losing fish when they jump out of water

[wiperhunter2]

Although it is cool watching those bass jump out of the water on the hook set, it is a good way to lose almost any fish. It gives the fish an advantage because of the momentary slack in the line. I'm not sure if you have ever noticed this but tournament bass fisherman try not to horse their fish in, they reel them in as fast as possible. This is hard to do with big fish but the way I do it is keep my rod tip down, close to the water and reel at a steady retrieve speed. When I see the fish coming to the surface, I slow the retrieve down and sometimes even put the rod tip in the water. Of course this will not work every time but it seems to help, imo.
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