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Thread: Have you ever been "spooled"?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    Big Island Hawaii
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    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.
    Don Memmer

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Somersett Reno, NV
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    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

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    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.......
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    North Idaho
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    Butt Valley in the 90's before they tore down the dam.
    "For years, every time he stopped at the house to collect his paper money, it was the same routine. The old man in the wheelchair would ask him how he'd like it if he took him fishing and showed him a few things. He always said he'd like that.
    When the old man finally passed away, his wife gave the kid a box of flies. He has them today, tucked away in a closet, never to be fished."

    Walt C.<---------------------------- not me, though I wish I had written it.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by wineslob View Post
    Butt Valley in the 90's before they tore down the dam.
    What do you think it was?
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    elk grove
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    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:




    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.
    ' You have TP for my bunghole?' - Beavis

  7. #17
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    Jan 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by mar View Post
    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:




    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.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    Garden Valley
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    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
    "Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
    - unknown

  9. #19
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    Jan 2005
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    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    If you get way out in to your backing and then break off I consider that being "spooled" too.

    Pretty cool stories.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    North Idaho
    Posts
    360

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    What do you think it was?
    Large.






    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.
    "For years, every time he stopped at the house to collect his paper money, it was the same routine. The old man in the wheelchair would ask him how he'd like it if he took him fishing and showed him a few things. He always said he'd like that.
    When the old man finally passed away, his wife gave the kid a box of flies. He has them today, tucked away in a closet, never to be fished."

    Walt C.<---------------------------- not me, though I wish I had written it.

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