straight up my advice to your friend or anyone whos not sure about a spinning rod for the canal is....go to cms talk to the staff and look and feel the many different types and styles of rods and guides used for canal fishing. cms has lots of custom as well as rack rods. try a reel on one and match rod to perfered reel.. if u r going to drop the money down do it right ..... as for the reel .i have several different reels.. empro will give u a little more distance and not so pricey. but after 3-4yrs its beat....than i buy the next new latest greatest reel about every 3-4 yrs

Casting distance doesn't mean a thing down there seeing more than half can't reach the fish on a consistent bases anyways,would love to know the hookup ratio of the guys who can cast half way across too.Seeing most fish are caught on the retrieve anyways.The canal has become more off a fashion show anyways,the fish don't know or care what equipment you are using to catch them.

Basstrologer , welcome to the board. I see this is your first post. You might want to read some of the posts previous to yours. Also , you can follow up by searching under some of the post authors names. Some of the absolute best canal fisherman post here. Some have been doing it since their teens. Also , there are many informative posts here about fishing the canal. Some you will find in searches and some can be found in the favorites posts or archives.

Here I am...
 

Firsty, O.D. thanks for considering me a friend. I feel the same way sweet cheeks. Awesome advise from all. Typically when you open up a topic like this you will be left even more confused and unsure then when you first started exploring options. Definately some light shed here. Custon one piece arra 1322 with low rider guides coupled with the emblem pro and 50' braid it is. Any suggestions on the size reel that should be married to this stick? Also, what are your thoughts on the new emblem pro vs. old?

The Aquatic Donkey

K, ya so, average 800ft we'll say. 266 yards. so a 220 yrd cast is BOMB..... thats more accurate :uhuh:

my information was goin off hitting golf balls across the canal in high school when we had away matches. not exactly scientific measurement

But raises an interesting question about accounts of "casting 3/4 across the canal" doesnt it?

Just my opinion, but you may want to go with more than 50' of line if you're planning on casting to the middle of the canal.:rotf2:

If it works, go for it.

Hey, more than once as the plug hit the water, head first, the tail hook impailed itself in the snout of an unsuspecting bass. Reel that one in from 400' to 500' out when your warmed up.

Like everybody else say though distance casting and the canal are not necessary to going large. Most of the biggest fish are hooked up 30" to 40" from the rocks.

I like it so much better when they hit at your feet.:)

There are a few guys on this board that were pretty pissed at me last year because they couldn't reach the 20 and 30lbers I was casting into more than a couple of times last season. Distance does matter when the fish are out in the middle chasing bait. ALL fish are usually caught on the retrieve not most of them.

What were you casting wood or lead?

i love u
 

new girls.....i didnt know that the other side or middle had all the big fish.with 30+yrs of fishing the canal and 29yrs of power casting the canal heres a little advice,most important is" you"...big question how often do you fish the canal,and how many people will inform u of the where n whens .the middle is the spot to reach .rods ,reels, line n plugs will get u there.dont over think it...learn to fish it first......everyone always has something better ,its the rule of life.....

casting distance doesn't mean a thing...r u kidding me?????? also i miss the meaning to the caught on the retrieve how else does it work w/ plugs. fashion show .only to you ......i got to tell u, to me you sound clueless, a wingnut n yahoo. to quick to critersize. b sweet.sit back and learn something...welcome 2 the site...luv ya....dave

Wood. The large fish were way out on Macks and the teeners and smaller fish were in close in normal range. I was the only one getting the bigger fish and it had to do with distance. It's happened more than once and therefore I know that distance matters even if its only a little it helps if the bigger fish are further out. Yes we all catch fish near the bank and not far out but that wasn't what this thread was about. I was casting oneof MD's small missle pencils. I love those things. Although in good current you need a reel with a good retrieve or the plug will sink fast and not work.

There are only a handful of tournament casting competitors that can consistently cast over 650'. That's in competition, using 13-1/2' ultra fast rods, competition tuned reels, 14# mono, 175 gram aerodynamic weights, standing on a dry grass, level field with good footing. Casting with a full pendulum cast.

I take reports of guys hitting that distance on the Canal with lures, standing on wet rocks or even a wet mussel bed, overhead casting, with a great many grains of salt.

There are only two people that I know who have cast a sinker all the way across the Canal---Ron Arra and Dave Thomashey. Both were top level distance casting competitors.

I thinks it's 10 pound mono Mike.


Here is one of the guys I witnessed

it landed on the other side

Big Dave



Yes Johnny, a lot of people exaggerate a bit, but some can make some monster casts.

I witnessed many times casting to the middle makes a huge difference, one time this fall comes to mind where my buddy was out casting me by 40 feet and hooking up every cast where I hooked up only a few times. It was like 20 fish to 4 fish. And i never heard the end of it. :biglaugh:

the past few years , the breaking fish have been mostly concentrated right in the middle, especially when the tide is running east and moving right along. I'm sure there is a reason for this as the fish push the bait. Being able to reach the middle at those times will certainly help your hooking up since that's where the higher concentrations of fish are at.


I like to jig them up from the middle too

From my observations, there are two types of canal fishermen. 1. those who can cast a mile, yet wait until they see fish breaking in the middle before they cast. and 2. the guys who dont care as much about distance, but catch fish

Feel free to attack me, but I don't care that much about distance in the canal. I use a factory ss101mhs and can cast reasonably well, but the majority of my fish come within 150 ft of the bank, larger fish included. It is nice to be able to hit fish in the middle, but thats not the only factor behind my gear purchase.

I need fish

I'm with Frank, at this point I would settle for a 50 ft cast into anywhere.

Why kill yourself casting to the other side, when you could just go over to the other side to fish... and yes I know that sometimes the fish are breaking on the other side...:rotf2:

The fish are ALWAYS on the other side:wall:

By the time you get there, they will be gone....:wall:

Some people have learned if they see me, they're on the wrong side:wall: