I was reading some responses to the thread on broken rods and saw the term high sticking a number of times. I’d never heard the term. What does it mean?

It’s basically the angle of the rod when you are lifting the fish. The high angle puts all of the weight on the tip and not the spine. 

 

Edit: Its more about line position. The closer parallel the line is to the rod the more pressure is put on the tip. Think of it like a crane lifting an object.

That explains why I’d never heard it. 

Except for some really small bass, I’ve never lifted fish with the rod. I cringe every time i see a pro do it. 

Doesn't have to be a fish....I've broken two in the last several years high sticking snags.  Not my proudest moments

The rod is point straight up, the rod tip is bent straight down = 180 degree bend braking the rod.

Tom

19 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Doesn't have to be a fish....I've broken two in the last several years high sticking snags.  Not my proudest moments

You have to be careful with the snags. If you can't just shake it out you only have two choices in the end. Go and retrieve it or grab the line and pull it out or snap the line. I kayak fish so it's more or less go and retrieve it if I can't shake it out. I don't get the leverage a person would have on a bass boat or fishing from shore. I've caught a couple of bass on the shake it out method. I guess the shaking fooled them and they thought a bird landed on the branch and dropped it's lunch. Nice rush when you go from snag to fish in a matter of a couple of seconds.

20 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Doesn't have to be a fish....I've broken two in the last several years high sticking snags.  Not my proudest moments

 

1 hour ago, kenmitch said:

You have to be careful with the snags. If you can't just shake it out you only have two choices in the end. Go and retrieve it or grab the line and pull it out or snap the line. I kayak fish so it's more or less go and retrieve it if I can't shake it out. I don't get the leverage a person would have on a bass boat or fishing from shore. I've caught a couple of bass on the shake it out method. I guess the shaking fooled them and they thought a bird landed on the branch and dropped it's lunch. Nice rush when you go from snag to fish in a matter of a couple of seconds.

 

Being fairly new to kayak fishing I'm afraid I'm going to break a rod trying to undo a snag. I find myself high sticking and yanking more often, mostly out of frustration. I really need to calm down and just paddle over and try to remove the snag by hand.

1 minute ago, TBAG said:

 

 

Being fairly new to kayak fishing I'm afraid I'm going to break a rod trying to undo a snag. I find myself high sticking and yanking more often, mostly out of frustration. I really need to calm down and just paddle over and try to remove the snag by hand.

Yep.  Mental state can have a lot to do with how well your rods survive various 'challenges'...lol.  The two experiences I referenced above were both hot-headed.  The first was from shore with a relatively new rod that I disliked right out the gate, fishing an area where I was getting hung every cast.  The second was a brand new rod that shouldn't have broke despite my 'abuse', and was replaced by mfr immediately. 

   These are indispensable to kayak (and boat) fishing around any wood:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-UGLY-Plug-Knocker-Fishing-Lure-Retriever-Quick-Easy-To-Use-NEW-IMPROVED

 

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

Yep.  Mental state can have a lot to do with how well your rods survive various 'challenges'...lol.  The two experiences I referenced above were both hot-headed.  The first was from shore with a relatively new rod that I disliked right out the gate, fishing an area where I was getting hung every cast.  The second was a brand new rod that shouldn't have broke despite my 'abuse', and was replaced by mfr immediately. 

   These are indispensable to kayak (and boat) fishing around any wood:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-UGLY-Plug-Knocker-Fishing-Lure-Retriever-Quick-Easy-To-Use-NEW-IMPROVED

 

 

Thanks for the link, just ordered a few.

1 hour ago, TBAG said:

 

 

Being fairly new to kayak fishing I'm afraid I'm going to break a rod trying to undo a snag. I find myself high sticking and yanking more often, mostly out of frustration. I really need to calm down and just paddle over and try to remove the snag by hand.

You ain't no real fishermen till you break a few rods high sticking ?

2 hours ago, TBAG said:

 

 

Being fairly new to kayak fishing I'm afraid I'm going to break a rod trying to undo a snag. I find myself high sticking and yanking more often, mostly out of frustration. I really need to calm down and just paddle over and try to remove the snag by hand.

I use 30lb braid and throw lipless most of time. There's so much recently flooded cover I don't even set the hook in a lot of the areas when I feel a thump in fear of another snag. Most of the time it'll shake out on the way over or easily pull out once there. Never lost a bigger bass this way, but the smaller fiesty ones sometimes do get away.

A pretty good explanation.....  Audio is not the best though.

 

 

A lot of people break their rods while high sticking, especially graphite rods. I have never broken a rod on a fish since I do not do exaggerated hook sets or high stick a with a graphite rod. I have caught plenty of big bass from heavy aquatic vegetation so I know from personal experience you do not need to break a rod on a big fish if you know what you are doing.

Since we are on this subject. I just received the rod today from eBay. the package got damage in two places but the rod seem to have no sign of visual damage. What would you do?