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Hair jig season is just about here and I've been getting a lot of questions about what kind to use and where to use them so I decided to do a post on basics. In the picture, the jigs on the right hand side are for clear water, the top jig is a 3/32oz marabou jig, the 2 under it are both buck tail jigs with one having a weed guard and no trailer and the other with no weed guard and a rabbit strip trailer. The marabou jig will be worked by swimming it slowly or hopping it along the bottom, no trailer is used but on this one I have 2 feathers tied in to give it a little extra. The buck tail jig without the trailer is 1/8oz and can be used as it is or a small trailer can be added like a trout worm or tiny chunk, it can be used in a swimming type presentation, hopped or crawled along the bottom and even dead sticking works with it. The 1/8oz buck tail with the rabbit strip will be used as is, the rabbit strip will give this jig a little more action and it will bulk the profile up a bit, it can be used in the same manner as the other buck tail but I normally use it when the fish are a little more active so it is either swimming or hopping most of the time. The jigs on the left hand side are more for stained water, less than 2' of visibility is where they shine because of the added bulk. The top two jigs are 1/8oz football heads, the top one has buck tail tied in with deer belly hair tied over top and there is a little more hair than in my clear water jigs. This jig is going to be crawled along the bottom slowly with a chunk style trailer, a 2" tiny Paca Chunk works great for this jig and it is going to fished primarily on hard bottom or rock covered areas. The other football head is going to be pretty much the same as the previous one, the difference is that it is tied with a heavy collar made of fine round rubber, and that is not only going to make the jig stand up, but it also provides a different profile, pretty much like a Sculpin so we will often slowly swim this along that bottom without a trailer and it works surprisingly well at times. The last one of that side is what I call the creeper jig, it is 1/8oz round head with a rabbit hair body with some longer silicone strands in for some added action. This is one that is always going to have a trailer and it is always a chunk type trailer and it depends on the size of the jig but one of the ones we find that works well on this is the Ron Yurko finesse chunk by Venom Lures. This jig is crawled along the bottom or slow hopped and dead sticking also works well with this jig and this is what I'll use if the water is only slightly stained as the rabbit hair will offer more visible action but it won't have as large of a profile as the others making it a little harder to find in dirtier water. Now these are all small sizes meant to be using in water 10' deep and under, I usually only go as high as 1/4oz for the waters I use them in so if you need a faster fall or need to get deeper than you can adjust the weight but remember the appeal of these is they offer the fish a small, easy to catch food morsel that they don't need to spend any energy to get so you don't want them moving to quick. I tie a ton of different kind of jigs as well but these are what I learned to fish hair jigs with and they can be tweaked size and color wise to match the conditions you face. I hope this helps those of you who are curious about hair jig fishing in cold water, if you experience water that dips down below 40 degrees in the winter, it will benefit you to learn how to use these types of jigs as they are often the best lure to catch them on.

What price range are you looking at? Have several, well more then several. As of right now, I have the TourMG which is nice, a collection of EXO's (3 300's, 3 200's, and 5 100's as well as 1 25 spinning.). Have 1 Kenetic (sold one) and 2 Accurists (older model), as well as 5 Smoke 150's. As you can tell I have a few. Only fish 3 baitcasting reels (Quantum, *** *** and C's, and the 4 older Carbonlites I have from BPS). As of right now my Kenetic and Accurists are semi-retired due to upgrades. None of the Quantums have ever given me any issues. So although they are looked down by others who would choose to put them down and say they are garbage (have seen my buddies Diawa's and Shimano's end up in the shop for several performance issues) all while my Quantums keep going. They have a bad rap if you don't get into the PT series reels. I wouldn't fish anything under the Accurist. If you have an honest question about them shoot me a personal message and I'll give you a straight answer about whatever you're wondering about Quantum's.

Good Info - Thanks for sharing it. For me the whole key to fishing the hair is S L O W . . . and then S L O W E R . . . . and finally S L O W E S T . It works for sure - but it's sort of like fishing in a Coma or with live bait. A-Jay

Finally got a SS Hardgill. Such a beautiful bait.

