The harness transfers fight effort onto the angler's hips and back rather than onto the arms and wrist, on long-duration fishing techniques (big-game, carp, catfish). A good harness radically changes comfort on a 20-minute or longer fight, and lets you hold fish that the bare arm cannot tire while staying relaxed.
You will find stand-up harnesses for big-game pelagic fishing (hip + back reinforcements, integrated rod butt), carp harnesses for long fights on a soft sling, shoulder harnesses for medium-heavy fishing (catfish, big pike), quick-clip harnesses for boat fishing, and fight belts (light models for lure fishing, simple handle attachment).
This section is led by Explorer Tackle, complemented by Tailwalk on certain references.