Here is the bread-and-butter of New England Fishing. And it's changed a ton since your Dad taught you how to do it. Why? Braided lines. Not dacron, but spectra fibers which are at least 1/3 the thickness of the mono people used to use when cod fishing. I can't go back to mono. Mono stretches too much for me. I can't feel the subtle bites; I can't set the hook properly; I can't bounce a jig. Braided lines, like PowerPro Line let me feel EVERYTHING that is happening down there. I can feel it if a fish swims by and touches my line.
But how? What do I do to tip the scales in our favor? First of all, I like to start with holding the rod. It's important to keep the whole rod in your arms, if not just your hands. DON'T REST THE ROD ON THE BOAT, YOUR CHEST, OR IN THE FIGHTING BELT! This reduces your ability to do a lot of things, but first, it deadens the sensation of what is going on down there. I like to keep a fairly loose drag, so I keep one hand on the reel, holding the spool taught with that thumb. My other hand is a bit north of the foregrip, with my thumb resting on the fishing line. This lets my thumb telegraph any little bites to my brain, wherein I can set the hook quickly and firmly.
HOW DO I SET THE HOOK?
Physics--fulcrum. Tighten up on the spool with my thumb, pull up quickly with my foreward hand and push down quickly on the reargrip with my rear elbow. The rod pivots quickly on the reel, setting the hook as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
WHAT TO DO NEXT AFTER YOU SET THE HOOK?
Well, as you set the hook and raise the rod tip to about 11:00, you'll know if you have a fish on by the extra weight(if any). If it feels heavier, keep the tip up and start reeling. DON'T LOWER THE TIP. If you lower the tip, the fish will find slack in the line and free itself. If you start reeling from the 11:00 position, you can lower your rod tip as you reel, effectivly reeling your rodtip back towards the fish. The fish won't know that you are lowering your rod--the tension will feel the same to the fish.
YOUR FISH IS ON, YOUR START REELING IT IN
Old-timers do it right--they put the reel under their arm and point the tip at the fish and they just reel in steadily. They don't hoist the fish in. They don't jerk the rod tip at all. Their rod doesn't even bend. They let the reel do the work. It's perfect, but I don't expect anyone to do that anymore. That style is better for mono, which stretches and is less likely to give the fish any slack once the fish is hooked. (imagine a long rubber band that is stretched out---if the boat bounces up and down the line just stretches more or less, but the line still stays tight to the fish).
If you just point the rod at the fish with braid, you're in trouble if the fish comes up at all or if the boat rocks at all. You'll get slack and the fish can jump. I like to keep the rod at about 9:00--if you have to lift up you can and if you have to point the rod down you can as well--this compensates for anyrocking that may occur--this line doesn't stretch, so if the boat rocks back, you may have to lower your rod to keep from yanking too hard on quickly on the fish--you'll pull the hook free or make that hole in the fish's mouth bigger with each yank.
PULLING YOUR DOG ON A LEASH TO SOMEPLACE IT DOESN'T WANT TO GO
Here is an analogy...and a good one. It's mine, so when you hear another captain talk about it, you know where he got it...If you plan on taking your dog someplace it doesn't want to go, when you start pulling on the leash it'll pull back (like a fish). Once you get it moving, keep constant pressure on the fish. If you pull and stop. Pull and stop. Yank. Yank. Stop. That dog is going to get angry and react badly to your efforts. However, if you pull steadily you can pull it anywhere. Fish are the same way. Once that fish starts coming off of the bottom, keep the same pressure on it the whole time. It's easy if you don't move your rod--just keep reeling steadily--it doesn't have to be 100 mph, just steady, constant reeling. It's easier on you, too.
I'M REELING, BUT I HAVE TO PUMP THE ROD, IN MY OPINION TO MOVE THE FISH
This happens all of the time and the pumping does help make it easier to get the fish to the boat. But, done wrongly, you'll get a stop-and-go effect on the fish each time you lower your rod. The key is to lift the rod steadily and firmly from 8:00 to 10:00. At 9:45 on the uplift, start reeling slowly and increase your reeling speed as you "reel the rod"(not lower it) slowly back to 8:00. At 8:00, you can stop reeling and immediately start lifting back to 10:00. Just repeat this and the pressure on the fish stays the same--it is just elevating itself towards the boat. It works and you won't spook the fish and you won't tear the hook free--this is very important if you're jigging and have possibly snagged a big fish.
WHEN YOU GET THE FISH CLOSE TO THE BOAT
Here's one where everyone has to learn the learning curve. Don't reel the fish right up to the end of the rod. It's normal to try to do that, but then it's impossible to get the fish in the boat. That is to say, if you reel the fish near the end of the rod, the tip of the rod is still 6' away from the boat and we can't reach it. And you can't raise your rod because the fish will fly out of the water. The goal when the fish gets close to the boat is to stop reeling with about 10' of line left. This way, you can lower your rod butt and raise your rod tip, getting the rod pointing pretty much straight up. This will make the line come right close to the boat where I or my mate can gaff the fish easily or just grab the swivel above the leader easily. No matter how small the fish, don't think about hoisting the fish into the boat using the rod like a pitchfork. If that fish falls off, the rod will catapault the 1 pound weight with two hooks into the boat at crazy dangerous speeds. We always grab the leader and pull the fish in that way. It's safer.
Also, when getting the fish to the boat, it's very important not to pull it's head out of the water. If you do it, there's a great chance that the fish will break free--in the water a 10 pound fish really only "weights" about 3 pounds--there isn't much force on the hook--and it's lips. People are always amazed at how easily the fish fall to the deck(and off of the hook) when we take the gaff out of them!
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