Still on cloud 9. If you haven't seen the finish, here it is! Go Hogs Go! WPS!!! The play shall go down in history as "The Henry Heave" !!!!!!!!! Jeff

Yes, the Quantum bashing starts again. The OP asked which is the best reel Quantum makes. Not where they are made, why you prefer Shimano, Diawa, Lews, etc. I'm stoked most like the Customer service at Diawa and Shimano. They should be good at is as much as they get used where I have yet to have ANY Quantum reel I fish in the last 4 years ever give me an issue. Wish I could say the same thing about the other two companies my fishing buddies use. But they are loyal and tell me how great their reels are which is great....when they aren't in the shop. Again, if the OP has a serious question about a Quantum reel, I have no issues giving an honest answer as someone that fishes A LOT of Quantum reels proudly.

Slim4life is a scam would probably sum it up.

Caught quite a few on hair jigs today even though our water temps are still well above "ideal." Slow works, obviously, but don't be afraid to try speeds somewhat above "coma" to keep 'em honest. Some days they'll surprise you. -T9

Not the funniest, but I still chuckle to myself when I think of it. It had been a long and productive catch and release morning. Without so much as a thought, before heading back to the dock I caught an average fish of about 16", measured it with the aluminum ruler, tossed the fish onto the deck of the boat and released my $9 ruler to the lake.

Brand aside , something 7' with a lure weight range of 1/4-3/4 oz (medium or medium heavy action depending on brand ) fast action, intermediate to high modulus graphite (st croix scIII for example).

This thread is titled "road to the super bowl" not "road to the #1pick"..

My past 20 years of purchases were small. Every few years a rod and reel combo to replace one that needed replacing, a pack of plastic worms or other expendables here and there... replace a lost spinner, floating minnow, or buzz bait. I recently moved into our summer cottage and am converting it into a year round home. So it's kind of a fishing expenditure... Just don't tell Mrs. H that lol. So.... I had to expand my equipment for the extra fishing time that the future holds. 2x Fenwick eagle casting rods 2x gander mountain casting reels (cork handle model) Fenwick hmx casting Rod Abu Garcia Ora casting reel Fenwick eagle spinning rod Pflueger president spinning reel Pflueger supreme spinning reel O yeah. Bought a boat. It's an oldie. 79 glastron with 115 Johnson. I strapped a 70lbs Minn Kota edge tolling motor on the bow. It beats the row boat with a 9.5hp Johnson that sometimes worked. Other than some jig making supplies my tackle purchases have been the same. Although, Since joining this forum I have seen a few things I might want to try. I know a fella who started making rods.... We talked.... I'm doomed.....

Zebco 33

I use the same stuff I use from shore, boat, the moon...

Just like fishing from a boat, when fishing from shore, you have to do your homework, and choose spots based on seasonal patterns, the structure, and cover present. Spring and fall are two of your best bets for locating shallow bass, easily accessible from shore, irrespective of how big the lake is.

The other day I sat down to tie on a spinnerbait, I put a trailer hook on and I tossed it over the side of the boat. Unfortunately I missed the important step of tying the lure on the line.

Did something today I've never done before...Caught Rainbow, Brown, and Brook trout all during the same trip on a local stream here in MD. I actually caught several Rainbows and Browns and then went searching for the Brookie to go for the trifecta, I've never been able to get all 3 on the same outing. The Browns live wild in the stream and the Rainbows are mostly stockers...Still unsure why our DNR stocks fish on top of a great wild population...But whatever, they are still fun and many holdover and become what I like to think of as 'half-wild'. The Brook trout are native and the population is pretty small, they only live in certain parts of the stream and small tributaries. You have to go out of the way to have a shot at catching one, but they are MD's only native trout so I try every now and then. Usually come up short but this time I didn't . Anyone that lives an area with 'real' fly fishing opportunities is probably rolling their eyes, but here in MD there are not too many streams which support all 3 species and most of those are out in western MD...So doing it here in central MD has always been a goal of mine . (I only fly fish in the winter after tournament season is over, I'm definitely an amateur when comes to the fly rod) #8 Woolly Bugger with a bead-head caught most of the fish today, with a #12 Coachman taking the rest, to include the Brook trout. A typical Brown for this stream. A cool shot of one of the Rainbows after I released it. The Brook trout that completed the day.

Can a large body of water be effectivly fished from shore? Ive only fished small reservoirs (less than 100 acres), but I do have some larger bodies of water that Im curious to fish. I understand the advantage of fishing smaller waters, such as the fact that the fish can only be ao far, unlike a large lake where they may be 20 miles down. Thoughts?

