Originally Posted by
CrappiePappy
Retrieve speed & reel "speed" DO affect the depth on a steady retrieve. That's why many use the countdown method to get the bait down to a certain depth before starting the retrieve (if they maintain the same retrieve speed). The same effect can be made by slowing down your retrieve speed. They're just two means to the same end.
* reel speed = the ratio at which line is returned to the spool per each turn of the reel handle. How full the reel's spool is will also affect retrieve speed. Size of the reel spool is also a factor.
I hold my rod at about the 10:00 position when retrieving a jig, so yes the line would resemble a play yard slide. I'm also using hi-vis line. Both play a part in bite detection. I can see the line under most all lighting conditions, due to the hi-vis coloration ... and I can see the line movement, indicating a bite, more easily due to the length of line above the water. My rod is also in a position to set the hook, with less arm lifting movement than if the rod were pointed down towards the water. That play yard slide "slack" also does a few other things. It allows the fish to engulf the jig without feeling resistance from the rod tip, while still allowing the bite to be seen AND felt. If you have a fairly sensitive rod, the weight of the line from rod tip to water is enough to transmit the tic or thump of a fish inhaling the bait ... and if not, you can still see line movement to indicate that bite.
Personally, I'd rather SEE the bite (line jump/go slack), than I would to FEEL the bite ... simply because when I feel the bite I know the fish can also feel the rod. And if the fish isn't totally committed to having my bait, that resistance from the rod can cause the fish to spit the bait back out ... which they can do in less than 1/3 the time it takes you to react with a hookset.
My normal cast is about 40' ... and I take approx 30-35sec's to retrieve the bait back ... which means the bait is being retrieved at ~10" per second (or 0.56mph) ... which is about 2sec's per handle turn on my reel. My reel retrieves at about 20" per each handle turn.
The deepest depth my 1/16oz jig will go at that speed is about 8ft deep (if I start my retrieve when bait hits water). And the jig is not coming back to me in a straight line, but actually slowly falling in depth, until it reaches that 8ft depth, then starts to slowly rise towards the rod tip.
When I'm pushing jigs with my 14' rods ... I generally move between 0.6-0.8mph. When people longline troll, they generally move at around 1mph. And when people push/pull cranbaits, they generally move at around 1.8mph. Whereas Spider Riggers generally move at less than 0.4mph. So my casting retrieve speed is faster than a Spider Rigger, but slightly slower than a Jig Pusher.
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