Controversial opinion: Use the rod/reel/line for 95% of the fish you catch

[boon]

Over the last few years, aside from a few exceptions, my "quiver" of rods and reels has got lighter and lighter. Currently my go-to inshore saltwater rods are spooled with 20lb braid, and I am increasingly using 15lb braid.

I totally understand the dream of catching a monster, the "what if" proposal, and the resulting logic of using relatively heavy gear for the type of fishing you are doing, but I have come to realise that if you use equipment that is more appropriate for 95% of the fish you catch, you will have more fun, catch more fish, and become a better angler at the same time. It has been a very, very long time since I lost a fish where I could categorically state I would probably have landed it on heavier gear. With good knots, good line, good drags, and good technique you can put a surprising amount of pull on 20lb tackle; certainly enough to land even the majority of those "5%er" fish.

Lighter line means more capacity, so you can use a smaller reel. It means less drag in the water, so you can use less weight, and the net result of all of this is more natural presentation of your bait/lure/whatever, leading to more bites.

You also have more fun! If it's a slow bite and every fish you do hook you just skull-drag to the boat it does take some of the fun out of it, unless you're just out there meat-harvesting. Most of the fish I catch will pull drag and take line; except for some very specific circumstances there's nothing wrong with letting a fish run a bit. If you're never losing line, chances are you're way over-gunned for the situation.

The rods and reels are also much more ergonomic and a pleasure to fish with. I personally believe that due to the overall improved ergonomics of rods and reels it has now become feasible to fish 100lb setups fairly routinely, resulting in a lot more "what if" type setups being dangled from the side of boats. I see people online these days recommending 100lb setups for people expecting to catch 100lb YFT............

I'm not saying I'm not guilty of this too, but I have noticed lately that my "elephant guns" are my most expensive rods yet they seem to spend the most time in the rocket launcher, or even at home, rather than in my hand being fished with.

The exception to this is where you are going into battle knowingly undergunned for the majority of fish. I don't like the idea of leaving a fish swimming around with a hook in its face, or especially trailing hundreds of metres of mono or braid.

[Dominick]

I don't think this opinion is controversial.  Whatever works for you is the right way.  Dominick

[boon]

Whatever works for you is the right way.

I certainly agree with the concept, but fish are dumb and even some provably bad ideas will occasionally catch them 

[Cuttyhunker]

What he^^^^^^says

[akfish]

My only qualification is this: If you are fishing catch and release, it is best to use heavy tackle so you can get the fish in quickly with a better chance to survive release. In my part of the world, this is especially true with coho salmon. They are the most fragile of all salmon and very rarely survive catch and release. Personally, I catch only as many cohos as I want to keep.

[oldmanjoe]

    I am a lite tackle fisher man , this only works when you fish by your self or with others that can do the boat dance .    Can`t do this on a party boat ...

[Alto Mare]

There isn't anything controversial on what you're saying, everyone is entitle to their opinion.

Dominick said it best, use what works for you.

Sal

[MarkT]

Whatever works for you is the right way.

I certainly agree with the concept, but fish are dumb and even some provably bad ideas will occasionally catch them 

Yeah, fish are dumb. But fish, like most of us, would get into less trouble if they kept their mouth shut. Fortunately for us, fish don't have hands!

There was a time I was using lighter and lighter rigs. These days I use heavier rigs with short leaders and still get as many as going light. 50# spectra is the diameter of 12# mono so I usually don't go any lighter than that for my main line. It's a whole lot easier to tie knots in than 30# spectra too!

[Benni3]

Hehe,,,, when I was 19 a marlin spooled me on a 80wt at almost full drag  And being out gunned ,,,even on rainbow trout,,,,burned up a 20/0 senator   but fighting smaller fish on big gear is difficult and line dia is a big deal   M'as o menus ,,,,that is the question  

[bhale1]

As someone who spent a lot of my time flyfishing, I couldn't agree more with your concept! I too, have felt like I'm sometimes oversizing gear,just in case the "big" one comes along. That is one of the main reasons I joined this site! I need to make sure whatever I'm using at the moment is functioning at its best! And, I do believe you get bit more often with lighter tackle.(I'm talking fishing in general, not wide open bites)...
But, that being said, you can still get a lot of stares as you fight a fish to long and chase it around a "party" boat because you wanted to use light gear ....But I still go light everywhere else!
Brett

[Cor]

For the type of fishing I do it is just not possible to fish light.    I would loose 70% of the fish I hook to structure or predators.
Yellowtail are also totally unpredictable and where one is easy to land the next smaller one works the angler over.

