BACKREELING

[Clampet]

Does anyone use a technique known as BACKREELING, in order to land large fish hooked on light line?

This would not apply to baitcasting equipment where 30- 50 lb Powerpro line is used.

I understand that with that type of set-up, you just horse the fish into the boat.

 

No, I'm talkin' here about hooking a large (10lb +) fish, on say... 6lb test line on a spinning reel.

 

One wrong move, one quick surge of the fish, and sssssssssssssssssssnnnnnnaaap goes the line. Never mind about smooth drags, they are a compromise.

 

By compromise, I mean this:

 

You can set the drag to slip at boatside distance, as prolly most of you do.

 

Now take that same drag setting, and see what happens when you hook a large fish, say 10 to 20 yards out, say, while trolling.

That's right... it won't slip now.

Now your rod is describing the big C bend, while you frantically start loosening the drag, to alleviate pressure on that 6lb test line.

 

Then what happens? Well, if you are fortunate enough to get the fish closer to the boat, you will notice that now the drag is too loose, as you turn the handle the spool is turning also and you are not gaining any line, just adding more line twist.

 

This ever happen to you?

 

What do you think is the solution?

[Terry]

I have back reeled in the past and it does work you have the switch flipped so you can back reel and rather then using the drag you reel in reverse to ease the pressure on the line......if your not good at it, you will lose lots of fish

 

now what I do is, I have a loose drag all the time, so any time a fish wants to run, it can

and I finger the spool with my index finger putting extra drag whenever it is needed while lifting the rod to 90% then reeling in as I drop the rod back down, then again remove or put my finger back on the spool as needed and do the same thing all over till the fish gets in...very little practice and it will come easy..don't know if I wrote that in a way anyone could follow

[tonyb]

The answer in one sentence.

 

Use quality reels with drag adjustments being made as the battle ensues

 

This trophy Brown was taken on 6lb test using a Team Daiwa Advantage reel and a 9' St. Croix medium/light spinning rod. It can be done with practice and a little luck

Yes, you may have seen this fish before, I will keep bragging about it until I catch a bigger one

 

 

Tony

[trapshooter]

Set your drag according to the lb. test of your line and you will never have a problem. Backreeling is a poor technique and in time will result in more lost trophies then you would have with a properly set drag. Too much room for human error in backreeling.

[douG]

I think that Clampet's point is that a full spool will apply more force / torque to the drag, resulting in a increasing drag setting as the spool empties. In some ways this is a good thing, as your drag seems to 'tighten up' as your spool starts looking black. You can prove this to yourself the next time you respool your reel.

 

If you set your drag right, an empty spool will result in a drag setting just below the breaking tension of your line.

 

You can reduce this effect by using a fine diameter line (pp comes to mind), and by using a 'light' drag setting when tested with a full spool.

 

Hope this hleps.

[Steve]

I frequently backreel when fighting big kings off my rigger reels.

 

i use Okuma Avenger 65 sized reels off the riggers, which are great spinning reels for riggers, however, i often find myself backreeling as i have as i dont have much trust in okuma drags.

 

great tool for fighting big fish.

[Greencoachdog]

I set the drag on my reel according to the rod the reel is on, taking into consideration the lb. line test. I do this by putting the hook on an immovable object and flexing my rod by pulling against it in the fighting position(that sounds nasty eh?). when my rod has the right amount of bow in it considering the lb. line test, I loosen the drag until it slips... I then flex it again to see if the drag is going to slip at the right amount of bow in the rod. I may have to repeat these steps 3 or 4 times until I get the right setting. Haven't had a problem with break offs since i've started using this method

[Harrison]

I read that too DouG.

 

I use the technique Terry mentioned with fingers as tension. We fish for chinook with light line and spinning gear in the early fall out in the lake... you have to constantly adjust the drag... sometimes you adjust alittle to loose and compensate with your finger. To tight and the light action rod like the one Tony mentioned above will absorb some of the tension while you re-adjust.

 

Clampet, backreeling will not be as consistent as a well engineered drag system, IMO. But, in the circumstance with a perch ice rod and a 6inch hole... ya do what ya gotta do.

 

In the perching ice grounds I fish we get some whities and lakers incidentally... using high quality reels i have not had an issue landing these incidentals on 2lbs test.

[kemper]

I ended up backreeling a huge king in the river after a slip of my hand flipped the switch on the bottom of the ree.

 

that fight lasted about 4 seconds after that happened, by the time I realized what the hell had happened my knuckles were bleeding and I had no line.

[Northhunter]

I've never had to resort to backreeling. The only issues I've ever had with drag were on spinning reels of lesser quality or ones that were older and not maintained.

 

If you're using mono and have enough of it out the stretch in the line will also act as a buffer, so 2lbs of pressure on the line may activate the drag when tested at boatside, but won't when there's a fish giving 2lbs of pressure 30' out.

 

I use about 10lb superline (powerpro or fireline) trolling for 'eyes, which doesn't stretch so it's not an issue. I like to set the drag on the lighter side and if a heavier, fiestier fish takes the bait, it takes about 1/10th of a second to make the adjustment during the fight.

