The Art of Long Lining

I spent some time on my last article talking about fishing the ledges, and mentioned the fact that deep cranking can be a very effective presentation along the drops and points of the ledges. There is however a way to enhance your deep cranking skills and drive your crank- baits to the deepest depths of the ledge.

As you may recall I mentioned that it was imperative to make long casts, that you gained some advantages by doing this; that being the longer the cast the deeper the crank bait will go and that bass are generally followers. Meaning that long casts give bass the ability to follow and wait until your bait deflects or moves and causing a strike. Well there is a way to enhance the distance of your cast and it is called "Long Lining," it is a very simple and at the same time imaginative approach to cranking.

Simply put, this "Long Lining" technique is accomplished with your trolling motor. You position your boat to make a long cast over the area, cast your bait out and then enhance the distance by spooling the line out with boat movement. You just move the boat farther away from the bait by letting the line spool its way out to a more desirable distance, and then crank it back. This "Long Lining" technique of course is not without a few key issues. The first being the time it takes to do this you may very well reduce your number of casts substantially and next is boat position the angle you move away from the bait must cover the fished area for best results.

Simple, effective and a creative way to get more distance out of a cast and catch more fish while doing it!