Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Spawn Sack]

In a recent discusion ("Fighhting Steelhead") the tip of using side pressure on a fish was brought up. I have seen some (few) guys on the river doing this, but to be honest I don't fully understand what advantages it offers. One writer in the Fighting Steelhead discusion mentioned""...keep the rod bent but to the side - preferably opposite to the direction the fish is going"

I know this is a bit if a dumb question...but what exactly is meant by "...keep the rod bent but to the side - preferably opposite to the direction the fish is going." I can picture, say, fishing out the back of a boat and the fish takes a run to 9-o-clock, and putting side pressure at 3-o-clock. However, if I'm bank fishing, and the fish is racing downstream, am I not pulling the rod in the opposite direction by pulling upstream? In other words, how could you NOT have the rod bent to the opposite side the fish is going?

I must be missing something. I realize that, say, if I am fishing with upstream on my right, and the fish is racing downstream to my left, I have a choice to apply side pressure over the RIVER, or, I can flip the rod the other way and apply side pressure over the BANK.

I would really appreciate clairification. It seems like side pressure is a tactic that will help my landing %, I'm just not sure I understand it correctly.

Growing up I was always taught "keep your tip UP!!!" Is there any fishing situation on the river where tip up would have an advantage over side pressure??? I heard on person mention this is more for boat fishing than bank fishing, why is this??? Most guys I see with a fish on have their tips up and this is normally what I do when river fishing, lake fishing, fly fishing, etc.

If someone could explain the strategy when to use and not use side pressure I would be grateful. I would liek to try this technique on the river, I just want to know when to use it and when to not use it, and if someone asks me why I'm doing this, I'd like to be able to give them an intelligent explaination.

Thanks in advance to all that respond

[Tex]

Picture fighting a fish in a big pool on the river.  The river is moving from your left hand side downstream to your right hand side.

The fish is in front of you, swimming slowly upstream (ie. to the left) into the current.  If you keep your rod tip right up, yes you're still pulling the fish downstream and in the opposite direction, but if you simply drop/swing your rodtip to your right so it is now parallel to the water (while still maintaining a bend in the rod), you are actually turning the fish's head back downstream as opposed to lifting it upwards.  

Turning the fish's head actually disorients it and often tires it out much quicker.

Now that you have turned the fish's head, it may very well turn and swim quickly past you back downstream (ie. to your right).  If you move your rod back up and to the left hand side this time, you should again be able to turn the fish's head.  

2 things are gained by applying side pressure as opposed to just always keeping your tip up, IMO:

1) turning/disorienting/tiring the fish out
and
2) Having your tip "up" leads to more line out of the water, where it can go slack quite easily.  This is more prevalent with fly fishing.  Having your line low and to the side keeps more line in the water and the tension of the water will always keep some tension on the hook in the fish's mouth.  If the line goes slack while the rod is "up" and in the air, the line really goes slack and just falls onto the surface of the water. 

[Tex]

It's also worth noting that we're taught to "keep our tip up!" not because keeping it up is good in and of itself, but keeping the tip up usually maintains a bend in the rod.  Remember, the rod is bendy because it is meant to act as a shock absorber when a fish runs or does head shakes.

Keeping the tip up therefore really means "keep a bend in your rod" - ie. don't point the rod down at the fish or else the only thing to act as a shock absorber is your line, and that's when you hear that dreaded "snap!" or "pop!" sound of your line breaking.

You can still keep a bend in the rod, just swing it low to the water and to the side! 

[Tex]

And finally, having your rod tip up isn't a bad idea either for many points in a fight.  Using a mixture of positions is best.

Have a look at Rod's video here (skip to 7:30 in).  Notice how rod sometimes keeps the tip up (with a bend in the rod), and other times he'll swing the rod to one side or the other to apply side pressure and hence try and turn the fish.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzRNLKxLxG4

[Johnny Canuck]

I've noticed also that side pressure keeps the fish in the water more, while "tip up" causes the fish to jump more. Jumping fish are out of control fish, and out of control fish are usually a lost fish.

[milo]

Jumping fish are out of control fish, and out of control fish are usually a lost fish.

Which is another opportunity to use side pressure. Often when the fish (especially fish such as steelhead) jumps out of the water, the angler either freezes or pulls the rod tip even further up accomplishing nothing.
IronNoggin taught me many years ago that when the fish jumps out of the water, you swing the rod as fast as you can opposite the fish. Even if the fish is right in front of you, a side swing of the rod (if possible - no side obstacles to break the rod on) is recommended. This will help you to regain line tension and rod bend quickly, before the hook pops out of the mouth. A tight line and bent rod keeps the hook in place. Slack is your foe.

Tex pretty much covered it all, and he does know a thing or two about keeping his fish on the hook. 

[Spawn Sack]

Tex (especially) and all others, thanks a lot for the replies! What a great bunch of guys!

I read over your initial reply Tex and it makes sense. I'll have to give it a try next time I have a fish on! Just to make sure I am 100% clear here's another hypothetical scenario. Imagine fishing that same water (upstream on your left) and you hook a fish right near the end of your drift, and it starts taking off down river.

