Thread: long lining

I'm new at long lining but did well this past weekend. Not knowing the depth my jig was running was my biggest concern, but I took the guess work out of knowing my depth by knowing what my line out was. I used the Depth Hunter braid line in a 20/6. That's 20lb test and 6lb diameter. I put a 6' leader on a very small barrel swivel at the end of my braid. With the Depth Hunter line I know how much line is in the water. The Depth Hunter line changes color every 25', and it has 5' marks in every color so I know exactly how much line is out Every Time. I cast my poles out as far as I could and then adjusted the line out in the water. I used a single 1/8th jig and I pulled Stroll R's, Southern Pro Hot Grubs, and Slick Jig mid spins, and I went 1 mph. I adjusted the line out until I started catching fish. When I knew how much line was out to catch fish, I copied that on all of my poles. Remember, line out is amount of line in the water, not off the reel. With my colored braid, I could see where it touched the water, and how many 5' tick marks were out as well regardless of the pole length. You will have a lot more line off the reel on a 16' pole than you will an 8' pole. It's only the line in the water that really matters to your depth.

It worked like a charm. The line made it easy to know what I was doing. In swallower water, just change to a lighter jig or put less line out. For deeper water use a larger jig or more line out. You can also adjust your speed up or down to control your depth.

Summary:
If you see fish at a certain depth, adjust your line out until you start catching fish. When you start catching fish, you'll know about how deep the jig is running in relation to that jig size, the amount of line you have IN THE WATER, and the speed you're going. I used the KISS method. Keep It Simple Stupid!!!