So, last night I was fishing a pool on the cap and hooked into a decent spring. I was fishing a size 4 TT gold and chartuse spinner. (8'6" Okuma sst spinning rod rated 6-12lb with 20lb braid with an 8 pound UG leader). I fought the spring for around 5-6 minutes when it decided to make a hard run towards the tailout and of course the huge rapids below. As the fish was running down the pool, nearing the rapids, I thumbed the spool and applied side pressure as a last ditch attempt to stop and turn around the fish. However, the fish managed to get sucked down the rapids and of course my leader snapped in a heart beat.
I have never had a problem turning around the small coho, but I have never hooked into a spring in this situation so I wasn't sure how to do it with out pre maturely snapping him off.
My question is, what else can I do to prevent a good sized fish (on light tackle) from going down the rapids. Are there any other techniques I can use, so this doesn't occur again?
Thanks