Easy return to depth

[Henman]

Hey folks, just thought I would share my system for returning my bait to the magic depth that the fish are biting at. This system works great for me and my family for vertical jigging and could be expanded to cover trolling as well, for measuring line out.
First I really like a 10' pole. With that I will use one of the Uncle Bucks Deluxe Crappie Reels (there are several duplicates of the same reel with different names,Grizzly jigs has about 4 or 5 of the different brands). I like these reels for the super light weight and compact size. I use 6lb test Wally Marshall Hi vis yellow, because I also line watch. This set up is just my personal preference and not critical to the system.

The heart of the system is simply marking your pole at 1' and 2' in front of your reel. I use some reflector tape that I cut about 1/2" wide and long enough to wrap around the pole. To your line attach on of the string bobber stops like Mr.Crappie or Thill puts out. I found that hot pink is the easiest to see in low light. I cut mine a little long so that it will fray and puff out making it easier to see from a distance. This also lets me see poles in the back of the boat and know how deep they are fishing.

To set your depth raise your pole strait up and bring your bait down to the butt. That’s 10 '… then simply do measured pulls by grasping the line at the reel and pull out to one of the marks. Do this as many times as necessary to get to the level you need to be at. Set your bobber stop at the 2' mark in front of your reel. Example…if the fish are at 17’, pull 18’ of line out to be able to hold your pole 1' above the water. Doing it this way you are able to get to what ever depth you want to quickly and reliably ever time. That’s another reason I like the little reels mention above, the line doesn’t hang up on the bobber stops like it does on the spinning reels. The bobber stop gives an instant reference against the pole when you are trying to find the magic depth. Just take note of where it's at before you start reeling.

I'm sure this system isn't new but I haven't come across it any where else so I thought I would share it. Now my fingers are sore so I'm done for now.

[BigD]

Good points here and that is the way I do it.

Glow in the dark bobber-stop works well,

D

[FishnLine]

I'm in the process of doing the same thing. I have always guessed the 1ft mark as I was pulling off my line and have done ok, but I want to be more accurate.

[PanMan_VA]

It sounds like you have a good system figured out. I use similar WM Deluxe Crappie Reels. It just happens that one turn of the handle is about one foot of line. I let the line out to the length of the rod and then back reel (counting the number of turns) until I get to the desired depth.

[wannabe fisherman]

There's a new reel out from Bill Dance/Zebco that has a button on it that you flip when you get a strike. Then when you recast it automatically goes back to the depth it was at when you flipped the button. Don' know if it works but it sounds easy enough. The reel comes as spincast or spinner you can find them at BPS.

[Jerry Hancock]

We use "pulls" to get back the same way but without bobber stops. We use bait cast reels with thumbars. It is about 2' from the reel to the first eye. Yoday we were catching them 3 pulls deep.. It is easy and exact. Egg beaters (spinning reels) don't work as well. The line will jump off the spool and twist if you just strip it off using the drag. Ifd you've never useed a bait caster, find a small low profile one and try it.
Good info.

[Henman]

What I like about using the bobber stops is that it is visual. I can look back and see how deep my son is and advise accordingly. Its continually adjustable by simply noting where the stop is along the pole. With the amount of guides Wally Marshall rods have I can get really precise. Its super fast because once you set the stop you don't have to do the pulls or back reels anymore. Just let it drop until your stop is back at the same spot.
Also I can do a pendulum cast by simply pulling the line between the reel and first guide like the way bass fisherman flip. Its good down to about 16' or so. I know how deep I will be before I cast because of the visual reference.