belt, and you should employ both hands to hold the rod when the fish is making his long run. There are times, however, when the drag should be varied while the fish is being played. For example, in the case of a large trout or salmon running strongly in the current, you may wish a minimum of drag. If the fish is in shallow water ready to be pumped, you can bring the drag back to maximum. These adjustments become an automatic reaction on your part after sufficient experience.

A major point to remember about ultra-light spinning tackle, or the use of standard spinning gear on large fish, is that the stretch in the monofilament line and the mechanism of the reel work in harmony to give the utmost in satisfac­tion and safety with the fish. But any tackle—and this in­cludes the biggest big game hoists that are used on the world record catches—has its limit. As you go light, your margin of error must also tighten up.

These points will help you to hold on to the fish that you have on your hook. Set your drag light before the fish strikes, especially when using a lure that is moving, remem­bering that the hit to a moving lure will exert twice as much pressure as it would had the lure been sitting still. When using a bobber or a bubble, however, use a tighter drag, for they will help to absorb the first smash of a big one, and a strong setting pull-back on the rod is generally required to sink the hook. After the first run, release the drag a bit; when you get the feel of the fish or view its size you can determine your drag setting. Do not forget to ease up on the drag as the fish gets close to the boat. In fighting your fish, control his run by pressing your forefinger against the lip of the spool. By doing this you can prevent him from turning; by relaxing pressure slightly, permit him to turn as slowly as you wish. This allows you to recover line on the pump-up, to give the fish line if he suddenly asks for it. As a matter of fact, your forefinger is a more sensitive, reliable brake than any mechanical device yet invented. If you use it as such, you can set your brake as lightly as you wish, and thus give yourself an extra margin of safety against sudden, heavy strikes or unexpected snags that could part your line with a hard-set mechanical drag.

Most fly anglers can hold small trout in check by employ­ing the single-hand hold, but when a hard-running fish takes the lure, especially salt-water species, the two-hand hold is to be preferred. When a big one runs, it's almost impossible to exert maximum pressure with the rod when using a one-hand hold. When I have the fish coming or when I wish to exert pressure to turn him, I usually place one hand across the rod butt and push down, pulling up on the rod grip with my other hand. This system for pumping with a fly rod isn't tiring and doesn't require a great deal of strength.

When you are using a fly reel, there isn't always a brake or drag to assist you. To prevent a big fish from running, you can exert varying degrees of thumb pressure inside the revolving spool. Without this pressure, your line may over­run and backlash. But watch out for your knuckles on that whirling reel handle.

With an automatic fly reel, you retrieve the line by press­ing the lever, and the reel does the work. One point should be made here, however: You should never play a fish on the spring of an automatic reel. When taking the line in, use the hand-retrieve method; when you want to wind the retrieved line onto the reel, press the lever. The automatic reel is not, and was never intended to be, a mechanical fish player.

Another point is worth making: When you take up line with an automatic, always run the line between the fingers of your free hand. If you press the lever when the line isn't controlled, you stand a good chance of running all the line into the reel. This means that the hook will slam into the tip of your rod, and something is almost certain to break— leader, hook, or maybe even the tip section of your rod.

Line reeled into the spool of a single-action fly-rod reel can form ridges high enough to jam against the cross braces of the reel frame. Avoid spool-jamming ridges by using the little finger of your left hand as a level-wind device. As line comes in, the little finger first pushes it to the right side of the spool, then hooks at the end to pull line to the left. The result is a smooth spool of line that won't jam the reel during your battle with a large fish.

Once the fish is hooked, let your rod do the work. A rod works best—flexing forward under pressure, recovering when the pressure weakens—when it is held nearly vertical. Never point your rod at a fish to play him, but rather keep your rod tip high during most of the tussle. This is espe­cially important when playing a strong, fast fish in shallow water where there are obstructions. Holding the rod high helps to raise the line and keep it free of snags. A fish should not be given anything solid to pull against. When your rod is held nearly vertical, it bucks and bends under the pull and takes most of the strain. But if you reel a fish too close to your rod tip, he'll get a more direct pull and may break away.

