Dock shooting reel

[FIN]

In the archives I read some prefer a closed face reel for dock shooting.
How do you do it with a closed face? Are there any advantage?
I've used an open face some but had a problem with loop tangles.
Thanks
Fin

[yankee doodler]

I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but I do shoot docks. I have found a very inexpensive setup that they sell at our local Meijers stores in the sporting goods dept. It's an UL ugly stick rod 4.5' matched with a micro spin closed face reel w/ a casting trigger that works pretty slick. $20 bought the whole setup. I'll post some pics of it later.

[carter]

I too use what I call an under spin reel. It hangs like a open face but has a trigger. I am much better with it than an open face reel.

[The Shootist]

I shoot docks most of the time...I tried the trigger spin and had trouble the line hanging in the spool....I use a medium open face with a long shallow spool, this helps the line spool off easier. I set my drag very very loose so that when you hook a fish the line coming in doesnt dig into the spooled line...I set the drag so loose that if i set the hook and there is nothing there the drag will scream a little..This has always worked for me.....

[Splitshot82]

I shoot docks most of the time...I tried the trigger spin and had trouble the line hanging in the spool....I use a medium open face with a long shallow spool, this helps the line spool off easier. I set my drag very very loose so that when you hook a fish the line coming in doesnt dig into the spooled line...I set the drag so loose that if i set the hook and there is nothing there the drag will scream a little..This has always worked for me.....

Sounds like the ticket to me. Any advice on a particular reel with a long shallow spool?

[jusanothajoe]

the first thing I do when I leave the ramp is stretch my line. let your line out with nothing on it and the boat moving at a good idle, I let out about a 100 yards. let it drag for a ways then reel it in. this will straighten your line out some. next get in the habit of closing your bail with your HAND not by reeling. reeling to close your bail is where most loops come from. if you see a loop pull out the line with drag till the loop is gone. I want a large diameter spool, seems to work better for me. I like pflueger supreme's and i'm trying out a Lews speed spin 1000

[ShootnDocks]

I use a Shimano Sienna 2500FD spinning reel and a US Reel 180sx spinning reel both mounted on 5'-0" Sharpshooter rods. I have better luck with spinning reels as there is less hangups of the line leaving the reel. A large diameter spool gives me longer casts under the docks and I use reels with 4 bearings or more. I believe the smoother the mechanism in the reel is the better you can detect the slightest tic on the line. I have shot docks next to friends using cheaper reels with identical baits and have caught fish 4 to 1 over them. If you can't feel em you can't catch em is my belief. Not trying to knock anybodys reel, this is the way I look at it. If it works go with it.

[FIN]

I'm going to get a Shakespeare Deceiver reel and a 5' Sharpshooter rod.
What's the best size reel for shooting ?

[skeetbum]

Just my opinion, but I prefer the 2000 or 2500 series reels for the bigger diameter spools. These create a larger memory loop in the line, unlike the tight pigs tail that the UL size reels generate. What the Shootist said about the drag being loose is spot on. One of my teachers uses a 1/32 head and a Panfish Assassin in albino for the majority of his fishing. I've seen him swing and miss and heard a few "tink, tink, tink" as the drag slips. He doesn't loose very many Crappie of any size, and his primary hook is a #6 Aberdeen.

[CrappiePappy]

I'm going to get a Shakespeare Deceiver reel and a 5' Sharpshooter rod.
What's the best size reel for shooting ?

I don't know, FIN .... that reel may be a bit large/heavy for a Sharpshooter rod. At 7.4oz it is 1/2oz heavier than my Mitchell 308x reels (6.8oz) ... and I have them on 8' F&F rods. It might not balance well with such a short/light rod.

My dock shooting rods are 5' & 5'6" ... and I have Shakespeare Alpha UL reels on them. If I were considering getting that particular reel ... I'd be more likely to be putting it on a 6' - 6'6" lite to medium power rod, with fast action tip.

To avoid loops/tangles ... be sure you don't overfill your reel spool, use a soft mono in 4-6lb test, lift your rod up to the 10 o:clock position BEFORE you close the bail, LOOK at the line/reel spool when closing the bail & make sure it doesn't have loops or a lot of loose line hanging down ... and PRACTICE doing this (at home) until it becomes second nature. Once it does, even when you're slammin'em & all excited to get that jig back under the dock .... you will still follow thru with the correct proceedure (without thinking about it) and spend more time shooting & setting the hook, rather than fumbling around with a yang'd up reel.

... cp