To understand why Joe took so long to land that striper we need to place ourselves in the same time period and place. Joe fished much of the early part of his life with bamboo rods. Anyone who has fought big saltwater fish with bamboo knows that it really deforms the rods, putting a serious curve in them. To straighten the rod we would attach it for a few days to a warm pipe that fed steam to a radiator used to heat our home.
This is one reason that Joe took so long. Bamboo taught you not to place too much strain on the rod when fighting a fish. When fiberglass came along Joe at first applied this fighting technique to what he always knew.
It was mainly the Florida Keys and S. Florida guys who began to understand, and came up with a different way to fight fish, after they started battling large tarpon. It was Stu Apte, Al Pflueger, Keys guides and a host of really great anglers who were members of the various light tackle and fly fishing clubs in South Florida who pioneered this method - commonly referred to as "Down and Dirty".
Another group perfecting how to fight big fish with fly tackle were the early Californians who went to the Casa Mar tarpon camp in Cost Rica and battled big tarpon on the swift Rio Colorado.
It is also important to know rod manufacturers and designers had not previously been called upon to design rods to fight big fish. I have a wonderful photo taken at Casa Mar of the great fly fisherman Ed Given with a huge smile on his face, holding up a stout rod broken in the butt section, that was “designed’ to fight big fish. The manufacturer quickly modified it. With most early glass rods NO ONE could have quickly landed big fish simply because few rods were designed to take the pressure we are now apply to our modern sticks.
It is also important to understand that Dupont invented Nylon in 1945 and this material and the knots we tied with it were often atrocious. Copolymers that we routinely accept today in our nylon have been greatly improved; they now incorporate abrasion resistance, knot strength and other characteristics we need to fight and land big fish quickly.
Add to that the fly fishermen of that era had knowledge of only a few knots to use in pursuit of big fish. The Bimini Twist was an offshore knot that helped us revolutionize early big fish fly fishing and fish-fighting. at the time it was called a Twenty Times Around Knot. The Albright and a host of other knots that have been used for decades and improved upon, did not exist until rather late in Joe’s career.
I could cite other reasons but don’t want to make this too long. I would guess that most modern fly fishermen who now question the long time Joe took to land a 29 pound striper, with the knowledge existing then, would have taken as long or longer.
You young guys can’t believe how lucky you are to have the superb rods, reels, line, mono, and yes, all the books, DVD’s, and bulletin boards like Dan’s and clubs willing to share techniques and knowledge; and I glad you have been so enriched.
Lefty Kreh
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