Free Spooling

[HugoBox]

I was reading RK's book (which is pretty darn good) last night and in the section on triggering strikes they talk about free-spooling and using your thumb as you start the "L" at boatside. I never knew about the free spooling part before and am anxious to try it. I'm not the most gifted or coordinated ahtlete on the muskie waters so I'm wondering if you simultaeously hit the release or thumb bar and get on the spool with the thumb on your "reeling hand." I just picture myself screwing up on a big fish and ending up with a mess in my reel. I thought about practicing in the bathtub but then my otherwise very understanding better half would surely have me committed!!

[polarsusd81]

I think it is probably best if you hit the release with your rod hand. Switching is going to be tough, and if you have one nail it boatside, you want your reeling hand on the reel cause she is gonna pull drag, and you certainly don't want to be switching back and forth while fighting a fish. Holding the line with your non casting thumb, if that is what you are getting at should not be a problem. Just takes some practice.

[TMF89]

What are you guys talking about? I've never heard Free Spooling.

[polarsusd81]

I believe the intent behind free spooling is to not wear out the drag on your reel. By using your thumb as the drag for that initial hit, you can reduce some of the shock that happens with the rod, reel, line, leader, the whole works. A lot of people will just go about normally, but if you get in the practice of it, it can be pretty cool.

[Cooter]

You want your thumb on the spool before going into free spool. You basically stop reeling, thumb the spool, and then go to free spool. You want to do this when you have the proper amount of line out for your L turn and figure 8 or loop. Most guys have drags set tight for a good hookset, which is necessary if you get a hit at the beginning of a long cast. If you hookup at boatside though that tight drag and close quarters often tears hooks out. Free spooling/thumbing hopefully prevents this.

[cjac]

 Quote:

If you hookup at boatside though that tight drag and close quarters often tears hooks out.

It can darn near tear rotator cuffs out of your shoulders too!

I free-spool it on every cast, I actually had to think about it first, it's that habitual for me now. I reel up to a point of having about a foot or so of line off the leader meeting the tip and start the L-turn or figure 8 and go to free.

I had an upper 30's inch fish hit like a freight train on the 8 this Fall, on the port side of the bow, going from left to right. Had I not free-spooled I would have had the fish nose into the trolling motor shaft and blade on a 2 foot leash. Free spooling I was able to let it swim out of that "danger" zone and off the bow and give me a little line to work with, and to catch my breath. Not a big fish, relatively speaking, but still a lot of torque in hand.

No matter the size, watching that fish eat at your feet is a rush, if that's ever gone, like I've said before, time for the cjac garage sale........

Still, nice to have the "plan in place" just in case it was an upper 40's fish, or bigger.......

[MUSKY18]

I always use the freespool whenever I hook a fish. As soon as I set the hook and get the fish close to the boat, I will start. Anytime the fish turns and makes a run. I think it is easier to control the amount of tension/drag on the line with your thumb on the spool. I know that I can create more drag with my thumb than with the reels drag if needed, also works in the opposite way. You can give the fish some line without it having to pull hard against the drag. I just feel you can control a fish much easier this way.

[10,000 Casts]

You guys ever had a reel that woudn't free spool because there was to much tension? My Trions just plain won't disingauge when there is any pressure on the line. Cheap reels I suppose.

I learned the hard way about 4 years ago on Bemidji...

[MUSKY18]

Have had trouble getting reels to go into free spool if there is alot of tension. Have to try to get a little slack to enable the button to be engaged for freespool. Can be tough at times...

[HugoBox]

I can imagine this is especially important at night. My first night fish hit at boatside in an "L" last year and fortunately for me the rod was a fairly light flippin' stick so it absorbed a lot of the shock but now that I know about free spooling I'm anxious to try it.