To slack, or not to slack . . . that is the ?

[YouCanKissMyZeebaas]

Salutations My Fellow Trouters-

For those of you that uses the Carolina rig style (i.e. sliding lead egg to PB or PE) to fish for trout, do you keep your line tight or give it a little slack.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

If this question has been posed before, sorry

Fish On!!

 

[TTFishon]

I rarely use the Carolina rig anymore but when I do I like to leave a little slack.

 

[beaverfan]

Using a sliding weight with no slack would defeat the purpose to using the sliding weight so I say yes leave some slack

 

[YouCanKissMyZeebaas]

After a several days of fishing off the bank in both windy and calm days, I've decided that on calm days I will leave a little slack on the line, but on windy days, I will keep the line tight cause those windy days on a slack line will make the rod tip bounce as if a fish was on.

Fish On!

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[Drew9870]

+1 Always Slack.

Fish will sometimes drop the bait and forget about it if they feel resistance, on extra calm days when I use two rods, I will actually leave the bail open and dab a bit of bright powerbait on my line where it exits the last eye on my rod, that way I can tell if I had a hit while I wasn't looking.

If you don't need the whole 1/8oz slider, you can use a very small split shot to pin your PB to the bottom, 9/10, they will still pull out slack with the shot.

There are ways to fish an open bail during somewhat rough weather, it can just be very tricky, I generally keep my rod pointed straight towards my offering and my tip close to the waters surface, the more line you have going from the tip of your rod to the surface of the water = the more effect the wind has on it, sometimes I even set the top eye of my rod just barely on the surface.

 

[TTFishon]

I've caught some nice browns by securing my pole in a good rod holder then loosen my drag so the fish can't feel any drag at all. Using this method allows me to reel up any slack too. Just have to remember how many turns you made to loosen the drag.

 

[Drew9870]

I've caught some nice browns by securing my pole in a good rod holder then loosen my drag so the fish can't feel any drag at all. Using this method allows me to reel up any slack too. Just have to remember how many turns you made to loosen the drag.

And make sure to tighten it before the hookset, me and my buddies do this so we have a clicker while plunking bait, I couldn't begin to tell you how many backlashes I've seen from buddies forgetting to re-tighten it :lol:.

 

[TTFishon]

And make sure to tighten it before the hookset, me and my buddies do this so we have a clicker while plunking bait, I couldn't begin to tell you how many backlashes I've seen from buddies forgetting to re-tighten it :lol:.

lol. That's a good point!

 

[YouCanKissMyZeebaas]

+1 Always Slack.

Fish will sometimes drop the bait and forget about it if they feel resistance, on extra calm days when I use two rods, I will actually leave the bail open and dab a bit of bright powerbait on my line where it exits the last eye on my rod, that way I can tell if I had a hit while I wasn't looking.

If you don't need the whole 1/8oz slider, you can use a very small split shot to pin your PB to the bottom, 9/10, they will still pull out slack with the shot.

There are ways to fish an open bail during somewhat rough weather, it can just be very tricky, I generally keep my rod pointed straight towards my offering and my tip close to the waters surface, the more line you have going from the tip of your rod to the surface of the water = the more effect the wind has on it, sometimes I even set the top eye of my rod just barely on the surface.

Thanks for the insight and tip!!

I shall try it on my next outing.