[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Uh--there's nobody here more experienced than NIB and Slip.

Unfortunately, I don't know either of them well enough to know that. And the breadth of their knowledge wasn't obvious in their first replies. And I made the request for someone with experience before the really helpful info came out.

You usually get your jig back when you snag the bubble weed in close.

Agreed. When I snag the bubble weed, I can usually walk it down and pull out of it. I'm pretty sure I'm hitting some sort of thick weed because I can usually feel a bit of play in the snag when giving a bit of slack.

I agree with NIB--your 560 can't take up line fast enough (slow retrieve/narrow spool) and your jig is getting buried in the face of the drop-off. This is particularly a problem when you have some eel grass on your leader.

If you're going to use spinning reels, and you're going to jig the Canal regularly, I would advise you to make the investment in a Van Staal 275 or a Saltiga 6000 GT--the problem you're having with hang-ups should go away. At full capacity those two reels take up about 4 feet of line per crank of the handle--or something close to 4'.

Thanks to the wisdom here, I think the reel's limitation in retrieval speed is definitely the source of my problem. Unfortunately the bank won't allow me to buy a VS just yet.

Thanks NIB, Slip and Mike!