bear i have to respectfully disagree, holding a rod at 50# of drag during a run for even 5 seconds is extremely difficult and dangerous. two scenarios 1. your going over, 2. your set up is going over.
i have seen with my own eyes boats in morehead with their teak and fiber glass gunnels ripped to shreads, rod holders ripped right out of the boat when fishing with 45+# of drag.
i believe in putting the hard heat to the fish, but this is an accomplished angler strapped in with a properlly fitting kidney or bucket harness.
i dont care if your arnold in his hayday, no one is stand up fighting with 30# of drag not strapped in for a sustained period. ..
just my opinion.
Zar, we don't disagree. That is my point. I do feel I have the hands of a mason. However, when I "manned up

" (was just playing as we already had our limit)the rod was ripped from my hands in short time.

Big kick to my pride actually.
I do feel I can handle a fish in the 40 to 50# neighborhood with my kidney harness and my gimble if i had too. But I would also need Ack of my father at the wheel to do it confidently. The small boat with the proper gunnel height makes keeping the proper angle easy.
I would never load a customer with that burden though. That would be completly irresponsible.
I did hold it for about 5 secs and that was all.. Had it been a true giant fish I prolly would have lost the rod as the rip was very quick.
I have been expanding on my skills of the recent years and have been trying some different techniques. It has been going well, as the 68 incher we got on our 30 this year, I beleive had Ack surprised. I think alittle pissed when I started away from the fish but once I ran the boat around and pooned the beast he was alittle shocked at the quickness..
What is most important is a properly fitted, high quality gimbal and harness. I have seen the cheap ones, that the rods moves in. They will kill a fisherman quick.
As for durability, I have that. I got a crazy arse 367 Thresher, on a 30 with no harness and a 4 hour fight. Two of us on the boat, and no one touched the rod from the strike till the time I pooned the fish. I just like and feel that unless it is a money fish I prefer to go a bare as I can.. Just what I like.
It makes me no more man and most say it makes me a less smart man, that maybe. But it is what I like.
On my boat we consider angler level and ability and proceed accordingly. By the time I get to reel in a fish I usually am in play mode as fish are already in the boat.
Like the old saying, "hurt and pain is just weakness leaving the body"

But that is a CC guy speaking...