When possible, stop a fish from running out too much line. The shorter the line on which the fish is being played, the more truly will you feel the pressure on the terminal. And the shorter the line, the more easily the pressure may be controlled. But there is less cushioning of the sudden shocks; a long line, with its elasticity, takes up the shock of sudden movements much as the resilient rod does. The drag that may fool you as to the strain at the fish's end of your gear, can be a factor in your favor if it's understood and used. When a fish is fresh and wild, I like to play him at a little distance and use the cushioning of a moderate amount of line. After he's lost that first edge, I like to keep him in as close as possible. Of course, when you tie into a big northern pike or muskie, there's not much you can do about the amount of line you pay out. Some big fellows take the fight right out of your hands—the only thing you can do is to hang on and hope.

If you're playing a fish in a stream or a river, try to keep him fighting upstream as much as possible. If he has to battle the current as well as the rod, he'll tire out much sooner. If the current is strong, however, get him out of it as soon as possible. Lead him into an eddy or the quiet water of a large pool.

Sometimes you are faced with the decision of whether to stop a fish at the risk of breaking your line or leader, or to let him swim into a tangle of snags or down over rapids. In such a case, only you can decide what to do. Sometimes I have attempted to stop them and lost a leader; at other times I have stopped them and brought them in. On other occasions, I have allowed them to get into the brush or down the rapids. Then I have done the best I could under the circumstances.

A fish that's hooked correctly won't necessarily escape if you give him a little slack line, but it's usually wise to keep it taut. However, slack is sometimes given deliberately when a fish jumps, to prevent him from breaking the line. Lower your rod to an almost horizontal position quickly. This gives the leaping fish less chance to snap your line by falling on it. As soon as the fish is back in the water, take up the slack by raising your rod tip again to its high posi­tion.

When a salmon or a large trout makes a run downstream through heavy water and the chances of stopping him are slim, you can sometimes bring him back by feeding out a lot of slack quickly. If the fish pauses long enough for the slack to release all of the pull from upstream, he is likely to come back toward you. Since the pull now comes from below, it is natural for him to return. But this doesn't al­ways work. At best, it is a gamble.

A fish will often get into a weed bed or drop down to the bottom and sulk. If you try to haul him in, the line will break and you'll lose your fish. You must sweat it out by slacking off your line to let the fish think he is free. In a few minutes he will move, and you can start battling him again. Or you can try rapping the rod butt, at the same time moving the rod from side to side. This may disturb him enough to provoke more fight.

The sight of your boat may frighten your fish into a last-ditch run, so be ready for it. Let him run again, rather than try to drag him in. He may even dive under the boat —his last-minute attempt for freedom. Should this occur, thrust the rod tip deep into the water and work the line around the end of the boat. Then, with one hand placed beyond the rod grip, lift up on the fish. The straight-up lift will usually bring him to the top. Most boat tangles can be avoided by standing up and reaching around corners with the rod.

And while I'm on the subject of boat tangles, let me cau­tion you against allowing aboard anything that may catch your line. Don't permit ropes to drag in the water. If you hook a good fish and are anchored, haul in the anchor im­mediately if possible. Your fish may run afoul the anchor rope and give you some added problems. Remember that no one plays every fish perfectly. A certain percentage are due to escape.

LANDING THE FISH

Once you've tired your fish, he can be led up to the boat or to shore and landed with a net, by hand, or by gaffing. If you use a net, it should be large enough to handle any fish you may catch. Even with a net, don't attempt to land a fish before he's played out. He'll thrash around, tangle your hooks, and generally make a mess of things. Whether you handle the net yourself or leave the job to a guide or fishing partner, always hold the net motionless and lead the fish into it, rather than thrusting it out to him. Always net the fish head-first so that his desperate tail swipes will force him into, not away from the net. As the fish enters the net, ease up on the rod pressure, and he'll drop safely in­side.

A landing net isn't needed for many fresh-water fish. For example, both largemouth and smallmouth bass have heavy lower lips that serve as built-in landing gear. Put your thumb in the bass's mouth, press down, and lift him out of the water. This lower-jaw hold seems to paralyze the fish—enough so that you can use the grip to unhook the fish without danger of his thrashing a hook into your hand.

Trout up to 4 or 5 pounds in weight can be landed quite easily without a net. Play such a fish until he is tired, and lead him close. Then put either hand down over his back with the thumb toward your body and the little finger to­ward his tail. (In other words, the fish should be facing you.) Then slide your hand forward until your thumb and index finger are over the back edge of his gill cover. Press hard and lift him from the water. A word of caution: Watch out for sharp dorsal fins.