Bill Murphy's book, "In Pursuit of Giant Bass". Anxious to read it and add it to my already massive bass fishing library. Hootie

Bama certainly looked good but I'm starting to question if LSU was overrated to start with. It doesn't really matter, but they looked pretty inept once it cecame clear they wouldn't be able to ride Fournette to victory.

So that's now the FOURTH ridiculous finish on four consecutive weekends of college football. Michigan/MSU, GT/FSU, Duke/Miami and now this. Jeff -- you can thank the idiot who got the facemask penalty called on him on the first 2-pt conversion. What a moron!

You need to make room for aditional books feel free to let me know. I'll store those extra books for you so you can have that shelf space for more......lol

Pretty much what Josh said, but as stated depends on what I'm doing as well. My spool will be looser on my flip/punch rods then on my crankbait set up. Want to go old school, some reels you used the tension knob or scew to adjust the bushing the spool rode on instead of bearings. Reels have come a long way since back then. I believe some of the older 5000c's used to have bushings when I fished with one in the late 80's. So habits are hard to break and if it isn't broke I'm not going to fix it and change my approach. Probably would mess myself up. So I keep it simple and go with it.

"Set right" generally means that you turn off the brakes (in the case of magnetics), hold the rod horizontally, and release the spool. The lure should fall slowly to the ground, about one to two seconds from four feet up. You then turn the brakes back on to medium (or whatever) and cast. Setting tension is an individual thing, though, and I don't use that method any longer. That's just the stock answer provided by most manufacturers. Regards, Josh

I don't know if there's a reliable way to do that. You can't "feel" reliability or durability. Check out posts here on BR for favorite values, and take a look at the excellent reviews at places like TackleTour... There are enough reels around that are proven to be good values/best-bang-for-the-buck that you shouldn't have any trouble picking one you like the feel of or one that balances the way you'd like it on your rod. Tight lines, Bob

I see brakes as a convenience -- and there's a lot of difference, too, between magnetic and centrifugal brakes. Growing up as I did with the 5'6" pistol-grip casting rods, I learned to accelerate them fairly fast on the cast. It was still a smooth cast; don't get me wrong, but it was faster because the arc described by the tip of the rod was shorter and so speed had to be increased faster. Therefore, a bit of braking at the beginning of the cast was beneficial. This is where centrifugals shine. I eventually learned to back off a lot of the spool tension and apply tension with my thumb. I began by riding the spool, but eventually got to where I'd float my thumb and only apply a bit of tension when I feel the line beginning to "fluff" up. Now, I back off the tension quite a bit, but use more initial braking (centrifugal) than most folks. I don't want brakes after I fire it out there. I've found that magnetic brakes are a heck of a lot easier to teach, though, than centrifugal. My wife just started using a baitcaster (1310 Quantum I modified for her) for the first time, and only twice this year. My boy, who is 7, can likewise control a magnetically-braked baitcaster (Quantum Lite, likewise modified, but for him.) Granted, my boy doesn't get a lot of range yet, but we're working on that. It's mainly because I have the magnetic brakes cranked up and am gradually turning them down as he gets better. Belle has both her great-grandfather's Bronson baitcaster and a 5000c I modified. She sorta' claimed the 5000c and I put it on a pistol-grip handle. The sits and plays fishing for about 1/2 hour at a time! Push button, "cast", reel. Belle with a 5500; she wanted to play with Daddy's old gear that day: If she want to actually use the 5000c, she'll have to learn to use centrifugals. I figure I'll start her in about another year, the summer after she turns 3. Regards, Josh

Hyperpigmentation. Not uncommon at all. My understanding is that it's probably natural, doesn't affect the health of the fish, and hasn't been linked to any kind of disease or particular environmental condition.

I am using a medium action spinning rod with 8 lb flouro. If you aren't fishing a silver buddy then you are wasting your time. A lift drop retrieve is most effective. There also has to be baitfish in the area. I like to see fish on my electronics before I begin fishing a spot. I prefer to fish hard bottoms with a blade bait, rocky bottom is best. If you are picking up weeds then the bait isn't nearly as effective. I am going out tomorrow for around 4 hours and will be fishing a blade most of the day. I would be surprised if I don't get around 10 fish with a few 3-4 lb smallmouth and largemouth mixed in. Once you figure out how to fish a silver buddy and where to fish it then the results will be very rewarding for fishing this late in the season.

