backreeling

[Earlybird]

I've read the recent posts on backreeling. I have
just started fishing for walleye, and would appreciate any tips or explination of this technique.

Thanks :)

[Nofish]

LAST EDITED ON May-09-00 AT 09:36PM (CST)[p]Hey Early Bird,

Good question. Back reeling was a way of dealing with a fish when drags on reels were, well, unreliable. Or if you were one of those guys that wrenched the drag down with a pliers to get a good hookset! ;-)

I do still back reel, just a habit I guess. However, with bigger fish I have the ability to let them have some line when I want to, not when the drag does. I use Back reeling to suppliment the drag on the reel. I feel I have more control in this fashion.

I can keep my drag set to the break strength of the line and still give more leeway to a hard surge from a big fish at the side of the boat.

But you have to practice this art, or you will lose fish due to giving up too much line too fast.

As for more tips, here is the most basic. I never take my hand off the reel handle when I backreel. I just spin the handle the other way at whatever speed I select. If you remove your hand from the reel handle, well let's just say two things. Birds nest and lost fish.

Hope this helps........R

[KM]

I would have to say that I am a diehard backreeler with my spinning equipment. I crank the drag all the way down, lock it tight. Baitcasters I would love to do this, however, the higher end equipment does not give you this option.

Basically you control the line given the fish through reeling backwards when the fish runs or moves in a manner where you need to give him line. You are acting as the drag yourself and based on your feel of what the fish is doing, the amount of pressure you want to put on him, and the lb test of your line, you take in or let out line. I feel, as mentioned in the other post, that you have more control over the fish in this manner, however, it is definately a skill which requires practice. I get much more satisfaction landing larger Walleye, 7lb class and up, through this technique.

KM

[JimmyJ]

The best way to learn how to backreel is to go to a lake that has alot of Northerns in it and do nothing but backreel them. You will learn in a hurry. I can't remember loosing (1)fish since I started doing it about 10 years ago. I am being honest here. Once you learn you will want to do nothing else. You set your drag on your spinning reel or baitcaster(if you can find one with anti-reverse)tight and when you hook the fish just flip to anti-reverse. You have way more control over the fish than with any drag, even the best ones. Here is another thing you can do with anti-reverse(I learned this from Marty Glorvigen)
When the eyes are really fussy and your having a hard time getting them to really take the jig or rig. Try backreeling them the bait on a tight line until you feel that second thump. Then ram it home! It might just put a couple more eyes in the boat!! Give it a try, Jim

[RMB]

As good as drags are these days, I wouldn't ever consider NOT backreeling a big fish. Once you learn to master this technique, your odds of landing that "big one" will improve to darn near 100%. Benefits include being able to use much lighter line overall, which will help put more fish in the boat, as well as being in complete control of the ensuing battle. One big negative about drags that a lot of folks don't understand is that every time you turn the handle of your reel while the fish is pulling line out you put line twist in your line. By keeping a loose drag setting, you are almost always going to cause line twist in a short period of time in which case you can ruin a fun outing in a hurry. Also, drag settings are very particular to temperature. As it gets colder. things contract and tighten up, and conversly when it gets warmer it loosens up. All to often, folks forget to adjust their drags throughout the day and then when the "big one" finally hits they are unprepared. With backreeling you never have to worry about this. As the other post mentioned, go out and take on some pike for a day and practice some and good luck to ya! Tight lines always!

[bob oh]

With as good as the drags are on high end reels these days I can't imagine ever back reeling. In the old days when drags were junk sure, but now???? Can't remember last time I lost a fish due to a drag problem. Due to something I did wrong or stupid, sure; due to reel, no!!!
Bob

[Fin Addict]

Glad to see someone out there agrees w/ me. If you have a good reel with a smooth drag it will always keep more consistant pressure on the fish than back reeling. Set the drag to 1/3 the breaking strength of the line and do it w/ a scale until you can have a feel for what this is and you will not have break offs. If you set your drag to the breaking strength of the line as No Fish suggests, you better be able to backreel quickly as you will break off. As for temp affecting drag, if you set it each time you go out and back off the drag when finished so you don't damage the drag plates this will not be an issue for a quality reel. If your drag takes a lot of pressure to get started and then "jerks" out, you either need to repair the reel you have or replace it. The line should peel off silky smooth. Lets face it we are not talking about large fish here. I've used bait larger than the biggest walleye I've ever seen when fishing for Marlin and no I don't backreel marlin either. If you enjoy the art of backreeling, have at it, but realize that with todays equipment it is no longer a necessity.

[RMB]

No offense fin, but this is a "walleye" board. I don't think many of us would ever attempt to backreel a large saltwater fish. As far as temp. changing the drag settings you make a good point, but up here in the northland temp. swings can and do average up to 40 DEG difference from the time you go out in the morning till later in the day and then back the other way again. Usually these times of the year are spring and fall and that is the most likely time that the majority of average fisherfolks will tie into that once in a lifetime fish. Problem is, the average joe doesn't make a habit of changing his drag on a regular basis throughout the day and then when it's needed most it isn't a good situation. Once you learn how to backreel it is really pretty much foolproof. With the failure rate of the majority of todays "average" equipment, I just think that the "average" fisher person can benefit more from learning how to backreel. To each his own obviously, but the joy is in the challenge of the fight for me. Tight lines to ya always!

[Doc (wi)]

Hi Bob, You know I think highly of your opinions but I think you missed a small but significant factor. Even though the quality of the drag systems are so much better, you can still wear a big fish out much more easily by back reeling hands down, if you know what you are doing. When back reeling YOU decide how much rod pressure to put on the fish and the rod angle to the exact degree. No matter how good the drag, it still releases and goes tight based on it's mechanical function, not the will of the person fighting the fish. The best situation in the world to be in when fighting a big fish is to back reel to maintain perfect pressure and rod angle, and point the rod at the fish to let the drag go, free from pressure from the rod, if the fish makes a big run. For those of you who recall, this situation was just covered by Mark Sosin and also some other show in the last few weeks on TNN. I practiced on every fish that I could and even enlisted the help of a friend or my kids to really get the hang of it. It's amazing how well it works on big fish with light tackle and long rods.
See ya around,
Doc

[Earlybird]

I appreciate all the input given. I'm going to practice this technique to add one more skill for
when I get that BIG one!
Do you use a combination of backreeling speed and
rod angle to control the pressure on a fish during
a run? I can understand it will take some practice and feel for each rod weight and reel gear ratio. What is the preferred rod angle?

Thanks,
Earlybird

[KM]

Yes both. Doc's explanation is excellent. Your control over what the fish can and can't do is much quicker, more efficient, and better then what the drag can give.

KM

[RMB]

More often than not you will want to have the rod tip and rod up high with the rod "loaded" so to speak. This will give you extra time to relieve any undo pressure on the line which may come from an unexpected run. It basically buys you that split second needed to backreel off the run. It's important to keep the rod loaded though or else the fish could turn towards you and you might lose all pressure on the fish allowing it to spit or shake the hook. A little practice and you'll do just fine. Good luck!

[Slameye]

I agree. You have a drag on a reel because you don't know when that fish is going to make a sudden run. Unless you can tell the future, it is impossible to predict that a fish will run and then immediatly be able to back reel and keep CONSTANT even pressure. Impossible.