Or you can start up the boat and move it so
you are on the same side as the fish. If you
choose this option, it is much safer to reverse
the boat rather than go forward. This way
you greatly reduce the chance of running
over the line. If you have an electric motor on
the bow, then this is another problem to
avoid. See Illo 2 for details.
Fishing near the motor
Sometimes a fish goes under the boat and
gets dangerously close to the motor – either
your main motor or maybe a bow mounted
electric. In this case instantly put the motor
in neutral or turn it off, trim it right up and
do all the same things as described for a “fish
under the boat”. This way, if the best way to
clear the fish from under the boat is to go
around the back then you can visually see the
motor and do what you can to make sure the
line clears it.
High sticking
When you’ve done all your fishing from the
shore then you may not have ever experienced
“high sticking”. High sticking is when you lift
the tip of a rod beyond its safe f lexing range
(variable but usually not less than around the
10 o’clock point) while under load (hopefully
from a fish but snags can cause the same
problem). This stress is outside what most
rods are designed to tolerate and often result
in breakage.
The reason it can be a problem in a boat is
because you can often end up fighting a fish
straight up and down. When you have a big,
stubborn fish directly below you, the
temptation to heave it up can make you lift the
rod angle too high and past its safe f lexing
point. When fighting fish straight up and
down, use shorter pumping strokes to control
and tire the fish. See Illo 3.
Drive & drag
Many fish live in cover or snags. When you
hook a big one, they often tend to want to bury
you straight back in there. If the area you’re
fishing is shallow or has a lot of dangerous
structure then you really don’t want to be
fighting a powerful fish that can dictate terms
in such scary country.
The obvious thing to do is move into deeper
or safer water. But how do you do this once
you have a fish on the line? The trick is to use
the boat to get out of the danger zone.
By driving your boat away from the hazard
and applying firm but steady pressure on the
fish, you can actually tow it away from
trouble. The key is to not drive too quickly
and have enough pressure to lead the fish but
fishingworld.com.au | March 2015 | 75➂ CORRECT ROD ANGLES
By applying shorter strokes
on the rod you will prevent high
sticking and will also apply more
High sticking is effective pressure on a fish.
when the angle of
the rod against the
downward pressure in
the line stresses the
rod and runs the risk
of breaking it.Over stressed rod➀ CHANGING BOAT POSTION
Direction of drift = Problem!If a fish does get under the boat, try and reverse in a hard
turn to get you and the fish on the same side. This is
especially important if you are drifting over the fish.➁ LOWERING YOUR ROD
Sometimes a fish will take off under
the boat, despite all your efforts. The
first thing to do is make sure the line
clears the boat. Do this by sticking
the rod right in the water.