Have you ever been "spooled"?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

This is when you hook a fish that is too much for your tackle.

This usually happens when wading because you can't chase the fish like in a boat.



I think I have been "spooled" more than once but one time really comes to mind.


I was at Christmas Island in the 1980s with a group through the shop.

Our boat dropped us off at Paris Flats across the bay in 4 feet of water so as we waded in it got shallower.

I noticed a really big Bonefish coming off the shallow flats heading into deeper water on an out going tide.

Big Bonefish seem to always angle away from you and head out at the same time.

I think it was in maybe 3 feet of clear water on a white sand bottom.

I quickly made a long cast out in front of this fish hoping it might see my fly as to passed the area.

Just luck that it ate my Crazy Charlie fly and just kept going.

I waded after it out to shoulder deep water and when I ran to the end of 200 feet of 20# Micron backing the 10# clear

Mason tippet parted.

It was a helpless but exhilarating experience.......



Have you ever been "spooled"?

[GreggH]

Never. I guess catching a big fish is a prerequisite. Came close last week. Had to chase down a Bat Ray that was over 100lbs, 8 wt!

[Mr T]

One time fishing on the lower Sac I hooked a King salmon fishing behind the reds for trout. Just to see what happened I did try to fight one on a 5 wt (yes, I know, go ahead and call me names).

Blew up the drag on a Battenkill disc pretty bad.

[Idadon]

Yup! Twice, once by a Sturgeon (I assume) fishing off the ammo pier at Mare Island. Couldn’t chase it and it never slowed down.

Second time a huge RB on the Henry’s Fork on a 5wt. Actually, on the trout, I clamped down with just a few wraps left on my spool in an attempt to save my fly line. It worked and broke just above the hook.

I’ve caught two 29 inchers up there over the years. This one just took off down river and only stopped once. There used to be some scary big trout up there but I’m to old to wade that stretch anymore.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Maybe 20 years ago, no, 33, I just bought a new 1986 Chevy Suburban and went on a wonderful trip with Don Rotsma and Rick

Jorgensen to Idaho/Montana. They go every year for many decades now. They might be there right now.

One stop was the Henry's Fork at the Ranch. I just bought a new Sage 490 LL rod, new CFO III reel with Cortland WF4F Peach 444 line.

I think I was using and long leader to 6x and a #16 PMD paradun when I hook a really big hot Rainbow that gave me a run for my life.

I landed it and Don took a photo of it. Did not get spooled but got into my backing. One of my top memories......around 20 inches?

[StevenB]

Mystery fish:
I was fishing with a Nine Wt. near the mouth of the Monkey river in Belize.
We were working up the river casting for tarpon and snook.
Got a hook up from something that never rose up to the surface.
It headed out towards the ocean at a slowish but steady rate.
I could not stop it or even turn it.
It just steadily move off until I found that I was nearing the end of my backing and I had a lot of backing.
End up just locking down on the spool until the tippet broke.
Best guess was it was a big Ray of some kind (possibly snagged) since it was just a slow steady swim away.

Reeling all the backing up took a little while.
Sure was glad the backing to flyline knot held.

[jaysflies]

A couple times. Once in Baja, Mexico fishing for Dorado at ocho ocho (88). When all of a sudden a school of yellow fin tuna were on top feeding. We instantly got a double hook up. My fish decided it wanted to go to the bottom and didn't stop. The captain said "lo siento" but he's going to spool you :D.. It did. He said maybe 100 pound yellow fin. The one we landed was 55 lbs.

Another time was in Australia. I hooked into a big long tail tuna which kept going. We were on the mother ship heading to our destination when the skipper spotted a school of tuna. He turned the boat and headed to the fish. Casting from the deck of the boat with 14 other fishermen and most of them hooked up, you didn't have a choice but to sit there and let everyone fight there fish. A few people got spooled. Overall it was a great experience. I'd do it again

Jay

[Darian]

Came close one time while fishing on the American above Watt Avenue; late afternoon in December. Going for Steelhead with a size 8 gold comet on a 6 weight/Pflueger 1495 1/2 reel. Hooked a large, dark Salmon that immediately turned downstream and kept on going until I locked up the reel and broke the fish off.

