Quote Originally Posted by redear View Post
redear are powerful fish, make no mistake about that. the best redear fisherman I know uses 10 lb line, two rods that are 8 1/2' long. they are st. croix float and fly rods meant for smallmouth fishing. he uses size 2 eagle claw aberdeen crappie hooks. he had a 2lb plus redear break his 8lb. line at the boat a couple yrs. ago. I use 9-11 foot rods, 6 lb. line and size 2 extra lite aberdeen hooks, so I can get some of them back when snagged. alot of times a redear will have you wrapped around some wood before you can even pick the rod up. this happened to me a couple mos. ago with a 1lb. 12oz. redear, I was lucky to get that fish in. the size 8 hooks are too small for consistent hookup when using 2 redworms on the hook. If the worms are small I'll put more on there. the long rods really help when you get the fish up close to the boat to keep them away from the anchor lines, and also to help keep them out of the wood etc. I always try to wear them down some before bringing them close to the boat, this nixes alot of problems. and when they are close to the boat I'll back off the drag too, because they are gonna lunge for the bottom. you can readjust the drag after you have him in the cooler.
Wow, great post, this is the type of information I was looking for. I'm gradually going towards longer poles, six foot poles and better. I bought two the other day that were six foot, medium and medium light action. I've learned the hard way that those five foot ultra light poles I grew up on really struggle to consistently land these fish. The nine foot pole seems a bit much but again, these rascals are a totally different hookup than most bluegill. It's that final dive at the boat where I lose lots of nice redear, even a good nine inch ear fights like a prize fighter when he sees the boat.

I personally am using four pound test line, but will upgrade to six pound line for next year. I'm also experimenting with several different knots, the palomer and jansik knot in particular. The palomer seems like a great knot and fairly easy to tie.

I spend a lot of time and money chasing these fish and when losing a good one, I feel cheated out of my money. My goal is to land a 1.8-2.0 pounder and have it mounted, but those fish are smart and not caught easily. I know they're out there though, the game warden showed me a picture of a fourteen inch redear caught at the lake I frequent a couple of weeks ago.