Upon Further Review

Because I market myself as a teaching guide and pledge my willingness to help my clients enhance their skills, Im regularly asked to provide advice and instruction about the details of light-tackle inshore angling. Many elements combine to form the essence of this sport. Among the various components, the skills associated with lure presentation come up most often when I'm asked to give instruction, especially when I'm catching more fish than my paying customers!

Usually, when attempting to narrow the gap between mine and my clients catch rate, I start off by looking at the movement patterns of the lures on the ends of our lines. The most useful comparisons come when the lures are identical, or at least of the same type and size.

It never ceases to amaze me how a tiny, seemingly insignificant variation in the movement pattern of a lure can have a profound impact on the number of strikes enticed. In order to help people most closely imitate the presentations Im making, I wind up working my eye up the line to their rods and reels, to analyze the way they are using their hands to control the equipment.

We are almost always using different rods and reels. I want people to learn to execute the techniques of the day with their own equipment, so they can better utilize them later. The differences in the rods and reels dictate different methods of manipulation to achieve the same outcome with the plugs. However, some of the same basic principles apply, no matter what rod and reel is employed in the presentation.

I find myself repeating the same truths when tutoring clients about their presentation skills. Inevitably, I wind up discussing the length, rhythm and intensity of their rod-tip twitching, also the speed and consistency with which they are turning the reel handle. These two aspects of presentation affect the ability to maintain tension on the line; consequently, they facilitate control over the movement pattern of the plug.

In order to maintain control over the movement of a plug, an angler must learn to "feel" what it's doing at all times. Maintaining control without stifling the fluidity or erratic nature of the lures movements is the ultimate goal.

Some lures are relatively easy to control, so they can be used effectively with a greater range of types of rods and reels. A soft plastic worm dangling under a float can be effectively wielded with most any piece of equipment. Ive seen people catch fish on the cork and jig without even keeping both hands on the rod and reel at all times.

They remove the hand from the reels crank and yank the rodtip forcefully a couple of times to make the cork splash, then grab the crank, quickly spin out the slack line theyve created, and repeat. Such a strategy, while wildly effective at times, is neither complicated nor sophisticated.

Other simple presentations include those made with crank baits and spoons, both of which often work well when simply reeled straight in with steady turns on the reel handle. Paddletailed soft plastics presented this way sometimes elicit plenty of strikes too. A presentation which involves a stationary rod tip and a steady turn on the reel handle is simple to produce with most any rod and reel combo.

Anglers who rely primarily on these relatively basic lures and techniques can catch fish with most any kind of rod and reel. Others, like me, who prefer to attempt to artfully deploy a greater variety of plugs, will find doing so is much easier with the proper kind of equipment.

Ill repeat something I've said and written many times before; the fishing rod is the most important tool affecting ones ability to catch fish, because the physical attributes of a rod facilitate specific types of presentations while limiting the potential for properly executing others. The reel is less important, but it is significant, particularly in the execution of complicated presentations with twitch baits.

Most expert inshore lure chunkers use low-profile, level-wind, baitcasting reels. A few use spinning reels exclusively. I believe spinning reels are generally inferior to bait casting reels, especially for use with floating and slow-sinking twitch baits. As Ive stated before and demonstrated in a videotaped experiment, I believe level-wind reels facilitate a greater unity of effort between the hands.

I performed and recorded the experiment while producing Inshore Anglers Blueprint for Success so I could better understand why some of my customers were struggling to produce presentations like mine. After trying and failing to execute my favorite presentations adequately with spinning tackle, I know it is more difficult, nearly impossible. Consequently, I urge anyone who wants to catch fish consistently on topwaters, twitch baits and soft plastics to learn to use baitcasting tackle; spinning gear is at best a crutch, at worst a significant barrier to improvement.

While discussing all this with my best friend and co-producer of my DVDs, Marina Mosqueda, I realized what Id inadvertently done to her when we started fishing together. Initially, rather than encourage her to learn to use baitcasting gear, I handed her my loaner spinning tackle. She always caught fewer fish than me and eventually asserted her belief that the main problem was the handicap created by the coffee grinder reel.

She started using level-wind tackle and quickly learned to cast with it; now she catches more fish. In fact, she currently perceives a need to switch over to a level-wind reel with a left-handed crank, and explains the logic underlying her belief.

A right-handed person using a right-handed cranking reel is fishing backwards, she says. After casting primarily with the right hand, said person is required to switch the rod and reel into the left hand to begin the presentation. Such a switch is awkward and unnecessary, or so the argument goes. Why not just cast with the right hand and turn the crank with the left hand, without switching? she asks. After all, its easier to twitch with your dominant hand.

I tried unsuccessfully to switch over to a left-handed cranking reel years ago, but I do see the logic behind her position, and included a reference to the fact in the aforementioned DVD. People long-accustomed to using spinning tackle and cranking with their left hand might find it easier to switch over to baitcasting reels with left-handed cranks. Beginners might also find it easier to learn to use bait casting reels configured this way, or so I thought.

After viewing and reading Inshore Anglers Blueprint..., my friend and occasional partner Jason King got involved in the debate. He agreed with the wisdom and logic of Marinas side and bought a left-handed reel to try. Before he took it out on the water the first time, we discussed how the experiment might turn out, both agreeing the reel should be easier to use, but wondering if relearning favorite presentations would be a challenge.

Later, Jason called me with his take on the results. I cant do it, he emphatically stated. I dont have enough dexterity in my left hand to control the slack in the line the way I need to with a topwater or Corky, he said. I kept losing contact and control of the lures, especially when I was casting crossways to the wind or into the wind.

His assertions led me to an Ah hah! moment; the additional dexterity of the dominant hand is actually more important in the control of the reel handle, not the control of the rod tip. On the surface, the movement of the rod tip would seem to be the most complex aspect of a presentation, but in some cases, the movement of the reel handle is more difficult to properly execute.

I suddenly realized something of critical importance in my ongoing quest to teach people to make better presentations. I should spend more time focusing on their control of the reel handle. Failing to turn the reel handle at the proper rate and/or at the proper times will cause a loss of control of the movement pattern of the plug.

All this brings me back around to a supremely important concept. At its pinnacle, mastery of this sport is facilitated through the coordinated use of both hands on the rod and reel. The unified function of the hands is profoundly important in the production of effective presentations.

With topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits, the best presentations often include wide, erratic movements of the lure, variable speed and intensity, pauses and speed bursts. Executing such presentations involves creating enough slack to free the lures to achieve natural-looking movements without losing control over the movement of the lures entirely. Using these plugs optimally requires a sophisticated coordination of the timing of the rod-tip twitching with the turning of the reel handle. The superior dexterity of the dominant hand facilitates more effective implementation of the reel handle in this complex process.