New Techniques, can be work!

[lizardsrule]

Well I went to the coal pit today to practice some deep water fishing. Now that is a relative term, to what lakes you fish, but today we are talkng about 10'-20'. I normally fish 6" to 10' of water, so this is a little different for me. I decided I would use PNJ's and Lizards, since those have both been good producers for me at the coal pit. I did fish a Buzzbait, and Jitterbug some(couldn't help myself ) without any success. I ended up catching 10 LM in 6 hours, I used a Standard PNJ( Mann's Stone Jig, with YUM Craw trailer). I also used a Mojo Rig for the Lizard, which was a Zoom Black with Blue Fleck. The 3rd rig I used was a variation of the drop shot. I had a Baby Fluke, rigged as the drop shot, but a Strike King Pro Model Jig, with Yum Craw trailer as the weight. I caught fish on all the rigs, the Mojo worked much better when weeds were around. I had a couple of fish on the PNJ part of the Drop shot rig, but couldn't ever get the fish on the Fluke. I saw them hit it a couple of times, but they just never took it well enough to get any hooksets. I will upsize my hook next time, and try a lighter weight on the PNJ. I believe the heavy Jig 1/2 oz put a lot of weight the fish felt as they would bite the fluke. I also would reccomend a long sidearm cast, making sure the weight is staying out, and the fluke and PNJ are not twisting as you cast. The reason, if it starts rotating, it will backlash, and give line twist. It actually took me awhile to get it down. It's almost like casting a c-rig, but the heavy weight is at the end, instead of like the c-rig. I missed probably 8 fish today, most were on the fluke part of the drop shot rig. I caught several over 14" but none over 15 1/12". I was actually pleased with the results, since I don't consider myself a deepwater guy, but have to learn to be better at it. I fished all day concentrating on the in and outs of these techniques, and ways to use them better It actually felt a little like work But it was a really good job though I have also noticed when drop shotting and using Braid or fused line the line can have a tendancy to twist up. So it would appear the same happens with mono or flouro, just not visible. Anyone else notice this issue?

Lizards