tip for the shoreline angler

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

It is standard practice for boat fisherman to have several rods rigged up and ready to fish. I noticed that most guys who whip the shoreline have only one rod. There are more advantages than disadvantges in carrying several rods.

Disadvantages. It is very cumbersome to carry more than one rod through the brush and trails. The more stuff you carry the more things to get hung up on. Your rods also tend to get tangled up when you put them on the side.

Advantages. Switching. If you want to try another bait, you switch out your lures which can be irritating. When you have several rods rigged you just grab another rod.

Secondly, one rod can have a search bait and the other can have a follow up bait. For example, in bass fishing you can use a crankbait to cover a lot of water and find the fish. Use your follow up lure, such as a worm to catch misses and fish the area more thourghly.

Third, backup. If one of your combos has a break down, you have a spare. One time, my friend was catching tucs on a spinnerbait. The combintation of the ressitance of the lure and the hard hits cause his reel to freeze up. He had to struggle fish the rest of the day. He did not want to use my rods.

Next, if you get hung up or broken off in a bang bang situtation, you just grab your next rod and you are back in the game quickly. No missed opportunities.

Finally, doubling up. This is my signature move. If you are hooked up to a tuc and have trailers, leave the hooked fish in the water and grab another rod. Do some figure 8s above the hooked fish. Works like a charm. If you do not get bit, try bringing the fish to the surface and have the hooked fish trash around. This will excite the other fish. This is actually a good big fish techinque. Remember those posts in the past, "A ten pounder tried to eat my one pounder!". It should be noted that this is an illegal techinque for you weekend warriors. On Saturday, Sunday and holidays you can only fish one line at time.