Not something we who started using b/c reels after the development of decent braking systems will probably ever be able to do. I've accidentally cast with no brakes on. I almost always am using very light spool tension. The results weren't pretty. I'd rather add some braking than spend the time removing backlashes (and changing out line due to those backlashes) while learning to cast with no brakes. I am willing to live with the slightly shorter casting distances as a result of using brakes.

Of the three rods you mentioned I would go with the Avid. Have used several St. Croix rods and have been satisfied with all of them. Customer service I have found to be the best in the business.

Why are you setting the tension knob and turning off the breaking system. It makes more sense to me to learn how to feather the spool and use the breaking system instead of applying a constant limiting pressure that from tension knob.

The Gitzit Chub Tube (3") in brown craw has brought hundreds of fish to my boat... it's right up there with a grub for putting fish in the boat when I have someone with me that just wants to catch as many fish as they can. My personal favorite is the Dry Creek Drop Shot Tube (2.75"), but since you mentioned crappie fishing I'll also mention Canyon Plastics sells "mini-Gitzits" with a thin profile (2.5") that we do well with throwing into the creeks flowing into the lake where pretty much all the predator fish congregate.

That was all kinds of Crazy ~ Just like they drew it up . . . Wow A-Jay

That was a heck of a game. There are some tears being shed up in Michigan after Nebraska beats Michigan State in the closing minute.

I surf fish every day here in california cause i live 5 minutes from the ocean, but im from back east. Nothing in the world works better for shore fishing than 2 inch GULP Sandworms in Camoflague or Blood Red colors carolina rigged with a size 4 Red Matzuo Baitholder hook. it has to be that exact red hook in that exact brand. Gulp sandworms work better than bait or real sandworms /bloodworms. See that attached picture on how to rig the sandworm (in the pic its the wrong color and wrong hook , but everything else is correct). I have caught multiple Halibut, Barred Surf Perch, Silver Perch, Sand Bass, Rock Bass, Shovelnose guitarfish (its a sharklike Ray) , Cabezon, White Croaker, Bonita, Mackeral , Corbina, Jack smelt , and White Seabass from the shore or rocks only using gulp sandworms and only in the past 16 months since i started surf fishing. Don't know what it is about them but we call them "Perch Crack" out here. If you want get a thing of "Hot sauce" fish attractant and that works great too. dont need anything but those and your are good

Only decision I have to make when I'm flipping grass is which color pit boss I'm going to use

A 3 or 4 inch Gulp minnow on a jighead swam slowly along the bottom or vertical jigged has accounted for dozens of channels, blues, and a few flatheads, and I don't even fish them that often.

Back with cheap mono and, as was said, don't tie to a hole. Josh

I wouldn't get too excited, they picked this event since it will only have 8 anglers...It's a whole different thing when you need to outfit 100+ boats with the stuff necessary to do this. Not to mention the impact it would have on the weigh in event and crowd for the local host city....Which is a big deal for both BASS and the host. I enjoy MLF, but I also realize it's a made-for-TV product. I don't think I'd like it if the major tours adopted that format for all regular events. There's been 100+ boat tournaments on the river every year for decades now, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think the smaller local tournaments do more harm honestly, the local anglers are more likely to not have brand new and properly functioning livewells. The volume of local events is much more overall too, there are multiple tournaments on the river nearly every single weekend from about March through October. Just think of the BASS event as a stocking program for Mattawoman Creek .

I surf fish every day here in california cause i live 5 minutes from the ocean, but im from back east. Nothing in the world works better for shore fishing than 2 inch GULP Sandworms in Camoflague or Blood Red colors carolina rigged with a size 4 Red Matzuo Baitholder hook. it has to be that exact red hook in that exact brand. Gulp sandworms work better than bait or real sandworms /bloodworms. See that attached picture on how to rig the sandworm (in the pic its the wrong color and wrong hook , but everything else is correct). I have caught multiple Halibut, Barred Surf Perch, Silver Perch, Sand Bass, Rock Bass, Shovelnose guitarfish (its a sharklike Ray) , Cabezon, White Croaker, Bonita, Mackeral , Corbina, Jack smelt , and White Seabass from the shore or rocks only using gulp sandworms and only in the past 16 months since i started surf fishing. Don't know what it is about them but we call them "Perch Crack" out here. If you want get a thing of "Hot sauce" fish attractant and that works great too. dont need anything but those and your are good

Dry Creek has a tube for every occasion, and they are awesome sauce. Check them out.

