Rich,

I relax. The hard part was fishing for however long it took before hooking the pig. What I mean is that I relax mentally, not physically. On the physical side, I try to sink the steel and then maintain a severe bend in my rod and let it do its work to tire out the beast. As Silver Hilton mentioned, it's hard, if not impossible, to break 8# Maxima with a bend in most common steelhead rods. For that reason, 8# Max has been my tippet of choice, except on the Thompson River, for over 25 years. With a deep bend in my rod, that fish will eventually tire out or pull free. And putting a lot of stick to him tires him out sooner rather than later. Works for me.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.