[ccmtcanada]

Wow...all this talk has me thinking...fishing from shore primarily, I set my drag fairly loose and then just go by feel. Not scientific at all, but so far it's worked for me with my 7 foot rod and inexpensive reel.

 

Now...I'm testing out an 11.5 foot noodle tomorrow...completely different feel, so I expect to lose some fish before I get the hang of it!!! The only thing I know is that I'll be setting the drag loose...and then go from there. I'm pretty good at fine tune adjustments if I think it's too loose as I'm reeling it in.

[walleyejigger]

i've never backreeled, don't see the point, a descent quality reel's drag should be able to handle fish better than backreeling, i only use 6-8lbs test line and have landed plenty of big fish, including a 17lbs pike and 20lbs pike with no leader (wich took runs away from the boat), and plenty of 10-12lbs pickerel (which peel away staight down) and i have never once felt that the drag wasn't doing a good enough of a job or that i could do better back reeling,

 

as i see it how do u know if a fish is taking a big long run, are a short one, or a roll, or just dead weight, how do u know to back reel slowly or quickly a pike or musky on a run would probably take off quicker than u can backreel, while a pickerel or laker may just go down at a slow but steady pace,

 

IMO u'll might realize too late what the fish is doing,

 

also if a musky takes a big run then stops or turns back your drag stops instantly, meanwhile u might backreel one turn to much and it will get slack

 

anyways i'm happy with the drags on my reels and don't envision myself ever backreeling in the future

[Gary George]

Back reeling is exactly what goes on when your fighting fish with Center Pin (Float) or Fly Reels. It is easily the best possible drag control you can use once your familiar. It becomes very instinctive and is pretty much bombproof. I have landed numerous rainbows well above 10 lbs on very light leaders using this technique.

 

I can't imagine backreeling with any other type of reel. I expect the handle turning would be very difficult to gauge and lock ups would be fairly common. On the other hand thumbing the spool on a loosely set drag would be pretty effective even with a spincaster.

 

Palming type reels like FLy and Float reels are the best for manual drag control however if you use spin or casting gear there is no substitute for a quality reel with an infinite drag!!!!

[walleyejigger]

If yer walking on a dock, do you keep walking till you fall in the water?

If you are pouring a glass of wine, do you keep pouring until it overflows all over the table?

 

i try not too but it might happen

 

 

what i was trying to say here is a drag stops as soon as there isn't enough tension to make it go, meanwhile by the time ur brain registers that the fish isn't pulling as hard anymore and tells ur hand to stop u'll have given slack in backreeling, might not be much, but it doesn't take much to lose a fish

[danc]

I use spinning reels only and they all have the instant anti reverse on them, so back reeling would involve flipping a switch in my case. So no, I don't back reel. I am a constant drag adjuster though. I've been doing it for years and it's just second nature to me now. I use 6 lb. test mono exclusively these days in my pursuit of Brook Trout, Steelhead and occasionally Walleye. While doing so I've latched on to the odd Chinook and the odd mid 40" Pike and have not had a problem landing them this way. I also use fairly long rods which are great tools when a big fish wants to run. Works for me. Great topic by the way..

[irishfield]

If yer walking on a dock, do you keep walking till you fall in the water?

 

I think that's a good question for Spiel...what you say oh noble one?

Edited February 23, 2007 by irishfield

[Greencoachdog]

Re-read my post GCD.

 

That setting you are applying will not be suitable should you hook a fish further out from the boat.

 

Doug has it figured out.

 

It is a factor of the spool diameter. The spool has a larger diameter when there is little line out, compared to a spool that has more line out, such as when you hook a large fish at say 40 yds from the boat.

 

I read your post correctly the first time Bubba, and this method works well for me for casting for Bass and bouncing bottom straight down in about 20-30 FOW.... and prolly would have been the ideal setting for you since you were fishing the shallow Perch grounds with maybe 15 or 20 feet of line out and not casting or trolling. Now if I'm flatline trolling with a long line, I will adjust my drag so that line won't "bleed" off the reel and adjust the drag or use my fingers on the spool during the ensuing fight.

 

I have a Fishin' Buddy that prefers to backreel with a spinning rod and he tends to lose more fish than I do... but that just may be because he's left handed and is prolly the reason he prefers baitcasting tackle.

 

But Hey!... each to his own, if you prefer to backreel... more power to ya and I wish you the best of luck!!!

[douG]

Chris dekes out the bushes to great effect. Head fake, boom boom boom. He got by that overhanging cedar no problem. The tree hardly even moved.

[Terry]

so, use a baitcaster or buy a much larger spinning reel with larger and longer spool will solve or lessen your problem

[glen]

forgetaboutit

[mepps]

My solution is to not use 6lb line. I used to use light lines all the time, but after loosign a couple beauty fish and some expensive lures, it only makes sense to use a heavier line. I'd rather horse in a fish on heavy line then use it to light line, better for my photos and the fish I reckon.