The gaff is useful mainly for the largest of fresh-water fish and for most salt-water species. Instead of striking or jabbing at the fish, push the gaff hook into the water under the fish and jerk up sharply against his soft belly, continu­ing the upward motion with enough force to lift the fish out of water.

To land large fish, it is often possible to use the beaching method. To do this, play the fish until he is on his side or fanning feebly on the surface. Then hold the rod high and apply enough steady pressure to start the fish coasting to­ward a beach or a sand bar. Keep its head high and skid it onto the beach with as much momentum as your tackle will allow. Grip the beached fish by his gills and carry him farther ashore before you attempt to unhook him. When the shoreline is too rough for smooth beaching, you can skid his nose up against a shoreline rock and hoist him out with a firm grip on his gill cover. Don't use the gill grip on fish you plan to release. It's a crippling hold.

METHODS OF LANDING YOUR CATCH

While we are on the subject of releasing fish, let me reiterate that it makes good sense to throw back fish you don't plan to eat. Undersize fish, of course, must be re­leased. Remember that a released fish means future sport for all. Fish hooked lightly on a fly can be released by en­larging the hole slightly and backing the hook out. A small trout hooked lightly in the lip can easily be freed without even lifting him out of water. An artificial lure with sev­eral hooks sometimes embeds more than one hook in the mouth of a fish. Use pliers or a hook-disgorger to work the hooks out gently. (If the hook is deeply imbedded within the mouth, use the disgorger only.) But don't use this tool if the hook is far down in the stomach. Instead, it's best to cut the line close to the mouth and let the hook remain in the fish. As long as it doesn't block the passage of food, the hook will not hamper his movements unduly, and the normal body acids will dissolve it eventually.

Dry hands can grip and hold a fish better than wet ones. The tail and the thick part of the body are the best areas for grasping; holds established there prevent squirming. Usually a tired fish that isn't squeezed too tightly will not struggle. If he does, close your hand gently around him. As a rule, the harder you squeeze a fish, the more he struggles to get away. Therefore, don't squeeze tighter than necessary or you may injure vital organs. Also, avoid fingering the gills or the eyes of those fish you are going to release. If you wish to take photos of large fish before you let them go, it is safe to keep them away from the water for a few seconds.

When removing a hook from a fish's mouth, watch for the sharp spines on the dorsal fin and, in the case of bull­heads and catfish, the spines on the underside fins near the head. If the fish is picked up in such a way that these spines can jab you, a painful wound can result which, if it isn't cleansed properly, can cause infection. Many anglers carry a little bottle of iodine in their tackle box, just in case.

To release a fish, hold him upright in a normal swimming position just below the surface of the water and move him back and forth to force oxygen-carrying water through his gills. When he has regained his strength, let him go in calm water so that he does not have to face strong currents right away. If you are in rapid water, place him behind protected rocks where he can rest until he is able to fight the pull of the current. Never toss a released fish out through the air to hit the water with a splash. Also, never release a fish that you have accidentally squeezed too hard or one whose gills are bleeding or bruised. Many fresh-water fish, es­pecially small trout, are easily killed by poor handling. Save badly injured fish for eating.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CATCH

When fishing from a boat or from a dock, it is best to keep your catch alive in the water. If a cord stringer is used, it should never be run through the gills or the fish will be unable to breathe properly and will soon die. It is gen­erally recommended to run the stringer through both lips but, if possible, it is better still to string it through the lower lip only. Fish should not be towed beside the boat; their mouths will be held open and they will drown.

Most stringers are cord with a sharp, piercing end; there are some, however, that are made with safety-pin hooks. These are preferred by many fishermen since they are easier to use and do not maim the fish as much as the regular stringers do. With them it is also possible to remove one fish without disturbing the others. Some complain that these snaps occasionally allow a fish to escape. This will not hap­pen if the stringer is well made, of good spring wire, with adequate tension. Partially straighten the hooks if they seem weak. It may be safer to carry a sound, heavy cord stringer, too, for your biggest prizes.

