They're generally tiring to cast hour after hour, but there's no getting around them. When the fish routinely run 30 to 60 pounds in moving water, like the Kings do, why would you want anything less. In larger waters for fresher fish, a 10 wt. Most rods in these larger weights have fighting butts which provides the angler more leverage while fighting the larger fish. Shortly after moving to Alaska, I found myself in the middle of a fabulous run of Chum salmon.
Chums are large aggressive bulldogs that strike savagely and fight relentlessly.
I was fishing an admittedly undersized Lamson that performed okay for a few days, but eventually had a drag failure. The drag would work momentarily, then release and spin freely. In an attempt to control the spool, my knuckles and fingers were getting battered by the handle of the reel, and by the end of the trip I could barely fish, and was almost discouraged to continue subjecting myself the punishment those Chum were inflicting upon me. It was then that I realized I needed a drag system built for fish that were intent on taking my fly back to the ocean, and had the horsepower to do it. Several manufacturers are building high quality reels with standard and large arbor spools or anti-reverse actions that are ideally suited for the biggest of Alaska gamefish.