For the second wrap, you have to use the overhand method. That means lifting the fish by pulling your hand up toward your waist with a bent elbow. Then roll your hand upward and over the leader so that the next wrap lies alongside the backhand one you already have on the glove. Try not to pull up past your waist. Your maximum strength comes from your core directly in front of your body and up to your waist. (A martial-arts expert told me once that there are similarities between wiring and hand-to-hand combat in that most of your strength comes from the same zone.)

If at any time during this entire process you feel that your wraps are not right or the fish starts pulling hard enough to straighten out your arms, just open your hand and let the leader come flying off. This is called dumping the leader. As long as your elbows are bent, you are pulling on the fish; as soon as your elbows straighten out, you are just holding on 

Yes, you can hold a lot more pressure than you can pull, but something is apt to break — or worse, you might go over the side. Anytime you dump the leader, you still have the fish on and can usually reach out and get another go at the wire fairly quickly. But if you hold on too long and break the leader, it's over for that fish, and you might as well get back to fishing and try to get another one to save your reputation.

Practice, Practice, Practice
The backhand wrap will be a bit difficult to learn for people who have already learned to take overhand wraps, but I truly think it is worth learning and practicing over and over until it becomes a natural thing to do. If you are fortunate enough to get that real big fish to the boat but can't lift it enough to get an overhand wrap, then you can almost always manage an initial backhand wrap. Once you have the double wrap and can pull the fish toward the boat, you can drop the pinched leader and start the backhand wrap on that hand. Keep the double wrap on one hand until you can get a double wrap on the second hand, in the same manner as you have already done. By doing this from one hand to the other, you bring the fish closer to the boat.

That last bit of distance on the wire can be done differently depending on what type of fish it is. If it is a big billfish, wahoo or dolphin, I try to keep its head in the water until someone places the tag or gaff in the fish. If the head breaks the surface, quite often these species will shake their heads or try to jump and dislodge the hook. Tuna just like to keep swimming down, so as soon as you can break their heads out of the water, they can't dive on you anymore and are toast.

If you practice the proper technique on every fish you catch, even the tiny ones, when the big one finally comes along, you will feel much more confident in your abilities. One thing's for certain: If you like big-game fishing now, just wait until you learn how to handle the leader on big fish — I truly believe you'll grow to love the sport even more.