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Thru reading articles, watching videos, and personal experience I've developed a style that I've never seen any body use.
Max lifting power from a fishing rod is with the butt section of the rod perpendicular to the fish. If the fish is way out at 3:00 o'clock the rod should at 12:00. If the fish is straight under the boat 6:00, the rod is at 3:00. Our YT about always end up at 6:00.
I also have a narrow yak so keeping stability is important. Best way to stabilize any boat is to keep a low center of gravity. Also putting down ward force near the bow rather than mid ship helps a great deal.
So cut to the chase. When I get a YT straight up n down I lay my left foot on the gunnel and lay the rod across it. If the bow of the yak is 12 the rod is around 10-11. The rod butt is under my butt or right thigh. Basically as low as the rod can be.
I try not to pump and just let the recoil of the rod do all the lifting. About all I'm doing is turning the handle. The fish never gets a chance to rest and slack never ends up in the line. Further, since part of the rod is under water if the fish dives to the right I don't have to lift the rod around the bow. The fish just pulls the boat back over it self.
My center of gravity is low, down ward force is near the bow, and maximum force is on the fish. To gaff I lift the rod with my left arm, which already on the rod, and gaff with the right. I run my bait rods in the left rod holder, fight on the left, and gaff on the left.
This got longer and more involved than I planned. Hope it helped. Maybe I should just make a video. Mike
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