Another one was while fly fishing at Cerralvo Island for Roosters. Laid a cast down in the middle of Roosters boiling and was hooked up. Did a strip-strike and held on as this fish headed for the other side of the Sea of Cortez. He never slowed and when the backing was getting thin, I asked the captain to follow it. Before the boat started, the backing parted.... Most of the backing (300 yds??), running line, shooting head, leader and fly gone.... Very exciting tho!! :-o

[hwchubb]

Two that I can think of. One was on the American in 1999, the year they reopened the upper section of the lower river in January after 3-4 years of keeping the upper river closed until March (which (I would be in favor of again). I hooked a fish that rolled twice, enough to show it was big and bright, and made me REALLY want to land it. No such luck. It took off downstream, and broke off with somewhere 100+ yards down the river.

A second was a big Chum in Puget Sound last fall that just headed out into the estuary and never stopped.

Nothing takes longer than reeling in after a long long distance release either.

[dynaflow]

Came close on a Tuna out of a Christmas Island skiff a couple of years back....he just kept going.

It's harder to get spooled these days, what with most salt water reels accommodating 300 yards of 50 lb.+ braid backing coupled with powerful drag setups.

If you get more than 150 yards out plus your fly line, he probably ain't a comin' back pardner!

[mems]

https://i.imgur.com/aIhnMppl.jpg

Almost, I was on Christmas Island, saw a school bus cruising the drop off. Cast a bush pig, got him to chase and inhale. He took off towards that flat in the picture, took about 400 of the 500 yds of backing on a Terry Hayden #3. Fish took a hard right and cut me off, 8 feet of leader gone. It took a long time to reel all that line back in. Easily over 100 lbs. Never turned him, 40 lbs of drag. Those wake you up at night. Mems.

[JayDubP]

3 times. All from wading or the bank. In all 3, I was so surprised I did not react quickly.

First: I was in 5th grade fishing live grasshoppers in a gravel pit/overflow alongside the Yakima River. I hooked something unseen that was so heavy I was scared I would break my cheap spinning rod or my 6lb test mono. No way could I stop it as it moved ever slowly across the pool and before I knew it all the line in my Mitchell 300 was gone so I had to lower the rod, wrap the line around my hand to break off the fish. (I could not afford to buy more line). Reality is that it was the small capacity spool and after losing so much line from snags there was probably only 100ft or so left-- but 100ft is a huge distance for a 9 year old fighting what was surely a whale or at the least a 10 ft Sturgeon.

Second: on a northern British Columbia river, in the first pool after salt water. First King Salmon I'd ever hooked on a fly. It just headed full steam back for the salt and when it hit the rapids below the pool it was gone. Current and fish were moving faster than I could run, so I had to break it off with a few winds left on my SA reel.

Third: was on the Upper Sacramento during one of those hatches where the sky is blacked out from so many bugs and the water surface is boiling from fish. I was using a 3 wt with large arbor reel fishing a golden stone when a fish hit (hooked itself) and took off downriver with me jumping rock to rock with lots of slips and a couple of butt plants thrown in. Briefly saw the fish which was large, and foul hooked in the dorsal fin, so when it went broadside across current it was very heavy. Finally it went through a long rapids where I could only follow part way through, so I let it take line in hopes it would stop in the pool below and give me time to work my way downriver, but it just blew through that pool and headed for the next rapids so I had to break it off. Luckily I saved the fly which was my last one.

I have not fished much in salt water, but I can envision how much line some of those fish can take-- and how quickly.


Jim

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

A funny thing to report is many who fly fish have never been into their backing.

They have even asked me what the backing is for?

It is mostly to do with the water they fish.


I hot Rainbow or Steelhead will do it.

A Bonefish is the best example though.......

