landing the big one?

the best way to land a big fish is with heavy tippet, a big hook, and a good set. obviously you can't always get them on a big fly or heavy tippet, but a hookset is something you can control. have as little slack on the water as possible and avoid the 90 foot drifts as well.

as far as fighting them, i like to be a bit more aggressive than most and i'm sure its cost me some fish. I try to keep them off the bottom (except when they've got me beat downstream see dave's post), that is where they are most comfortable. i keep my rod at about a 45 from the x-y plane as well as to the fish until the fish is near. once the fish is in close (within 2 rod lengths maybe more) I get down and dirty leading the fish the direction it wants to go then changing directions turning it backwards. repeat that a few times then I real down until my rod is slightly above parallel to the xy, and as soon as i've turned the fishes head i lift straight up utilizing the butt of the rod, and try as hard as i can to get its head above water and slide accross the surface of the water. remember you're not fighting it with the tip of the rod. the power in all rods come from the butt, which is why i prefer softer rods (they have much better shock absorption plus they roll cast/mend much easier).

when netting fish i differ from most. I like a quick decisive stab and lift/pull of the net (the net often starts on the surface of the water or in it. netting the fish head first is ideal, because it is much more dificult to for the fish to swim out of the net. that being said i've netted/tailed fish from all angles. I take pride in my tailing and netting... its been described as ninja-esque. also if you don't have a net while trout fishing try to cradle the fish and lift it from the water, but don't squeeze that will only propel it away from you. also don't be affraid to gently slide a fish on wet gravel. i keep them about halfway in the water then quickly put them back in the water to catch their breathe before snapping a photo.

I've hooked and lost two really big fish over the last couple of weeks. Good hook set, good initial play, then the fish "stall out", moving into a steady current and holding. Both times I kept steady pressure on the fish, but did not force a move. Both times the fish, after 5-10 seconds of not moving, gave a quick head shake and were gone. Lesson learned. Ever replay those moments in your head...again and again and....?

Always make a fish fight the current and/or your rod. Determine your river/stream location to fight the fish is critical to how quickly you bring them in and eliminate your losses. I estimate the fight in a fish from its initial run and the fighting quality of most fish in that piece of water.

If I’m fighting some good fish in tougher moving water, I often make the initial part of the fight occur in heavy water where I’ll have the fish to be slightly upstream of me with my rod on the downstream side of the fish. All fish will pull directly from the pressure, so this setup will force the fish to fight the current and your rod. This will make them tire quicker than if you attempted to fight them in softer water.

I've have instances where the fish have "buried” themselves into the current (probably behind some obstacle and they’re resting from the fight) and it appears there is nothing you can do. I’ll lift the downstream angle of my rod to force the fish’s head to move off the bottom of the current and that will put them back into fighting mode. This will lift their head up and move them to a different spot to fight you. I’ve tapped the butt of my rod just to irritate the fish that makes them move off their holding spot and then I move them to my predetermined spot to finally net them.

The key thing you need to do is to make yourself in control of the fish and determine how you’re going to fight them on your terms. If you have to chase a fish to improve a better spot to land them, then do it…

Terry's 02. cents are worth far more.
I say often, before you make the perfect drift, look where you can run.
Rehearse the possibilities in your mind, before-hand, and you raise your odds of touching fin.
I try to talk to clients about what may happen before we get to the water..
Mostly folks seize up, and watch it happen. Like a bad accident.
If you can, let'em run a bit. Take some steam off. But don't just let them work you, take charge. (like terry and dustin said)
And don't let them rest while they're on either (very common too).
Although a 5wt is standard, in these flows a 6wt is a better tool.
Of course, we don't win every fight, that's how we get better (the fish do too).
Learning to land biggish fish takes as much study as casting, or drifts or bugs, or reading water or any other facet of our sport.
Doesn't happen over night.
I like nothing better than to have fish on that's at a worthy adversary.
Pull for pull, trick for trick. Whether he sees the inside of my net or not.
Of course that would be nice.
I did kick down for a good net...:mrgreen:

Well I've been beyond broke for a bit now, but finally some cash came through that had been held up for too long. So I think that I may be in the market for a bigger net (again! and yes Jim, I know: you told me). I can't wait to test some of these new ideas out, and I've been practicing on some of the little guys that I've been catching lately. Of course I'm sure that now, finally armed with tons of great ideas, and some huge landing net; the big guys wont be so willing to play... Any that do will likely have a much bigger edge with the high flows that appear to be here to stay for quite some time now.

But I sure plan to try my best,
JB