Randy - the reality when you hook on to a beast of this size is that the angler can only grit their teeth and hang on for dear life. You have almost no control at all over the fish and all you can do is try to get into that low almost squatting position and hope that the fish doesn't pull out of that stance. This is where your drag rating really becomes a trade-off. Too tight and the fish will almost certainly pull you out of your stance and too little and it will simply pull enough line off to cut you off somewhere. Of course, if you weigh 120kgs and are strong as hell, you may be able to hang on and keep some control.
I cannot even imagine how strong an 80kg fish would be but in a straight pull against a 50 kg fish, I am in deep trouble. My experence is I can handle fish up to around the 35kg and keep my dignity impact. Any bigger and the fish will dish out as much as it gets from me.
If you came along, you would see carnage - but primarily on the anglers and their gear, not the fish!!
