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Today's technique is one I've been experimenting with. Sort of a pre-ice, ice fishing setup. I took the boat, and simply dropped vertical over the side. No weight, and no float. A single 3 mm tungsten tipped with a spike took today's fish.

The rod is a 4.5' St Croix ultralight, and the reel is an Eagle Claw inline meant for ice fishing. Straight line means no line twist, which is a huge turn off for big gills.

Hit the free spool and let the jig fall to the bottom under it's own weight, slowly, then take up the slack, and raise and lower the jig under tension. Bites were light, but the sensitive rod let me know when it was time to set the hook. No casting, just vertical jigging. Worked great, and no float to watch!

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Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on December 1, 2014 at 1:27pm: I've got a couple rods like that, which I've use for vertical presentation.
Certainly much easier to maneuver around the confines of a boat. My SIL uses ice rods for the same purpose, out of his 12' Jon boat.

Comment by Tony Livingston on December 1, 2014 at 5:13am: Jeff, the reel uses the old "star" drag system, and while it is quite smooth, it is easy to bump the star and change the settings...especially when using light line, which means it isn't cranked down very tight in the first place.

Some guys take the reel apart and add an additional washer to the friction clutch, which supposedly helps a great deal. I haven't had to do that, but I'm not using 1 lb test either.

Comment by carl hendrix on November 30, 2014 at 11:00pm: real good looking set up Tony;; neat idea of using the in-line reel!

Comment by Jeff Soto on November 30, 2014 at 8:43pm: Hey Tony, interesting reel. Does it have a good smooth drag system? Might be kind of fun for my vertical float tube jigging at Lake Perris..

Comment by dick tabbert on November 30, 2014 at 6:21pm: WTG Tony finesse fishing at it's best.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 30, 2014 at 5:53pm: Close..... 2 lb. Asso mono.

Comment by Slip Sinker on November 30, 2014 at 5:51pm: let me guess your line of choice on this rig ...Celsious blue 2lb test mono?

i had that reel in my hands at an outlet store... felt nice.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 30, 2014 at 5:15pm: Thanks guys. Jim I tipped with spikes today....the tungsten really comes into its own when fishing in this manner. I need to downsize for the colder water, but do not want to add weight because that sacrifices sensitivity. The heavy metal jigs let me do just that. Heavy enough to sink under just their own weight, but small enough to tempt the shy biters.

Ken I had my ice sonar with me, and while I did mark fish with it, I found it's greatest usefulness was in depth location.

The inline reels are the hot ticket for ice fishing. I have switched over to them exclusively. I've got spinning reels on fly rod blanks, this is sort of the reverse of that....inline reels (fly reels) on spinning rods. For delicate presentations, I think it holds a great deal of promise. Looking forward to further experimentation.

Comment by Slip Sinker on November 30, 2014 at 4:45pm: Nice Tony!

are you using a transducer also to mark fish and your jig?

i used a four ft UL to reach back comfortably to jig under my transducer... your right just like ice fishing. i love it!

that in line real is the ticket...