Story by Shaye Baker on Wired 2 Fish

One big thing to keep in mind when fishing vertically with a spinning rod out deep is the positioning of your rod. This is something that was first brought to my attention while watching two-time Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year Brandon Palaniuk fish a drop shot. Palaniuk would click the bail on his reel and begin to let his bait fall to a fish he saw below his boat on his graph, a common practice.

But in an effort to allow his bait to fall faster and straighter, Palaniuk would point his rod tip to the water and raise his reel up in the air. Moving his rod into a vertical position like this reduced the friction of his line dragging across the eyes of his rod.

This difference might seem negligible from the surface. But when trying to hit a fish on the head in 30 feet of water, while fishing from a boat that’s coasting overhead and being rocked by wind and waves, this slight shift in the angle of the rod could increase your accuracy by 5 to 10 feet. READ MORE