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Should he be a stubborn fish and elect to go into the weed beds despite your slack line, give him five minutes to back out. If he doesn't, slowly put on some pressure and relax the tension again. After two attempts, one such fish obligingly backed out of a muskrat hole for me. But should your fish not perform the third time, you'll have to begin balancing up whether his size justifies wasting any more good fishing time. There will come the time, of course, when you will hook into the outlaw, the fish who will not be stopped while his heart beats. When you hook such a fish, let him go, following as best you can with your rod high in the air and hi-yi yipping, enjoying your good fortune while you have it. As the spool cleans, you'll be thankful for that 99-per-cent knot which holds the end of your 4-pound line to the spool. The best you can do is hope the knot will hold and that the line will part in the knot nearest the fish. If not, well, wasn't it worth being cleaned by a rip-snorting outlaw who simply would not be stopped? Besides, that is why you carry two extra full spools whenever you go where there are big fish stirring. Thoroughly exhaust your big fish before trying to bring him to hand. Take the few more minutes to wear him down completely. Many a partially exhausted big fish has gained his freedom at the landing: few weak ones.
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