When fish are first removed from the water they are cool and firm to the touch, lustrous and beautiful to the eye. But unless they are properly cared for, they will soon lose their appeal. Fish deteriorates and decomposes far more rapidly than meat.

When you are stream fishing, a creel is the best receptacle for your catch. Do not use leaves to cool the fish; grass is to be preferred, if it is dry and the fish—also dry—are placed so they will not touch. The grass will allow air around the catch, keeping it fresh.

Many trout anglers kill and clean their fish just as soon as they are caught. There are several ways to kill a trout, but the easiest are by cracking his head against a rock; by hitting him with any hard, round object; or by breaking his neck with your fingers. The latter can be accomplished by placing your index finger inside the trout's mouth and your thumb on the back of his head near the edge of his gill opening; press down with your thumb and raise up with your index finger.

In the absence of deep-freeze boxes and dry ice, all fish will keep longer when dead if they are slit. The fish may have a stomach full of partly digested food when it is caught. If it is not removed, the food will begin to rot shortly after the death of the fish, and the flesh will begin to turn blue and rancid. To remove the stomach, slit the belly from the vent almost to the gills, but do not split the chestbone. Remove the gills separately, leaving the blood sac along the backbone intact. The sac will turn black and congeal into a solid mass, but it will help to keep the fish fresh and crisp.

To keep trout in high mountains, draw, dry and wrap them in dry grass in your creel. In camp, salt and pepper them on the inside along the backbone, and hang them over­night on a string between trees. Keep them from touching. During the day keep them in dry grass in a cool place. Trout will last quite a few days this way. Before cooking, soak them for a half hour, they'll look and taste as fresh as the hour you caught them.

It's often necessary to transport fish a considerable dis­tance from the fishing grounds to your home. Dry ice and deep-freeze units can solve the problem, but these con­veniences are not always available. In such cases it is best to use a carryall. This is a long, stout piece of canvas or rubberized cloth with two straps attached and lined with an insulating material.

how to clean fish To most fishermen, cleaning the catch is an irritating, unpleasant job that comes as an anti­climax to the pleasant exhilaration of a successful day out on the water. Some men—a very fortunate few—solve this problem by inveigling their wives to take on the chore. For the rest of the anglers, here are the steps to follow to make cleaning your catch easier.

The scales should be removed before the fish is cleaned. Lay the fish on the table and with one hand hold it firmly by the head. Then scrape off the scales with the back of a heavy knife (or with a fish scraper), working from the tail toward the head. Hold the knife almost flat against the fish as you scrape. Since scales are more easily removed from a wet fish, it is advisable to soak it in cold water for a few minutes before scaling. Take care to remove all the scales near the base of the fins and head.

Before beginning to clean the fish, cover the working surface with a large piece of heavy paper. It is a good idea, too, to rinse your hands in cold water and dip them in salt to prevent slipping. If you have never cleaned a fish before, observe the technique of an expert. To make the task easier, be sure to use a very sharp, strong knife.

Remove the entrails after cutting the entire length of the belly from the vent (anal opening) to the head. Cut around the pelvic fins and remove them. Remove the head, includ­ing the pectoral fins, by cutting above the collarbone. If you wish, the head and tail may be left on the fish. The flavor of baked fish is enhanced by leaving the head on during the baking; you may remove it later before the fish is served. Whether you remove the head and tail before poaching (boiling) is a matter of personal preference, but many people feel that a fish served without tail or head looks peculiar and unnatural. If a fish is to be either broiled or fried, it is generally preferable to remove the head and tail. If the backbone is large, cut down to it on each side of the head, then bend the fish over the edge of the cutting board or table to snap the backbone. Cut any remaining flesh which holds the head to the body. Cut off the tail. Re­move the dorsal or large back fin by cutting the flesh along both sides of the fin. Then, giving a quick pull forward to­ward the head of the fish, remove the fin with the root bones attached. Remove the other fins in the same manner.

Never cut the fins away with shears or a knife since the bones at the base will be left in the fish. If the gills have been drawn carefully, the cavity will be perfectly clean except for a line of blood encased in thin skin along the backbone; this is easily removed by scraping it with a knife, but be careful not to break the skin. Roll up the gills, fins, entrails, and any other waste in the paper on which the fish was cleaned, and dispose of it at once to avoid odor. From this point on your wife can take over the fruits of your "hard" day's work.

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