Thoughts about the Push/Pull technique.......

I know several people that Push jigs/minnows out of the front of the boat and Pull jigs/minnows out of the back. Most that I know Push with shorter rods in the front than what I Pull with, so with that in mind, what are they gaining from that? They are still traveling about the same speed that I troll at. I run 18's, 14's and 10's out of the front and 6 - 8 footers in the back slightly fanned out. I try to have 3-4 feet "lanes" in between my lines to keep any lines from tangling up, or at least keep it to a minimum. Given the length of my longest rods and the width of the front of my boat, that is approximately a 40 foot swash that I am pulling jigs thru. To my way of thinking, if I was pushing out the front with shorter rods, that with narrow my path/swash and my front rods would possibly be "stealing" fish from the back rods.
The set ups I have seen looks something like this. The front rods are weighted down with 1/2-3/4 oz weights and the line is not let out very far. I can see where maintaining the depth you want might be easier. To me, I would still call that Pulling if I was still trolling at .8-1.2 mph. So, with the theory that the front rods may be stealing fish from the front rods (because the shorter rods are going thru the fish before the rear rods are), why not use the longer rods in the front Pulling, or Long Lining, and put the weighted rods in the back. It seems to me that a person could cover a wider swash and increase their chances in getting more bites.
Personally, I Long Line all my rods usually with single or double jigs and sometimes adding a split shot to help get me to the depth I want. Pushing, to me, would be only fishing out the front and fishing at a much slower speed putting the bait in their face for a little bit longer period of time. So, back to my original question....Why is it called the Push/Pull method when to me, it's really Pulling, and what are the advantages to fishing this way? Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying this method is wrong nor that there is anything wrong with it. If it catches fish, that's all that matters. I'm debating in my head why I would want to fish this way. The only answer that I can come up with is Preference. Looking forward to hearing some thoughts on this.

I've only pushed once now and it was with Crankbaits. But a couple of reasons I want to push out of the front with others pulling out of the back. If the wife is fishing with me, less tangled lines when she has a fish on. And pushing out of the front, there is way less line out than pulling. I can see quicker landing of fish besides less battle time with fish meaning less loss of fish. Another plus I can see, as I mostly fish by myself, pushing a jig or crank, as you control the front of the boat near standing timber or brush piles under water, you can get the bait closer to your target without spooking the fish with the boat if short lining up front. Same as spider rigging only with alittle more speed in movement and boat control added to your baits. First time pushing cranks, I caught about as many fish pushing as the person in the back who was pulling. I've been pulling jigs many many years and cranks 7-8 yrs for crappies and pushing Is just another way to enjoy fishing with another technic.

:scratchhead Like cevenas, I fish by myself mostly so I fish from the front whether pulling or pushing sometimes both at the same time...
I find with pushing I havebetter depth control, tighter pattern, high/low movement (serpentine), and easier fish retrieval. But with that said the wind is your enemy...a rocking boat makes things miserable up front.... then I change to pulling. I think it's just what you comfortable with and I think some has to do with your type of boat.

I am planning a trip with two others. Push/pulling would allow us to spread out people and lines. 8,9,10s out back, 12, 14, 16 middle, 16s up front pushing. Middle and back longlining 12 rods and pushing 6 rods. I'm a rookie at this but thinking 6 rods per person will allow us to catch some fish.

I use a bit different layout than some. I pull with 8, 10, and 12' rods out the side of the boat like wings and push 4 stiffer rods out front with 2oz weights. My speed is no different than any other time, . 7 thru 1.5, letting the fish say what's best. I've done this with both jigs and cranks ( my own) and had good success. I use baitcasting reels with the heavier rods up front and like the smooth drag and no line twist. B/C reels and jigs is frustrating for me, hard to cast such a little weight. I haven't the cash flow to buy heavier, stiffer, longer rods to use out front so I use a couple of 11' from BPS, the red ones, and some 7' BC rods. I get better separation with the longer out the side and the shorter ones more forward. The fish tangle less this way for me. A friend and I used to push and pull in TN and had a few very good days. I use the smaller cranks up front and the larger out back and all were busy when the color was right for the day. This is worth playing with, if for no other reason than to answer the nagging questions in your head. I use braid for the push and have lost no baits so far. Now that the truck is back up I'll be trying my cranks here and see if I can make them work as well as they did further north. I always found out where the thermocline was and made that the max water depth I worked. The fish were usually a few feet above that. I don't recall finding fish suspending in water over 20' or so, and finding shad balls made things much easier. Just my input and opinion, hope it helps you along.......Skeet.

As I related in an earlier post on this subject my partner and I (Jim) use the push/pull because he likes to push and I like to pull. I also used it when I took my grandsons a few weeks ago as it allowed us to fish with more rods. If I pull I can only use 10 rods. While push/pulling we can use up to 20 rods. When Jim and I fish he uses 14 foot rods up front and I use 16's and 12's out the sides and 8's out of the back. This method has really increased our success. Jim always fishes up front so he can splay his rods out. If he fished out of the back he would not be able to do that as it would interfere with the pulling rods. When I fish alone I pull only. I feel that 10 rods are all I can handle due to hang-ups, netting fish, steering the boat etc. I agree that pushing with 3/4 oz weight at speeds between .8-1.2 mph is a hybrid form of pulling.

Have found that 1/2 oz wgt work pretty good, don't load the tip as much - bite notification will be a little more pronounced