I've got lost fish on my mind this week because of a really hot fish I lost on the Nehalem last week. Long story short: After 3 nice natives on spinning gear, I decided to try for one on the fly, which I do occasionally for winters. I waded out as far as I could to be able to cast to a likely looking seam. I was casting, stripping more and more line to extend my range/coverage of the seam. The fish hit hard and headed down the rapid. I had my drag set loose (for stripping line) and had to palm the reel. After 5 - 10 sec., I was losing control (and my hand was getting whacked by the handle as the fish peeled line) so I tightened the drag. 5 seconds later, the fish was gone....it had straightened the hook out........*^%E$^#@#@$#@&$((%^($#@#%$!!!!!!!, I gently said to the fish and my buddy!

Question: Should I have had the drag set for the fish while casting/stripping line? Do you think it would've made a difference? Isn't that tiring and bad for the reel? When I checked the drag on my 8 wt after seeing that the hook had straightened out, it had only moderate tension on it. This was a hot fish ~ 12 - 14 pounds in fast water.