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[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by macojoe

I was talking to CB the other day and we thought it was time for a forum that we can share fishing tips, rig's, kind of rods, reels, ect, ect.. to help each other out with repairs or getting new gear.
So what do you guys have??

Great idea, MJ...

Most of the striper fishing we do in these huge reservoirs here is live-baiting blueback herring...the standard set consists of four free-lines, 2 of which are straight out the back of the boat and 2 more on side-planners that carry their free-lines well outside the boat's width...then two more lines down, meaning about a 4-5" leader under a 1 1/2 oz barrel weight...all pull along SLOWLY w/your electric trolling motor...when they're on, they hit the above like a freight train many times running the free- lines to the top to crash them there...

The most used reel for this is w/out question the Abu Garcia 6500 wide Spool....the guides use what I call a "buggy whip" for a rod saying the fish feels the resistance of a stiffer rod...the fish I'm after hit and are hooked immediately and pulling off line just as quickly...getting into a feeling contest w/a fish sounds like a losing proposition to me...

So we usually are pulling 6-8 lines at a time along the points and back in the coves and many times we find feeding fish out in open water...

Spring cut-baiting rigs are the down lines described above, boat double-anchored fore and aft w/as many as 12 or more lines w/fresh cut herring tossed out on a clear bottom...some die-hards will put out as many as 24 lines this way, but that's just too many for me...if I ain't gonna get em w/12 lines in the water scattered on the bottom around the boat...I juss ain't gonna get em...that method can turn into a Chinese Fire Drill when they move in on the chum you've tossed out...Yee Haaa!!...

Here's Mike putting out a winter time line while free lining...

Here's another cold weather free lining trip...lotta rods out and sometimes ya gotta work at it to keep them apart, but the result is all worth it...

Above you can see 6 rods...4 are free lines(w/2 on side planers) and 2 are down...there are 2 more down lines just forward of the windshield which makes the V20 work REEL well cuz w/the slider pushed forward, the rods up there are w/in easy reach...the 6500s are the perfect reel for this type of live-lining...we mount 'em on 7' rods...I'm down to 12 of these rigs days...





Note...the two pics above are of an '84 (top) and a '74(below)...close look reveals lots of differences...I loved that old '74, but w/the pedistal seating in the '84 the ability to move the bait tank to midship instead of all the way back up against the splashwell is a REEL bonus!!...moves a LOTTA weight forward some, plus allows crossing the cockpit closer to the stern...better when playin' a good fish fo sho!!...