While I don't fish the Rage Craw I love me some Rage Lobster! During warm water periods I like the quicker rate of fall of the Texas Rig (un-pegged) During cold water periods I like the slower rate of fall & horizontal drop of the Rage Rig

Wilderness Systems ATAK, Commander 140 (I own one), and Ride 135 should all be on your list of boats to get seat time in.

I'll admit I talk with myself. I argue with myself too.

Not all the parts are in but here's how they sit now.

The wind is your friend, right? It looks like a spinnerbait day. LOL

I have tried many diet plans over the years, losing and regaining hundreds of pounds. In February of 2012 my cardiologist told me that I needed to lose some weight or not to make any long term plans. I weighed 338 pounds at the time. Today I weigh 190. I am convinced after much work and research that diets do not work. Diets are a short term solution to a life-long problem. A clear understanding of nutrition and exercise, and an ongoing commitment to living a healthy lifestyle is the only answer in my opinion. Anything else is a temporary fix. That is not to say that the latest diet plan will not allow you to lose weight, just that weight loss is only one part of the solution. Good luck!

They're the Zombies of reels lol! You just can't kill them!

Two college girls towing two jet ski's for the first time , pull down the ramp and tried very hard to figure out how they were going to get the ski's off , I told them to back up the ramp and turn around , the trailer needs to go in the water first !! True story !!

