Angling to catch more and larger fish

I had been guiding Mat-Su salmon fishing trips for a year or two before one of my guests, an Englishman, taught me the true meaning of, “Angling.” Back in the early 1980s we standardly fished with 14 lb. monofilament on our salmon charters — even when pursuing king salmon. At that time, king salmon running up Little Susitna River averaged about 30 lbs. in weight, and it could take 30 to 40 minutes to land a good-sized king, and especially if an angler was battling it from the bank.

While casting from the bank into a deep slow bend, my English guest hooked a king salmon. The fish surged and ran immediately after being hooked, then cruised into the deepest part of the hole and bulldogged toward the bottom. With 14 lb. line this was the part of the battle where I typically advised anglers to put steady rod pressure on the the salmon, and simply wait for it to tire. When a large salmon aligns itself in the current and holds steady, a long stalemate can ensue, and it becomes difficult and time consuming to gain line with steady pressure.

“Should I change the rod angle?” The Englishman asked.

“You can try, if you like,” I advised, “but once the fish starts holding in the current, it usually takes a long time before you can do anything with it. I like to get downstream of the fish so it has to fight both the rod pressure and the current. It will likely take 20 minutes or more before we can start getting it to move.”

The English fisherman kept steady pressure on the salmon, but took the rod tip down near the water and pulled the salmon’s head sideways. The salmon moved, then struggled to align itself in the current where it could use leverage to hold in a different spot. The fisherman changed the rod angle again, forcing the fish to move and expend more energy re-aligning in the current. The battle continued in this manner as the angler countered each alignment of the fish holding in the current, with a new rod angle. Rather than using its big body to counter steady rod pressure, the salmon was constantly moving and spending energy. In half of normal fight time, the salmon tired, and was lead to the net.

I commented on how well my guest had fought the salmon, and how quickly he was able to land it.

His response was, “ Adjusting rod angle to fight a large fish is what makes the process efficient, and that is also why we often call fishing, ‘Angling.’”

Since seeing that demonstration I’ve used rod angling to help many guests, friends and myself catch more and larger salmon. The more efficient an angler is when fighting a fish, the less time the fish has to come free from the hook. With larger fish, in particular, long drown out battles can cause hooks to eventually work loose or pull free before lunkers can be landed, therefore, quicker and more efficient battles result in more fish getting landed. With more fish landed, there is also a better chance some of them will be larger fish.

Low Rod Angle — usually works better

“Keep the rod tip up!” is advice often heard whenever someone hooks a salmon. Depending upon how little experience an angler has, this may be rather poor advise. Better advise to me would be, “Keep the pressure on,” or “keep the rod bent.”

Immediately following a hook up, large fish are often fighting their hardest or in a panicked mode. If an angler keeps the rod up at this time, the fish may be pulled to the surface or may already be up thrashing on the surface of the water. Pulling the fish to the surface maximizes pressure on the line, may prolong the fishes panic reaction, and intensifies its struggles to get away — since the fish thrashes with less water resistance when it breaks the water’s surface. All of these factors, can make it more difficult to catch fish when fighting with a high rod tip.

On the other hand, when an angler applies steady but low rod pressure following a hookup, there is more water resistance slowing the fishes struggles, the fish feels more comfortable deeper in the water and will likely drop down from maximum-panicked mode sooner, and it becomes easier to control a fish that is not fighting at maximum capacity. In addition, directing the fish toward the bank or a boat with a near-the-water rod angle is usually more efficient in getting the fish to go where you want versus simply pulling straight up. When fighting a fish with a low rod angle from a boat it is easier to dip the rod tip in the water to avoid cutting the line on the bottom of a boat when a fish dives under the boat. With all of these advantages, low rod angle is my preferred fish fighting angle — until it is time to net the fish.

Mat-Su Ice Update

On Monday I checked out ice conditions on two lakes near Palmer. There was about 4 inches of ice on the first lake and maybe 5 inches of ice on the second lake. There were a few other test ice fishing holes close to shore on the second lake. I fished for a short while at the second lake, but only near shore, and did not venture out further. I was exploring with the opportunity to guide a group ice fishing trip on Tuesday, but decided to wait for better ice fishing conditions before taking people ice fishing near Palmer.

Mat-Su Fish and Wildlife Commission Legislative Priorities

At recent public meetings the Commission voted in favor of establishing legislative priorities to fund operation of Chelatna Lake Weir, Deshka River Weir, Fish Creek Weir, and Jim Creek Weir through the entire season in 2023. In addition the Commission also voted re-establishing genetic testing of the Upper Cook Inlet coho salmon harvest as a state legislative priority.

Coming up on December 7, 2022 from 4 to 6 p.m. the Fish and Wildlife Commission will be hosting the annual fisheries summary meeting with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the Mat-Su Borough Assembly Chambers in Palmer. There will also be opportunities for people to participate online or over the phone.

Good Luck and Fish On!