Is there any advantage to applying side pressure with my rod to my left (over the water), or with my rod to the right (over the bank)? I imagine it doesn't really matter as either way will turn the fish's head (just in different directions). I understand that if the fish were to take off upriver I would drop my rod to the right and try to turn it around...hmmm...now I'm starting to confuse myself. Haha sorry guys I'll read Tex's description one more time and if need be draw myself a little diagram 

One last thing I don't think anyone commented on last time. Does tip up ever have an advantage over side pressure? I imagine if you're fishing on a boat and the fish is being brought in directly behind the boat, tip up is the way to go. But, say, if it races to the left, you'd drop your tip to the right and try and turn it back to the boat. Perhaps I've just never noticed, but it seems that on the fishing shows most of the guys reeling in a fish on a boat have their tips up high.

Hmmm...I thought I understood but now I seem to be second guessing myself. If anyone has another scenario on boat or shore on a river it would be appreciated I'll read over the responses one more time.

[milo]

Always apply side pressure so that you don't create slack. In the above scenario, keep the rod to the left (over the water). Swinging the rod to the right (towards the bank), will first create slack and maybe give the fish a chance to spit the hook on you.

Another thing about turning the fish: you don't attempt to turn the fish while it is out of control (running downstream). In doing so, you'd be fighting not only the fish, but also the current, and the chance of breaking it off, or breaking the rod, increases exponentially. STOPPING power is accomplished with drag tension. That's what the brake on the reel (or palming the reel) is for. Use the rod (tip up) to pull the fish closer to you and then reel in the fish as you lower the tip of the rod. Never winch the fish with the reel - a mistake so many anglers make!

Turning the fish is effective when the fish is closer to you and preferably upstream, so you use the current to YOUR advantage, not the fish's.

When it comes to salmon and steelhead, I find that no matter how far they go downstream, eventually they will settle and slowly start heading upstream towards the hatchery.
Still water fishing is an entirely different ball game. When fly fishing from an anchored boat on a lake, you use side pressure to keep the fish away from the anchor ropes and on "your" side of the boat - whichever that is.

Hope this helps.

[millsm]

Which is another opportunity to use side pressure. Often when the fish (especially fish such as steelhead) jumps out of the water, the angler either freezes or pulls the rod tip even further up accomplishing nothing.
IronNoggin taught me many years ago that when the fish jumps out of the water, you swing the rod as fast as you can opposite the fish. Even if the fish is right in front of you, a side swing of the rod (if possible - no side obstacles to break the rod on) is recommended. This will help you to regain line tension and rod bend quickly, before the hook pops out of the mouth. A tight line and bent rod keeps the hook in place. Slack is your foe.

Tex pretty much covered it all, and he does know a thing or two about keeping his fish on the hook. 

Learned this from trial and error when I was growing up fishing for bass in Ontario. I realized that when I saw the line rising, it worked well to lower my rod (keeping side pressure) and then right as it was about to jump give it long, strong pull in an attempt to hold the fish under water.

[adriaticum]

Side pressure means your rod is level with the ground and not at 90 degrees up.
So it's horizontal, not vertical.

[RalphH]

many years ago the well known salt water fly angler Stu Apte used a demo in his fly fishing classes. He attached the leader of his rig to a scale and had someone hold it while he applied maximum pressure pulling from the side by twisting his hips and then by pulling straight up with his arms. Pulling from the side he could pull the spring on the weight scale several times farther than puling directly up. Side pressure applies more pressure on the fish. A second aspect not quite captured in the responses is that pulling the fish from the side rolls the fish from it's normal orientation so it struggles both laterally (running) and vertically (working to stay upright). The rod need not be parallel to the water or bank, a 45 degree angle is enough. The effectiveness of side pressure diminishes the farther it is from you though the same is true for vertical (tip up) pressure. Holding the tip up helps keep the line free of stream bed rocks, weeds and other obstructions. In most cases it's the best thing to do when a fish has run out many yards of line.

[Burkie]

Bottom line, it allows you to control the fish instead the other way around.

[Sterling C]

Side pressure applies more pressure on the fish. A second aspect not quite captured in the responses is that pulling the fish from the side rolls the fish from it's normal orientation so it struggles both laterally (running) and vertically (working to stay upright).

Exactly!

Imagine running with a certain amount of force (say 100lbs) holding you back from behind. Now imagine running but this time the force is pulling you at a 90 degree angle from the direction you are trying to run. Not only are you working to run but now you must additionally work to keep yourself balanced.

With that being said, its not as if side pressure is some wonderful new invention that will revolutionize the way you fight fish. Typically the only time I ever use side pressure is when I need to turn a fish (or keep it turned) as I find it more benefitial to keep my line free and clear of the water and possible snags.

When used at the right time, side pressure will make fighting fish easier, however, I'm not conivced that it will have a great impact on landing ratio. In my opinion a clean hookset and learning to keep fish from thrashing on the surface is far more important to keeping fish on the line.

[rhino]

in my experience when i have used smaller hooks the hook has been set tight to the lip and more difficult to get lose. the bigger hook sizes at times allow more wiggle room and this can help dislodge the hook. When unhooking a fish you will notice that it is easier to get a larger hook free then smaller tightly set hooks. this could also be due to the fact that you have a larger hook shaft to grab on to. i was a little gun shy to try side pressure at first as i thought it may cause the hook to pop out but I found so far this has not at all been the case.
good luck to all.

[leapin' tyee]

in my experience when i have used smaller hooks the hook has been set tight to the lip and more difficult to get lose. the bigger hook sizes at times allow more wiggle room and this can help dislodge the hook.


Smaller hooks has a smaller gauge wire= sharper
Larger hooks has a bigger gauge wire=not as sharp