Alternative Retrieve With The Carolina Rig

[airborne_angler]

Just picked up the book "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" I'm reading about the Stitching retrieve. I've heard of it, but never really studied it in depth.

Does anyone use this retrieve...how would it work if applied to a Carolina Rig to replace the standard "Drag"

Would the heavy weight be too much for a stitching retrieve?

[BobP]

The advantage of a C-rig to me is that you can fish it very deep and it covers lots of water quickly.  So no, I wouldn't stitch retrieve it.  That something I'd reserve for a T-rig presentation, if ever.

[Fishes in trees]

I haven't read the book but I have read several articles about stitching, mostly from in-fisherman magazine.  It is a way to maximize feel, as you are literally bringing in line by the finger full.  As I recall, most of the guys who practiced it were doing so from an anchored boat.  The article I remember reading, recognizing structure and anchoring your boat a correct distance away from the structure was a big part of the retrieve.

 

Just to my mind, it is problematic how well you could stitch if you weren't anchored and there was any wind at all.  It seems to me that wind drift could defeat many of the advantages allegedly gained by stitching.

 

It helps me to remember that stitching was developed a long  time ago, as a way to maximize sensitivity, between the fisherman and the lure.  As I recall at the time, the lure of choice at the time was a plastic worm, varying in size from large (8" to 10") to extra large (15" or so).     Ok, so at the time, rods were made out of fiberglass or at best a fiberglass/graphite blend.  Only a few brands of mono were available then and they weren't of the quality that we have readily available now.   Braided lines as we know them now didn't exist.  Braided dacron lines existed, but those were a different animal from what we commonly use now, for the most part.  Hooks, for the most part are sharper and of higher quality now.

 

So, all these equipment facts are relevant when you consider stitching.   Stitching was devised as a way to maximize feel, given the technology that they had available then.    You can make the argument that if they would have had graphite rods available, reduced stretched and abrasion resistant mono lines and the other products of fishing technology that weren't available 30+ years ago, stitching wouldn't have been invented.

 

As I remember it, one of the keys to stitching was a stable platform, i.e. you needed to be anchored.  How many of us even own an anchor now?  I know I don't.   I keep several lines on the boat, some of them rather long, but for the most part I use them to tie up to trees when I am eating lunch.

 

I think you could upgrade even aspect of stitching gear using readily available current technology and you would have sensitivity unimagined by the guys who thought up and practiced stitching.  Also I think that if you didn't anchor your boat, you'd get mixed results at best.

 

I don't think that I have the patience to anchor my boat, and then cast out a worm and take 10 to 15 minutes to retrieve it.  I think that would drive me nuts, more specifically I think it would drive me more nuts than I already am.  I'm not likely to take it up because for the most part I don't think it fits my temperament or style of fishing.    I think that it is a style of fishing that is rooted in the past, developed using the technology of the time to solve specific presentation issues.   That's what I think.  That isn't any reason for you not to fool around with stitching and see what you think.  Good luck.  

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I read the book 4 times this winter.. caught me some nice healthy bass in the 7 pound range stitching a jig on the bottom and a 12inch worm. it works the books talks about find the biggest bass  some times those fat mommas want a slowly pulled worm on the bottom that takes 3 minutes to pass her.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

and I only stich at a few places where I've found big bass and now when and where to throw. other than that I don't waste my time..