[wineslob]

Butt Valley in the 90's before they tore down the dam.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Butt Valley in the 90's before they tore down the dam.

What do you think it was?

[mar]

Funny you brought this up Mr. Kiene.
This was a very recent trip over the border. I hooked a giant jack on topwater that 'almost' spooled me. I chased it down for a bit, and I still couldn't recover all the line it ripped off my reel. My backing was almost all gone so I clamped down on the reel. The fish unfurled the 40-lb bite tippet connection on a Rio tarpon leader. See grainy vid below, wife was chasing me while filming with her phone:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWiXiERXkbs&feature=youtu.be


I then went back to the room, made another topwater fly, retied the tarpon leader myself (had the kids yank hard on it so I know the knot was good). Went to the same area and sure enough, got another giant jack on topwater. Only this time, I didn't catch the running line looping over the reel handle as the fish ripped line at a blistering speed.....before I can free up the line, it just freakin exploded. Took my flie, my leader and 70 feet of my fly line.
Saltwater flats fish are scary.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Funny you brought this up Mr. Kiene.
This was a very recent trip over the border. I hooked a giant jack on topwater that 'almost' spooled me. I chased it down for a bit, and I still couldn't recover all the line it ripped off my reel. My backing was almost all gone so I clamped down on the reel. The fish unfurled the 40-lb bite tippet connection on a Rio tarpon leader. See grainy vid below, wife was chasing me while filming with her phone:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWiXiERXkbs&feature=youtu.be


I then went back to the room, made another topwater fly, retied the tarpon leader myself (had the kids yank hard on it so I know the knot was good). Went to the same area and sure enough, got another giant jack on topwater. Only this time, I didn't catch the running line looping over the reel handle as the fish ripped line at a blistering speed.....before I can free up the line, it just freakin exploded. Took my flie, my leader and 70 feet of my fly line.
Saltwater flats fish are scary.

Wow Mar......that is what happens at Christmas Island when you hook a big Trevally while wading.

Too bad we don't have anything like that in Northern California.

Where were you?

I guess a big fresh King salmon off the surf would be pretty wild.

PS: Thanks for all your great posts here.

[JasonB]

I’ve never been actually spooled, but I’ve come close a couple times and decided to lock down the drag and bust my tippet rather than loosing everything. It’s happend a couple times with fresh aggressive Coho/Silver salmon in tidal areas, where they just take off back out to sea and I’ve been unable to stop them. Other times they’ve suddenly changed their minds and came racing back upstream WAAAAYYY faster than I can reel in the slack.

My most memorable by far though was on the Smith river at pretty high water. The water was high enough that I was really working the slower water close to shore. I was very new to fly fishing for salmon and steelhead, but I knew enough to recognize the long slow lane above a series of big rapids to be a very likely resting spot for either a late Chinook salmon or a Steelhead. I hooked into a very big, very bright fish practically at my feet, but couldn’t be certain if it was a salmon or a Steelhead. It looked more steelhead shaped, but I was pretty new and I only got a quick look before the fish shot out into the current. The current was so strong, and the fish was so big that my line was just melting away off the reel... it seemed like I was a ways into my backing before I could even evaluate what was happening or what to do about it! I watched the reel getting more and more empty as I tried to figure out what to do, hoping maybe the big fish would turn towards the slower water. All I could think to do was add more and more pressure on the fish, knowing I was putting too much strain on my tippet already, but still not even close to enough to turn it. Eventually my tippet snapped and I spent a while reeling all that backing and line in, my hands shaking from the excitement. I’ll never forget that one, and I continue to question whether it was a very big steelhead or a late Chinook, as there were decent numbers of both in the system. The size of the fish seems to get bigger and bigger with each passing year too :cool:

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

If you get way out in to your backing and then break off I consider that being "spooled" too.

Pretty cool stories.

[wineslob]

What do you think it was?

Large.



:cool:


Acted like a brown, lots of head shaking, went to the bottom and a run that made my reel scream like never before..it was completely uncontrollable.