Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:

I agree with Rob Storm on this one. There's plenty of thumbs fast enough in
the world, just ask any muskie fisherman. I don't know your definition of
a really big fish, but I typically catch 8 - 10 muskies a year that strike
at the side of the boat.

It's quite simple to stick the fish with a little sideways hookset and
follow the fish down with the rod, releasing the spool with either the thumb
bar or the side mounted button. This then allows the fish to get away from
the boat and you can fight it on a longer line. It doesn't take much to
release enough pressure to allow the reel to be put into freespool.

I know some serious musky guys who hit freespool and jam their thumb
down on the spool as the lure reaches the boat on EVERY cast, just
before they dig the rod tip and figure eight the lure, which they do on
about half the casts, even when they don't see a follower.