What Is interesting is that we've seen a huge expansion of "new anglers" to this sport and often they fish much lighter then the older guys do and manage to land some fish which I would never have believed possible in the past.
Another point is that often, if you do not put to much pressure on a Yellowtail, he does not pull nearly as hard as he is capable of, perhaps this has something to do with it.

[Ron Jones]

I love light gear, it is how I was taught to fish; BUT, in a prolonged bite with powerful fish, heavy gear will keep you in the fight when you don't have the smoke for the light stuff.
The Man

[oc1]

I agree with you 100% boon.  You expressed the best I have ever heard.  Thank you very much.
-steve

[Gfish]

Yup.
But it doesn't work well in a crowd. I've had to zero-in my focus with a salmon & 10 lb. spinning rig on a crowded riverbank, with all the stares, comments and un-asked for advice: "stop playin around and land it so we can fish". These type a comments from guys using 20 lb., bottom bait rigs, that had not, and probably weren't gonna, hook-up.

I really think my chances for more hook-ups and fun are with lighter, finesse oriented tackle. However, it's definitely not fair to others ona charter, where you can't get away from their rigs. With the above mentioned salmon, I hooked him while fishing by myself, in faster water down in the tail-out section of the run. Could I help it if he headed upstream?(luckily for me). Stop him? Not for awhile. Land him? Eventually. The point being, I hooked him. And that's been my experience(perception?); lighter rigs get bit more.
Maybe it's harder for the fish to see the line n' hooks, etc.?
Looks diffrent than the other stuff they're seeing too much of? More fishing energy put into my presentation, cause of the ease of using light weight tackle?...

[steelfish]

For the type of fishing I do it is just not possible to fish light.    I would loose 70% of the fish I hook to structure or predators.
Yellowtail are also totally unpredictable and where one is easy to land the next smaller one works the angler over.

few years back I was all about fishing light gear, like curado 200 with bass rods and 20# braid and sometimes 15#, my heavy reels were the calcutta 400TE with 50# braid on a musky rod, and certanly those combos still have a place in my arsenal, but there are zones where is not possible to use that kind of light gear, shallow waters with rocky bottoms and angry groupers and yellowtails that run for the safe of structure as soon as the bite your lure, 50# braid is cut like butter with a hot knife when it barely touch any rock at the bottom, short mono leaders dont work either on those zones, so the answer is to keep the fishing still fun and sporty is to find gear that is light enough to have fun but strong enough to stop those 20-30 or 40# angry fish from their safe zone.
new rod technologies have rods capable really thin and light that are able to work with the new breed of strong reels like talicas, makairas, penn torque, etc which are small in size 2-speed but strong but 50#, 80# and 100# braid is recommended mostly for abrassion purposes than for stopping power.
so, mostly depend on your fishing style, fish targeted and fishing zone, you dont want to lost 5-6 $25 lures on every trip "just" to keep the fish fun and sporty, not good for the wallet but 3x worst for the fish to swim with a 5" 4oz lure attached to both lips.

if I know that I wont be fishing in shallow waters where those YT and groupers are present, I tend to use low profile reels like the komodo 364 with light inshore rods with 50# braid, with light drag, even a 3# fish take line on the first run and my biggest reel is the penn 320gti with 50# braid with 40# mono long leader.

fishing from the shore Im totally like Boon said, I use small spinning reels with 15# braid or 20#braid to cast small 1/4oz lure or 3/4oz max, but Im 100% sure the biggest fish will be a 6# with some luck, mostly 3-4# spotted bay bass, triggerfish, croakers and corvinas.