Rob,

The way you are swinging fish is the right way. remember guides are put on the rod to distirbute the stress, well at least when its done by a good builder

. By grabbing the blank near the first guide you are putting all the stress from that area up. The rod gets stronger towards the butt so you really eliminate the strongest part of the rod. Most times it wont matter because you do see it done but the rod has a much better chance at exploding this way no doubt. I think alot of guys do it this way because it easier on them but not on the rod

 

Thanks Ralph thats all I needed to know,topic closed!

 

I usually do not point the tip at the fish too much, I wanna swing the fish with about the same amount of line as the length of teh rod. the more fish you catch the more practice you will have so you can estimate where everything needs to be to get teh fish up and over teh rail. WIth Blackfish they lay there, so I wait unt the fish is turned towards me and I kind of cast teh fish straight up by loading the blank and "bouncing it" up.

As you lift teh fish over teh rail, hit the freespool lever and when teh fish comes over put the reel in freespool, catch the line above teh fish, and put the rod down.

It is nto hard ot pop a graphite rod swinging fish. I know first hand becaue I've only made a couple of mistakes and broke a couple of rods as a result. I can guarantee that someone lifting fish by grabbing the rod half way up with a graphite rod, is one mistake away from breaking the rod.

Properly used rods are VERY difficult to break. I spoke with TOm Kirkman last week, he just ran an article in Rodmaker magazine here he broke 200 blanks and took picturs to show the causes of ech breakage. HE was shocked how hard it was to overload and break a rod. However, a suddne jolt will pop them relatively easy, as well as high sticking.

 

Rob I dont fish on headboats & tend to fish with the same group of guys...But after reading your post. I better understand why most rod conpanys have changed there warranty...Gone are the days of no questions asked...

 

Rob, I swing fish the same way you do, point towards the fish and one swoop up.

 

All this discussion is about protecting the rod, which most of us are concerned about. But there is another consideration that hasn't been discussed, and that is the distributikon of the weight. Try lifting a weight with a 10 foot pole with your hands on the handle is is a chore, grab the pole half way up and the weigh is more evenly distributed. You guys should have takenphysics in school instead of cutting to go fishing. LOL Another consideration not discussed is lifting rather than swinging. Small fish are lifted directly into the fisherman, bigger fish are swung to the side usually smacking your next door neighbor.

 

Well then Willy, you do not want be to fishing next to me because you just might get smacked with my fish when I swing it over the rail.

 

Geez Seane, you change avatars more often than I change my undershorts.

 

Sounds responsible. cant reciprocate, I give a warning, and I usually swing to my left.

 

Drag the beast sideways on the water and in one swoop get his butt over the rail and on the deck...going into free spool to shock absorb

....don't hit the rail

...the person next to you

...or the deck without letting line out. If you are on a party boat boat and the capt is looking down admiring your tremendous angling skills...do not hit him

as there may be no one else on board who can drive

 

When swinging do you find that you can swing to the left and right? I cant. I can only swing the fish over to my left hand side. It's actually been a problem a few times with mates helping and telling me to swing the fish to the right side!

 

I swing to the left only......if you swing right you may be gay...both right and left..."BI"

 

I use a Net.... lol

 

willie864 wrote:
All this discussion is about protecting the rod, which most of us are concerned about. But there is another consideration that hasn't been discussed, and that is the distributikon of the weight. Try lifting a weight with a 10 foot pole with your hands on the handle is is a chore, grab the pole half way up and the weigh is more evenly distributed. You guys should have takenphysics in school instead of cutting to go fishing.


Willie, everyone understands that's why people grab the rod half-way up the blank. It may be a chore to swing a fish just from the butt end of the blank, but it's not impossible, and it' a necessary chore if you want to avoid breaking the blank.

 

Hunt n' Fish wrote:

it' a necessary chore if you want to avoid breaking the blank.

Not if all you deal with are glass and composite blanks. Glass is so much more forgiving than graphite, that people think they can do anything to a rod and not have it break. THese bad habits manifest themselves when they use a graphite rod and the rod pops, then they complain this company sucks, graphite is brittle, when the fact is they are a hammerhead and too stupid to learn how to properly use a rod made with different materials.

You wouldn't drive a Ferrari the same way you drive a monster truck, then blame the Ferrari when it got destroyed after only one jump. BUt there are people who will do just that.

 

Good topic

Hi,

I believe the strength of the blank has to be considered first. Some blanks are not meant to swing fish as they are not strong enough. You want to swing fish then build on a solid fiberglas blank as they are almost impossible to break.

Once you start to swing a fish do it in one motion. DO NOT let a fish hang in space. Unless you have a very strong blank do not move your hand above the fore grip.

Rob, I like your method best.

Capt Neil

 

I prefer to swing the fish in the face of the dude next to me who has been out fishing me 5 to 1.

 

willie864 wrote:
All this discussion is about protecting the rod, which most of us are concerned about. But there is another consideration that hasn't been discussed, and that is the distributikon of the weight. Try lifting a weight with a 10 foot pole with your hands on the handle is is a chore, grab the pole half way up and the weigh is more evenly distributed. You guys should have takenphysics in school instead of cutting to go fishing. LOL Another consideration not discussed is lifting rather than swinging. Small fish are lifted directly into the fisherman, bigger fish are swung to the side usually smacking your next door neighbor.

If the fish is too heavy to swing from the handles call for the gaff. Now there's some simple physics for ya.

 

another thing on swinging fish is to comit once you decide to swing it reel down as far as ya can ans lift it in one motion and get it moving dont futz around and thud the fish on the deck so every one around ya can hear it and with a realy hot green bluefish see if you can swing it to the life raft on the top deck and have your dimond jig hit the window that will win you extra points with the capt .

 

Great topic!!!

Good question Rob and a great answer.

A couple of other things comes to mind while on this topic.Fishing adequacy after swooping the fish over I put the rod in a rod holder so people can walk by or so the rod isnt sliding along the rail into my neighbors fishing space.
Also if i see a someone that has a fish on next to me i try to give them that extra space so they can swoop the fish over.
However if your on the YankeeCapt DONT EVER SWOOP a fish over.LOL!!! They dont like it up there!!!!!

 

Which species are we talking about? If it's a large hyper thresher, I just swing it over my head by the whippy tail till they're stunned and dizzy

 

buddy of mines swing a 7 lbs tog usung a snafu on my boat two years ago, the extra hook got caught in my other boy hand imagine the tog slapping around, and the guy screaming like a child. wow

 

Tip down to the water a little & use the foregrip & butt. Your arms aren't 20ft long ya know. Now I fish party boats & I'm a gentlemen. When you lift up & over lift the fish in towards yourself & step back letting the fish come over where you were standing. This accomplishes two things 1) your not bothering the fellow next to you 2)if the fish comes off your not swinging the hooks, sinker or jig sideways where it will hit someone else.