There are two types of fights with big fish. First of all there are those fish that go like hell.
I call them the greyhounds.
Amongst the species I list here are fit rainbow trout, tigerfish, medium sized barbel, small mouth bass, bonefish and some esturine and saltwater fish I have caught. On being hooked they take off in a long very fast run and then will often jump high in the air shaking their heads. Some species can cover 100 yards in seconds.
Often, you cannot stop these fish. You must let them run and at the same time keep the rod as high as possible to keep as much line out of the water as possible. Get it wrong and the initial inertia plus line drag will often break the line with a crack like a gunshot. Even 15 pound line can be smashed.
Such fights don't last all that long. The fish tires itself out very quickly, but watch that fish when you get it under your rod tip. It will often give a final plunge with devastating results.
Attempting to backwind such species is folly indeed.
Then you get the sloggers.
These are fish such as pike, carp, tench, catfish, big barbel and some species of sea fish.
Here you must use as much pressure as possible. Fish such as sharp tooth catfish and Vundu can slog away for a long time- hours even. There is only one way to beat these fish and that is by appying a great deal of pressure. They must be made to fight for every inch of line they take.
You need strong arms, a shortish flexible yet powerful rod and preferably a multiplying reel.
Such fish eventually succombe to heavy pressure from directly above.
A boat helps.
I have hooked catfish from the shore that have been almost impossible to beat, yet from a boat they have been quite easy.
Again you must refrain from wanting to backwind. An applied steady drag from a correctly set clutch with finger pressure will beat the fish much qicker than backwinding where you have very little control.
A fighting drag helps a great deal.