Any Expert Dog Walkers on board?

[Jim]

What kind of rod do you use for this technique?

In the video he says no fluorocarbon or braid, use heavy mono.

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[SMDave]

I agree with him. Fluorocarbon will sink and drag the nose of the lure down, making the walking action look weird. Braid, since has no stretch, very easily loops around and wraps around those trebles. Annoying! The only topwater I use braid for is buzzbaits. Heavy mono will - like he said, float higher and keep the bait up, while having enough stretch to stop the hooks from snagging on the line but being able to pull the bait enough to walk the dog.

 

[Captain Ahab]

SM Dave - where do you get that stuff about braid? You need to watch Jake (jkbirocz) work a sammy with braid - he makes it bark!

 

[jkbirocz]

I understand where the guy in the video is coming from, other than I hate mono so much. A stiff flouro leader takes care of the line from getting wrapped in the hooks. I still feel 20lb braid will walk a bait better and easier than 16lb+ mono. Not to mention I get a lot of hits at the end of a long cast on the first movement of the bait, and the braid makes the hookset much easier. As far as I'm concerned though, its all preference and the given situation you are face with.

 

[SMDave]

Braid, when I fish poppers and dogs, always gets wrapped around my hooks! It's annoying! :x

 

[BassAddict]

So can anyone explain how to walk the dog, ive been trying and I thought I could do it decent but after watching that video ive come to the conclusion that my walk the dog technique looks like crap!!!

 

[Jim]

So can anyone explain how to walk the dog, ive been trying and I thought I could do it decent but after watching that video ive come to the conclusion that my walk the dog technique looks like crap!!!

mine too man, mine too

 

[jkbirocz]

There are a bunch of ways to fish spooks, its all preference...as I said before. I fish them two basic ways: Jerk sidearm and jerk straight up and down. Mainly the sidearm give you more control of the bait, but lacks hookset power far away. Straight up and down jerking is good for when you are farther out in your cast. Typically I switch from straight up n down to sidearm when I get a certain distance in from the end of my cast. When jerking straight up and down, towards your body, I mainly go between 9-11:00 or 10-12:00 on the jerks with the rod. The main thing you have to remember is the bait gets its return action, from your jerk, from the amount of slack you put toward the bait after you jerk. So basically if you give the bait enought slack after you jerk it you can make it walk a complete 180 degrees. You jerk it, it jumps forward to the left or right, you give it slack, it continuse to turn a full 90 degrees....then you jerk again...so on. While I mainly catch fish on constant retrieves, my larger fish often come on erratic retrieves. Letting the bait sit a long while....a few hard walks...let it sit 30+ seconds...Blam...Fish.

I agree that braid will tangle in the hooks often, but it gives you way better feel and if you feather your spool or thumb it right, to give it a soft entry, the braid doesnt have a chance to tangle.

Don't be afraid to work its comletely erratically, just jerk it hard and send it jumping, this is a much more natural action to fish, I think anyways.

 

[Mattman]

Jim

I see two types of rods for just about all topwaters including WTD type lures.

Shorter stiffer rods and longer more moderate rods.

I prefer a shorter stiffer rod. I don't like anything longer than 6'6" as I fish tip down. Longer than that and the rod tip is way in the water on a downsweep. 6' or 6'6" at most. I also prefer a bit stiffer rod as I feel it gives me a better connection with the lure and controlling its action. On long WTD runs, its not as critical. But when you want just 2 or 3 or 4 movements from the bait, I find a stiffer rod much more precise.

I use braid for my line. Typically Suffix. WTD topwaters were one of my last hold outs with mono. I had switched to superlines for just about everything else but continued to use mono for topwaters. I finally dropped mono 2 years ago and couldn't be happier. I certainly don't encounter some of the "negatives" listed above.

Walking The Dog is something you need to practice. Its a cadence you just need to get into. My rod hand not only "bounces" at the wrist but it also goes in a small circle. My reel hand also moves in a small circle and together they create a smooth reel while popping the bait just enough to WTD. I honestly don't feel its something you can just tell someone how to do. You need to get out and practice with it until you get the cadence down. Once you have that, you'll be golden. I can WTD with my Shimano Scorpion, Abu Forell, regular Abu, Shimano Twinpower 3000 and Shimano Biomaster 2500. Its all in the cadence.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the replies. I have mono on everything except my flipping rod which I use 50 pound power pro and my jig skipping spinning rod which also has 50 pound power pro.

When I was in florida I used Shinerman77's Baitcaster combo and he had braid on it too. I used that one rod for Plastics and actually a WTD type bait.

You guys are slowly converting a mono guy into a BRAID user.