Hillbilly Handline fishing

With the rivers looking a little thick and chocolatey it seemed like a great time to try out a new toy I've been playing with. I love watching all those fishing shows where they travel up some jungle river to catch huge fish. And in all those shows they show the natives fishing with a handline that they twirl in a circle and then sling it way out there. Well I tried to make my own. First off I learned if your going to use line as heavy as I did you need a piece of lighter leader. Not so much because of the fish but because if you hang up you cant break it off. Lesson learned, I tied on a piece of 15lb braid stretching from weight to hook and I was in business. The timing of when to let her go wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I ended up with four decent channels and had a blast. Landing one is an experience. With no working drag, they go crazy thrashing around when you hook one. If I try it again I'd replace the main line with really heavy braid. It would cast further than the nylon rope. I'd like to have about a thirty pound leader and hook into a big flathead. I bet it would feel like he was going to pull you in.