"Bob" wrote

Do you wait until you have a real large sized trout on before "playing
him"
off the reel, some ? How large ?



I find "the fight" boring and just want to get it over with smaller fish.
I often give them some slack and hope they shake off. If they don't I hand
strip them in quickly and try to get the hook twisted out while they are
still in the water, usually the slack water in my lee as I wade.

Big fish can be "fun" to fight, i.e. it can be a real challenge without a
certain outcome. In those cases I still try to get the fish in and
released ASAP but it will require getting the fish on the reel, trying to
keep him off balance with pressure from varying angles, and moving with him
to keep a short, move controllable line. All the pressure my tackle can
handle is used, I'd rather lose one to a broken tippet than stress him too
much, but 5X will stand one hell of a pull these days. And I try to use
any advantage of terrain I can spot, certainly avoid letting the fish go
where he thinks is a good battleground. For example, I like the last part
of the fight to be in slack water so that the fish can't use current to her
advantage.

In no case, big, little, or in between, do I "play them longer" for "the
fun of it" Get 'em in and released as fast as you can, the fish will let
you know if you need the reel as line goes zinging through your hand, and
you dance with the excess you lazily let dangle at your feet. g The
definition of big fish is one where "landing ASAP" is still after a long,
uncertain, fight, often a 16" fish will have more spunk than a 20" Another
definition? I am often happy to see a small fish get off, I can't remember
having that emotion when a big one beat me G

One last note. I often fail to do this, but never fail to gain when I do.
Fish for ALL fish like they were trophy fish. It develops good habits, like
planning the approach and scouting likely escape routes your fish will try,
before the cast, and NOT having excess line tangled round your feet. :-)