I was at a local shop(good friends with the owner) and he was telling me that I have been fishing near the big girls the past few times out but went on to give me some info that I wasnt very fond of!

First off let me say that I had a pretty decent evening fishing over the weekend. That is I was able to get a few fish(nothing to brag about! 17"-24") to bite.

Well evidently the big fish were roaming in and under the docks in Point Judith pond.
The tactics I am talking about involve catching yourself a hickory shad and livelining it using extremely heavy tackle. By this I mean pool cue boat rods and reels spooled with heavy braid and 80-100 lb leader. Sounds like meat fishing if you ask me!!!

I dont find this very sporting and can't see why you would even consider that fishing??
What do you guys/gals think??

Now if you had a boat and were pitching the live bait towards the docks and giving the fish a fighting chance!! (with normal gear!)

I have witnessed this in Pt Judith Pond near Skips Dock. I kept seeing shad torpedoing 3 ft out of the water and thought thats odd. Then I saw the boils:eek5: Huge bass. I was fishing lite tackle off the West Wall and I would've loved to have a meat stick and snag hook. I think its very sporting. Its definately not as easy as it sounds. Also you don't have to use tuna gear, just use something your more comfortable with. To me its no different than drifting eels off a breachway.:)

i had to express my opinion on this thread once i read it. I have noticed in the past allot of people get all upset when they hear of people using heavier gear of what they use or what they think you should use. I have no problem with people using lighter gear to a point. I am certainly no expert when it comes to striped bass but from my fishing experience ( all species ) i have noticed that the quicker you get a fish in the better it is for the fishes chances for the release. i have fished for game fish for years and what really gets me angry is these people that go out after fish with 15 lb test line trying to chase a 300 lb + marlin to prove they are a "great" fisherman. What usually happens that about 90 % of the fish peel off 500 yards of line and break off. THAT FISH HAS HAD IT with 500 yards of line hanging out of its mouth rolling up on it to free itself until it is encased in the line. I have had discussion with recreational light tackle anglers on this matter and they seemed to think that it is giving the fish a sporting chance but i feel it is doing more damage than good. so i guess my opinion is i don't see what is wrong with fishing 80 lb test for a 40 + lb striper. It is big fish season so i say be prepared. no it isn't very sporting to winch in a 25" striper with 80 lb test but neither is letting a 40 +lb fish swim away with 200 yards of 20lb test hanging out of its mouth either.

Obviously, live-linning bait is one of the most productive methods of fishing. If you are going to employ that, you'll need suitable gear to do so. If you happen to be live-lining mackeral in Boston Harbor on a boat, you don't need super heavy gear, just sufficient gear suitable to fish the style at hand. If you are live-lining a fish that is working the shadow lines amongst a lot of pier pylons, you need to gear way up so I can see where a lot of people would use HD gear for something like that... The say "match the hatch" when fishing, they should also say use appropriate gear to the task at hand.

Those fish certainly have a decent chance inside those pylons.

Twenty pound Mono plus a 50# leader is often good enough for fishing from the rocky surf (maybe even on the low side) but would you spool your real with 8#?

Just try to match suitable gear to the methods you are using. It adds to your success and allows you to get a fish turned quicker...

I agree with about 2/3rds of what Mr K says about "Light Tackle" fishing on bigger fish, consider this:

If you are going to go after any fish, regardless of size, you are going to want to have the appropriate gear, right? If you go in with substandard gear, bad line, and cranky reels, not only are you going to miss fish, you'll lose some too. Not too god for the fish. Make sure your gear is appropriate or as close too as you can and certainly make sure it's in good mechanical order.

Now, if your fishing where odds are increased on your getting a fish of a lifetime, wouldn't you want suitable gear for this? Would you consistantly toss a skinny eel on a 7' pole with 10 pound test at Watch Hill when a 40# bass or an 18# blue runs through? Not likely.

I'd love to use a small, superlight rod chasing mid sized school bass but more important to me is getting them in and turned around quick.

Use good conditioned, decent quality gear with properly maintaned reels and fresh line. You'll eliminate a lot of danger to you, to the fish, and you'll get them in quick and turned around safer and faster if that's what you chose to do.

I've seen criticism from both sides. Its ok to say you wouldn't enjoy catching small fish on light tackle, or catching big fish on heavy tackle. We're all entitled to our opinions.

But John makes the key point. Match your tackle to your fish.

I've seen several instances where people have claimed light tackle fishing is bad for the fish. That's true if you target large fish with light tackle. Fight the fish till complete exhaustion and the fish may die. And the line issue that Mr. Kav brought up is valid.

And in a crowded surf situation, someone using too light of tackle can be a pain in the butt when they can't control their fish from running up and down the beach.

But as long as you match your tackle to the fish you're targeting AND the cover your fishing, you'll treat the fish well and maximize your fun.

With the size of some of the shad which have been in PJ pond (easy 2-3lb fish) I can see why you need heavy tackle, remember your live bait is in lbs, and not in plug ounces. This is the first I heard about the cows in PJ Pond, I haven't fished the pond in awhile might give it a shot over the weekend. When I came in around sunset this past Sunday the Shad were breaking everywhere....

My favorite live line setup is a Penn 320GTI and a 20-40lb rod, and 20lb green trilene, 40lb Seagur Flouro leader.

The main objective of fishing is to outwit the fish --- if thats what it takes to snatch a 40 pounder from the pilings, I'm ok with it. Like Scotch said, I don't think its as easy as it sounds (and like 179 said, I think I may have to give it a try this weekned :p )

Bill and Don, lets crack out the tuna gear!! YeeHaa:happy:

Nailed a couple nice fish last year in CT on live Hickory's, one went close to 35 lbs, the other a solid 20. Those shad are monsters and maxed out my gear (always lighter than most) ability to cast, in fact I was more or less just letting them out behind the boat and feeding line. Back in the glory days of fishing the big horse poggies, I'd get by with a 7 foot caster and ABU 6500C, with 30# spiderwire and cast far enough.

I agree that from shore, you have different considerations than you would from a boat. Add a 107# thrust trolling motor to chase down fish and my gear gets lighter still, but I don't like to wear down any fish. With today's modern rods, reels and line, I find it difficult you need a "pool" cue rod to handle larger baits anyway.