How To Land Big Fish

If you have been fly fishing for long I am sure that you have picked up on the following two points:

1. Sometimes the biggest fish can be caught using the smallest flies.

2. Sometimes to hook a lot of fish you have to fish extremely fine tippet, especially in clear water or in areas that receive high fishing pressure.

Both of these present problems for fly fishermen. If you're fishing very small flies, the fish have the tendency to slip the hook very frequently. Also, if you're fishing 6x tippet, it's really easy to break the fish off.

I have won (and lost) my fair share of big fish and have figured out a few things that might help you out:

1. Get a fly reel with smooth drag. Check out this Sage 2500 Series Drag Fly Reel Review. Always get the trout on the reel as fast as possible. You want to battle the fish on your reel. The smoothness of your drag is much more important than the type of rod you're using or anything else. You can land a 26 inch trout on a three weight as long as you have good drag. Make sure you invest in a good reel.

2. Don't put too much pressure on the fish! Unfortunately you have to let them run. If you put too much pressure on the fish than you will pop the hook out, or even worse, break the fish off. The drag should be set tight enough so that it tires out the fish when they make a run, but loose enough that they can take out line without much pressure. Putting too much pressure too fast is the surest way to loose a big fish when fishing small flies with fine tippet.

3. Keep your rod tip high in the air. The trout are less likely to slip the hook. I would recommend a rod that has good flexibility near the tip, which will help you to handle large fish. Check out this Sage Launch Review.

4. If the fish starts jumping and splashing around than lower your rod tip and give the fish some slack.

5. Get a large net. You don't want to loose a fish because it won't fit in your net. I recommend the Brodin Ghost.

Landing large fish on small flies and fine tippet requires tremendous skill (and some luck) but it certainly can be done. You can catch a ton of fish this way and it's very rewarding.