Tighten that drag!

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 Fishing with friends can create some of the most amazing stories that you can repeat

over and over at any function or get together until the end of time. Some of the hardest

belly laughs I’ve ever experienced have come from telling the same crazy story over to

people that were there to begin with! One of our fishing trips to Destin, FL a few years back

comes to mind. A group of us friends have this annual fishing trip where we stay a few

days and fish and enjoy each other’s company. Me, Tony and John, get all of our gear

set up the night before and stay up way too late telling past stories and sharing big

dreams about what we are gonna catch in the morning. Well, the morning came and it

popped up fast. We jump in the ride with our coffees and we drive to the boat slip.

       

         We really got into the fish this day. The snapper season was open so we limited out on

them, but we caught a nice assortment of some really delicious fish. Now, Tony and I

have done our fair share of saltwater fishing. John on the other hand, was more of a top

water bass fishing kind of guy. Even a novice fisherman has a good understanding of

the drag system on a fishing reel. You tighten the drag; the line gets harder to pull out.

You loosen the drag and the opposite happens. I was hooked into a monster. It had one of

our bigger rods bent into a U shape. I was having a tough time turning this fish or

keeping it away from the shipwreck on the bottom we were fishing. But, before I could

lose him, John quickly came over to “help me out” and tightened my drag and.... the fish

broke off. His intentions were good, but man did he feel terrible about what happened. I

told him no big deal it was probably the biggest fish I’ve ever had on. For the rest of the

trip we reminded him every time we were out fishing, to “tighten that drag, John."

Comments

  1. Drag tightnerJune 22, 2024 at 2:18 PM

    I did and still do feel horrible. I thought we were pulling bass from lily pads. I hope one day we can get back at it and I'm going to go to the other side of the boat and watch you work.

    ReplyDelete

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