Damn!!!!
I actually rewrote the above post while I was offline, but then when I came back for some reason couldn't edit it.
So here's the new improved (longer) version with more juicy details
Recently I saw a interesting question on how to fish iron, one of my favorite ways to fish. It got me thinking which led to a PM which has now lead to this post.
The guy was talking about fishing a 6Xjr around Lobster buoys in an area with current. They were using the simplest method you can fish the jig. The old cast as far as you can, let it sink to the bottom then retrieve straight back to the boat at it's best working speed method. I call this Cast sink crank Iron fishing, and this was actually the first way I learned to fish Iron over twenty years ago.
You can do a lot of other things with a 6Xjr to catch fish, but the old cast sink crank is a good consistent method, kind of the oldest trick in the book, and it has worked for me and other anglers for huge numbers of Yellows all up and down the coast.
The question that came up as related to casting direction, and current.
Someone said they get more bites casting long casts up current, said they did not know why, and then asked if bait swims with the current.
Well they were on the right track. It's not so much that bait swims with the current, it's that baits do not swim against it unless forced to.
In other words bait doesn't swim with the current all the time, so much as drift with it. Anchovies and Sardines are not the athletes of the fish world they can't swim very long against the current, so the tend to ball up and drift with it.
The Yellows that feed on them hold at good ambush points and then pick them off when they come by.
Those yellows caught with the cast sink crank method around those buoys are holding position in the current waiting for bait to wash down to them, and essentially what your getting is a reaction strike from them, when you fish them with Iron this way.
It's all about energy, instinct, and competition.
Groups of Yellows anything from two to five to more will hold in the current waiting for bait to wash down to them.
A single bait coming towards them sets up a competition scenario where the first Yellow that get's to the bait get's to eat it. It then becomes a race as to which yellow get's to the bait first. That is why they are not line shy, why they slam those Irons so hard and take them so deep. They are trying to eat that bait before the other yellows can get it.
Your iron appears to be a frightened bait fish that's lost the rest of it's school, or a bait that's been singled out and is running from other fish. So it's easy pickings. I have a hunter friend that used to say: "What do you do if a bear chases you in open country and you can't climb a tree?" "You run downhill!" That's because a bear with it superior strength can outrun you uphill.
In a similar fashion panicked bait almost always runs down current when they are not in a school. They can't outrun Yellows uphill into the current. So when your Irons running down hill and a Yellow sees it and starts closing in heading up current it instinctively believes your bait is dead meat because it's got no where to go, and that's why it wants to get it before some other yellow does.
The reason that they hang around the lobster buoys is that the ropes create small eddies in the current where the can easily hold their location without expending as much energy. Swimming in current takes work, less current means less work. They are sight feeding and the trap ropes are a great way for them to escape the current without a loss of vision.
The ropes don't offer cover or protection, just an area of low current immediately behind the rope, but they are also just a single line so they don't block as much vision as kelp. In other words Trap ropes under the lobster buoys create an ideal hunting ground or ambush point for the yellows holding in current, feeding on bait washed down by current.
Fish do this all the time. Halibut lie down behind low rocks and wait for bait to come down current, and any trout fisherman knows that when fishing reaction baits like spinners in streams you always want to cast up current and reel the bait down with it to catch trout looking upstream.
So essentially by casting your Iron up current letting it settle then retrieving it straight back, your moving it down current through the lobster buoys, prime ambush turf, presenting the lure in a manner that looks natural to the fish, that's also likely to trigger a instinctual aggressive reaction strike. No wonder it works.
Now often when I've heard people talk about this type of fishing they say that most of the fish they catch come on the first few cranks. Well that makes sense if you think about it. While your iron sinks the line is going to get washed down current as it sinks. It's like a parachute flare, as the flare drops the smoke trails away down wind.
With sinking Iron the line always trails away downcurrent. This is especially true if your using heavier line like 40 Mono. Mono has a greater drag coefficient then spectra so the heavier mono is pulled more down current. So even if the current down deep is not moving the exact same direction as what you see at the surface, when you let a lure sink and settle with heavy mono the first few cranks are going to pull the lure in the direction of the line which is trailing off directly down current.
Spectra is superior for vertical jigging or Yo Yo fishing because it's thin diameter, lack of stretch, and sensitivity allow you to fish more straight up and down and detect more bites on the sink, but you'll notice that guys who religiously fish the cast sink crank method invariably prefer heavy Mono. They may not get many fish on the drop, but the line as easier to cast, and it reacts more to current.
Essentially as the lure sinks the line bows into kind of a "L" shape where the line close to the lure trails along the bottom and the line near you yak is going more straight down.
With all that in mind, reverse the whole thing.
When you cast down current with a 6Xjr and heavy mono you get the exact opposite results. The line bows the opposite way making an upside down "L" where the line at the lure is going straight up, and the line closer the the yak is trailing off along the surface. When you crank the bait will just rise straight up and not run with the current. Now there are times that works but if your hooking fish deep that way you're better off dropping straight down and fishing Yo Yo because you have more sensitivity and control, and if your hooking them on top you might as well be fishing surface Iron to maximize you time in the upper water column.
So if you get my drift, current matters with cast sink crank iron fishing, and you should for the most part always be casting up current when you use this method.
One thing I could add is there is a trick that you can use to capitalize on this that's worth considering. It's something mostly used by hardcore open water swimbait fisherman, for C-bass Halibut and Bass.
They fish two rods. They cast one out and let it settle to the bottom leaving it in freespool with the lure resting on the bottom so that line pulls off the reel as they drift down current. They then cast the other rod out let it settle to the bottom, then leave it in freespool while they reel in the first rod. When they get the first one in they cast it out again, let it settle, then put it aside and reel in the second rod that's been sitting letting out line.
What this two rod method does is not only get the plastic or Iron well away from the boat, but it also lets the line settle down deeper and wash directly down current from the lure.
When you start reeling the bait swims down with the current staying close to the bottom in the strike zone for a longer period of time. If you just cast let it settle then reel it up when it hits your the bottom the bait still is moving down current, but comes up at a more vertical angle. So with the two rod waiting method the bait swims the right direction for a longer period of time in the strike zone than it would if you used one rod.
I've used this and it just works.
The only negative is you can't use it in a area with a ton of rock with spectra. The spectra sinks down and the current tends to wash it into cracks or spaces between the stones and hangs you up. So once again it's actually better to fish this way with Mono, thirty or even forty pound if your fishing in areas with lots of rocks.
The other issue is you better have a rod holder up front for the second rod, because if you hook a good fish the other rod that's in freespool is going to be out there a long ways, and you'll need to be able to throw it in gear and quickly crank on it one handed to clear it while fighting the fish.
So there you have a few ideas I'd throw out there based on my experience.
Use at your own risk, Jim
P.S. If some clever moderator just wants to move this one up and replace the first one with it...I'd be much obliged
