Steelheading and the Reel Deal

I’ve heard a great deal of them say, “I didn’t know a fishing reel was supposed to do that.”

Timothy Kusherets

Winter steelheading provides some the harshest fishing conditions anglers are sure to face. The weather seems to conspire against fishermen by the hour and yet they persevere. Sometimes driving to the great fishing holes can take hours and with a slick road that means taking even longer time before the fishing can begin. There isn’t a fishing condition the winter can throw at a steelheader that will dissuade him from fishing, but what if the worst condition didn’t reveal itself until that first cast in the water? What if that last and final condition was terminal and the only thing left to do was to go home? Wouldn’t all the efforts infuriate you and make you regret fishing at all? It can happen, and I’ve seen it happen so many times over the years that it makes it worth talking about. Fishing Reels can be an insurmountable problem if you truly don’t know the anatomy of it, and believe it or not there are some ole timers who don’t know half of what can be found on or inside a fishing reel. I’ve heard a great deal of them say, “I didn’t know that.” It’s true and they don’t have a problem with it, but they agreed that knowing about these unnoticed things would have saved them heartache a time or two. So, learning about steelheading and the reel deal can save you heartache too. All of it starts with the not so obvious anatomy of the reel and the ambiguity of the problems that can arise from the Carriage, Line Clip, Rod Mount, Handle Placement, and the Drag.
The Carriage, or bail, can be the primary source of many things that go wrong in the field and almost all of them can be avoided. Did you know that when the carriage was invented it was actually meant to guide line and nothing else? One of the main problems of anglers is the unwillingness to flip the bail closed when it’s time to retrieve the line. It’s true. The fishing reel was never meant to flip the bail over for fishermen. Those mechanics that do reel maintenance have told me time and again that flipping the carriage over via the reel is the main culprit of ruining the oscillating gear. Over the course of a relatively short period of time the oscillation of the spool will stop undulating, and when that happens you can kiss the reel goodbye. It can happen in the field more than you think and when it does your day is over. By paying attention to this one little detail about your fishing reel you can actually lengthen the life of it by many years. If that sounds like an elusive observation then you’re going to want to know about the line-clip on the body of each spool.

The Line-clip keeps hold of your fishing line between fishing trips. It sits on the side of the spool ready for line deployment at the beginning of the day and ready to store fishing line at the end of it; it’s not as obvious as that if no one tells you about it. How does all this become a problem for a fishing reel and fish? When taking a rubber band off the spool that has line on it you run the risk of nicking it and when that happens you run the risk of losing fish. When the line is tied to the first eye of the rod you run the risk of nicking it when the rod is transport. Most of the anglers who tie to the first guide almost always use the same length of line and when they do that the risk of losing fish near the leader and terminal gear becomes a real threat. As an example of how hidden this particular issue is I’d like to tell you about a woman and her three boys who were out fishing with me one day. She had no less than a thousand dollars worth of gear with her and she really seemed to know what she was doing. Her sons were no slouches either. They really seemed to have it all together and by the end of the day they all had my ear until it came time to break down the gear and head for home. There at the water she watched as I cut the line from the hook and reeled in the slack. I couldn’t understand why she and her boys were watching me so closely until I put the line under the clip. “That’s what that’s for? I can’t believe it! No one ever told us about it and we’ve been using rubber bands and tying the line to the first guide forever! Why wouldn’t anyone tell us about a simple thing like that? Putting away fishing line shouldn’t be complicated should it?”
She was right about the clip and from then on for her and her family it wasn’t and it may not be for you too. There are those fishermen who will fight the obvious nature of fishing reel essentials even in the face of the obvious truth and sometimes that isn’t more clearly stated than a fisherman who doesn’t know how to mount a fishing reel.
The Rod Mount is found on the butt of any fishing rod and the fundamental position largely is dependant of whether or not the rod and reel are either for bait-casting or spin-casting. There are a few stubborn fishermen who will actually mount a spinning reel on the body of a bait-casting rod and fish with that particular setup with the reel on top of the rod when in fact it should be on the bottom. The action of a spinning reel is such that with the reel on top of any fishing rod you risk a wobble each time the handle is turned and each time you wobble the rod you lose sensitivity. Each time you lose sensitivity to feel the strike of fish you lose the opportunity to get one. Just remember to match the two kinds of fishing with each other and you’ll be fine, at least in this regard. If the reel wobbles then the reel is probably mounted wrong and this little tip will help you to figure out why. With the reel mount dilemma figured out it’s time to move onto the reel handle.
The Reel Handle is designed for fishermen for either right or left-handed fishing. Think about it…did anyone actually tell you why the handle is supposed to be on either side? The obvious answer would be to say that everyone is either left or right-handed right? Well, it’s wrong. The handle is actually supposed to go on the side of the rod with your less dominant arm; that means, if your right-handed then the handle should be placed on the left side of the rod and vice versa if you’re left-handed. Every single year I run into many novice fishermen who profess that I’ve been fishing with the handle on the wrong side for two decades. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason the handle is designed to be used with the less dominant hand is so the dominant hand can finesse the rod as needed per fishing situation; if you’re right-handed it simply easier and faster to dip a fishing rod in the water to prevent a fish from jumping. You won’t have any time to try and think this out on the water. If you don’t act fast then the fish with throw the hook from the slack sure to be created if you don’t place the handle correctly. All of these things come together to make a great reel outfit and ensure that the reel lasts for many years; however, it can all be undone with negligence of the drag.

The Drag of any fishing reel is the final and most important thing to consider when caring for your setup. If the tension of the drag is not set properly then fish can get away. If the drag is not cared for it can seize on you and snap the line ultimately allowing fish to get away. If the drag is too tight the line can slice the guide of the reel, which will cut the line and the fish will get away; this is especially true when hooking into large fish. Not taking care of the drag is the number one way fishermen lose their fish. I’ve seen fish within a couple of feet of anglers when the fish have gotten off for the sole reason of the drag. The extremely loud lamentations of the fishermen were such that dock workers of merchant mariners would turn red with embarrassment. No one should ever lose fish due to the drag, and believe it or not, it might actually be one of the easiest things to take care of when storing or preparing gear. Fishing in the freshwater environment actually gives an advantage of latitude when it comes to the care of the drag. If the reel gets wet then the drag will largely be unaffected, but that is not the same in the marine environment. To trouble shoot the drag, twist the spool or pull on the fishing line through the guide of the reel. If the drag works intermittently and grabs the line then you can count on it seizing in the field. In this case the reel should be taken apart, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled. If the drag is too loose then it should be reset to one-third the line test and that can be tested by tying up the rod to a scale and doorknob. If the test of the line is ten-pounds then the drag should be set to three-pounds for the best all around tension. This same kind of thinking can be applied to any test of line; just be sure to tighten the drag to a third of the line capability. If the drag is too tight then the same drag setting procedure should be applied if it’s too loose.
Every one of these reel dilemmas has happened to many fishermen. Ironically, all the problems that arise from them can be avoided with a little time and care. Steelheaders this time of the year face a barrage of problems associated with getting to the great outdoors and getting fish on the hook Issues are going to arise making each trip harder than fishing during any other season, but the troubles that come along with a fishing reel have no place in the field. The very first time you lose a fish due to a lack of attention to the reel and you’ll know what I’m talking about. To those unfortunate anglers who know the pain of losing steelies to these problems will now know what to do for future reference. The Reel Deal doesn’t have to be a problem for you and once you’ve taken the time to critique your fishing gear go out in the field and watch how many times these avoidable issues come up, you might be surprised at just how often it does. At the very least, you can sit back and quietly have a laugh or two.