New here with a question or 2 or 3
 

Hey everyone, my name is Dave, and have been lurking here for a month or so. I have an old, Bare Bones Malibu XL Two. My rod holders are PVC zip tied to a milk crate that gets bungeed down behind the seat. I have no hatches or compartments on my rig, and my fish finder is non-existent. Anyway, I made it out to LJ a couple weeks back for my first outing, and managed a good rock fish and a big dark colored ray. Not sure what kind of ray, as I cut my line once I realized the monster on the end of my line was not going to be dinner. No way I wanted to deal with pulling an unknown ray onto the yak.

I caught the rock fish was caught on a 4 OZ Shimano Flat Flat Fall Jig in the Sand Eel pattern. Good fight, and it tasted great too. This brings me to question one.

How do you fish this jig, properly, using a conventional reel? Since the jig initially sinks like a torpedo, then lays out flat, it changes speed on the way down. So every 4-5 seconds my reel wanted to back lash my line. I began controlling the line using my thumb, but then thought I was now preventing the jig from ever getting enough speed to turn on it's side. So my flat fall became a YOYO.

I'm guessing the easiest fix s to use a spinning reel, but I don't have a good spinning reel. By good, I mean capable of handling a YT. All my spinners are too small for anything but a sabiki rig.

Next question. What is a good spinning reel, that can handle a larger fish, with out breaking the bank?

Thanks for your time.

Hey and Welcome,

Good luck in trying to figure out your style of fishing and all the stuff you are going to learn in the coming years.

You don't need a spin to use the flat fall jig.

The flat fall jig is used for a few different way. It is meant to simulate a fluttering action of dying sinking fish. It can also be used to jig the bottom if you are fishing for bottom dwellers.

As far as backlashing your conventional reel, there is generally an adjustment on the reel for how easily it will release line in free spool. Find it, tighten it and that should solve or improve your predicament. The rest is controlled by the thumb. Conventional reels take some time to get used to, just practice, practice, practice.

If your heart is set on a spinning setup, give the Shimano Stradic a try.(around 175$).

Your reel might not have a casting brake, but if it does, use that. Otherwise use your thumb on the edge of the spool itself, rather than pressing it on the uneven line, for more of a fine tunable speed adjustment. You can apply pretty neglible pressure that way and it will prevent the reel from backlashing as a jig sinks.