Here's a little piece I put together, The jig is my favorite lure to fish because of it's versatlity. Representation, First let's start with what a jig represents underwater, I believe the most Popular use of it is to imitate a Crayfish but they also can imitate baitfish as well. Jigs come in many different shapes, sizes and colors etc. The most popular crayfish imitators seem to be the good old skirted jig usually tipped with some sort of plastic or pork trailer. Speaking of sizes, shapes, colors, I'm only going to really get into the skirted jig with a plastic or pork trailer as this is the bait I primarily use, and use it as a crayfish imitator only. Sizes, There is a very large size range available, I mainly use 3 sizes of Jigs in my arsenal or depending on manufacturer the closest weight to these sizes 3/8 oz , ½ oz and ¾ oz. I will mainly use a 3/8oz when fishing really shallow. The presentation has more time to be subtle because of the lighter weight than just crashing on the bottom in the shallow water. 1/2 oz. Jig This is my go to, if there was only one jig weight aloud in my box, this would be it. I guess you could say the happy medium. I fish this 99 percent of the time from a regular bank down to 15 ft and anything in between. The only time I go to a 3/4 oz. Is if I need to get through some thick weeds, the wind is really blowing or I am fishing dep but want to fish it faster than normal. Colors, I don't get crazy on colors when it comes to jigs. I have 3 colors that I have a ton of confidence in and those are Browns, Greens, and Black. It seems the jig has excepted rules on what colors for what conditions were faced with, green or brown, natural colors for clearer water and black or darker colors for murkier water or night time. I do follow that to a point but not because of the rule but because I have confidence in throwing those baits in those conditions. Ive caught fish in clear water with a black jig and fish in murky water and at night with a green jig so what's that tell us. Color is confidence in my book. Trailers/Chunks These come in many shapes and sizes, Most of them are made to represent the pincher end of the crayfish which are either threaded or simply hooked on to the jig. I go rather simple in this area as far as selection. I mainly use 3 colors in 2 sizes, Green, Brown and Black in 2 or 3 sizes I always match the color of the trailer with the jig, (just a confidence thing) I will normally start off fishing with a 2 trailer in tournaments, I feel the smaller size may get me more bites in order to get my limit then I may upgrade trailer size to go after larger fish, but there is no rule here either, as I have caught fish over 6lbs. on 2 trailers and fish less than 12 on 3 trailers. As far as the many styles and brands of trailers, my selection is simple I use my own, I feel they give me the best chances of catching fish and here is why: When a bass hits a jig they will normally engulf the whole lure, Jig and trailer. It only takes a split second for that fish to reject the bait if it notices anything artificial about it. When I make my trailers I add a lot of crayfish oil to the plastic prior to cooking then once poured they go through a 2 stage salting process. Once you get a fish to bite them they are hard pressed to let it go because there is so much taste for them. Because there is so much craw oil in the plastic it makes the baits very soft which helps release the oils and salt when the bait is bitten. (Shameless Plug I know, but the truth as well) The Bite! I have been fishing a jig predominantly for the last few years and have probably experienced every type of bite possible, but then again maybe not, sometimes you don't feel anything at all, then sometimes they almost rip the rod out of your hand, and then you have everything in between, you must always be ready to set the hook. It is a must to be a line watcher when fishing a jig because you may not always be in direct contact with the lure, and the little twitch in the line that you didn't see could have been a 10 fish or the fish of a lifetime. One thing I really like to do is know the depth of the water I'm casting to, I feel this is very important, a ½ oz jig on 15lb mono sinks at about 1ft per second. So I know if I'm casting it into 12ft of water and the line stops sinking when I count to 6, something sucked it in, reel in any slack and set the hook. This is where I believe salts and scents are very handy, normally when I'm fishing a jig I'm fishing some type of structure, rocks, wood, grass, etc. with the equipment on the market you can pretty much feel everything the lure bumps into, when first getting into jig fishing I might have questioned myself was that a fish or a rock, don't know for sure. But now using my own baits and good equipment as well as a lot of time fishing the jig, I have the confidence in them to know that when I feel that little bump, I can pause and wait a second or two to see if there is any activity or lack there of on the end of the line before ramming the hook into a nice bass, or a stump. Equipment: For fishing these type and size of jigs, I use a 7' Heavy action bait casting rod, I feel this is very important and will not use a Jig on anything lighter, for a few reasons, 1.) These jigs normally have stout hooks that require a decent amount of force to get good penetration. I don't want to take the chance of losing a big fish because my rod didn't have enough power to drive the hook home, 2.) You have the weed guard to deal with as well when setting the hook. 3.) A lot of times the bass will really clamp down on a jig to crush it making it harder to move the jig on the set to get a good hook set, I noticed this especially with small mouth bass. As for the brand of rod that is personal preference but I think you should get the best you can afford in this area or the added sensitivity. For a reel, I prefer High speed reels 6.1:1 or 6.3:1 and a decent amount of line retrieval per handle turn. I like this because I can pick up any slack really fast as well as keep up with the fish if it is charging towards me. This is another brand preference issue, I prefer smaller profile reels so I can palm the reel and rest the line going into the reel on my pointer finger for extra sensitivity. Line I mainly use 15 lb test mono line for most jig fishing, I don't really go any lighter than that, I will go heavier for certain situations depending on a few factors, structure or cover that I'm fishing, or even the size of the fish I have a chance at catching will dictate the size. In really clear water I will use fluorocarbon line for reduced visibility. And if I need to go above 20 lb mono for any reason I will switch to a braid for line diameter purposes. You can use any of the three all the time, these are just my preferences and how I utilize each for certain situations. This is not intended to be a know all of Jig fishing document, these are the ways and equipment I personally like to use and have confidence in for the situations I face,(Notice the title) there are so many variables in fishing that could call for a different tactic from the lure type and size, to the tackle and line, it would be impossible to list them all. Some techniques I use... When I make a cast I let the bait sink, you must always watch your line, a lot of times they will hit it on the initial fall and your line will either twitch, stop before it should, or start going sideways, when this happens reel up the slack and set the hook. If the bait makes it to the bottom I will wait about 3 or 4 seconds and then drag it about 6-8 inches (Right now he's just cruising on the bottom), then pause, after 3-4 seconds drag again, and repeat this. Once I feel any obstruction, I pause then shake without dragging, I feel this simulates the crayfish trying to burrow under whatever obstacle it just bumped into. Then I give it 2 quick very short snaps, this would simulate the crayfish fleeing from a predator, then let it hit bottom and repeat the whole process. A lot of times right after the pause when you go to drag again it will feel heavy, set the hook. Hook sets are free, If you haven't fished a jig a lot , it takes time before you can get a really good handle on determining fish bites from obstructions. Practice makes perfect and when in doubt set the hook. That's for mostly open water hump style fishing and beating a bank. In cover I like to throw it in the nastiest stuff possible and shake it around then repeat casting to it (pretty much pick it to pieces.) Don't ever think there is such a thing as to shallow, I use to cast to about a foot off shore till a guy on the back of my boat beat me bad, the fish were in that spot right on the bank, now I cast to were I'm pretty much hitting the shoreline.