Fished the same ol' area today. Started real slow, mainly because of the weed problem due to incoming tide. Ended the day with 10 spotties, and 2 sandies, 9 of the spotties were on the powerpulse worm (they should sponsor me with all the adds I do). The rest were on slow trolled 3" Castaics w/ rubber poured around head, dragged along the docks . I dumped at least 15 spotties before I got the hang of the Carolina rigging (new to me). Probably dumped the same with the Castaics due to daydreaming. Over al, a pretty nice day.

Ed

How big are the fish you're getting in Newport on the powerpulse and Castaics? What Castaic bait are you throwing?

Here's my best advice on carolina rigs as far as hook setting and boating fish: use the longest rod you can get away with. I carolina rig with a 7' casting rod and high speed reel. Make a sweeping, fluid hookset, and then REEL like mad to put maximum pressure on the fish. If you're using spinning stuff, use a 6 1/2 or 7 foot spinning rod. Long rods and fast reels are a key component to effective carolina rigging!

southernswimbait.com
BigBait Fishing in the South

Yeah, I kinda figured out the hookset thing after dumping way too many of them. As far as the size thing goes, They run the gamut from a few smaller ones around 8-10", to a few in the 2-3lbish range. Most seem to come in around 1-2lbs. The average fish in NP there is a hog in the harbor I work from. The castaics are the 3" all rubber ones with the head already in it. I have had the best luck with the clear with red and black flake. Though, the brown with salt and pepper also work. Haven't tried the blue or the chart. They are pricy at about $4.50 for 3 of the middle size ones. Be sure to use pliers when pulling out the hook, it will save quite a bit of money. It's easy to go through 6 in a session, so I save them for late morning early afternoon when the bite is slow. Mostly, I fish the powerpulse worms, they're like gold to me right now. I only switch to other stuff if it's been more than about 45min. with out a bite. They don't all ways want it, but, when they do it slays. Try them out and post the results, I'd like to see how others are doing with them. Where do you usually fish? Any hot bait for you?