Boulders: Approach lines, rigs, and casting

Don’t spook fish tight to the rock with your first cast

Cast from the outside past the boulder, then bring the bait to the side. In shallow clear water, use enough distance to avoid the boat’s shadow covering the rock. If the first side gets no response, shift the boat to fish the other side, rather than repeatedly plunking the bait onto the rock from the same angle.

Work a Ned with small drag-and-pause moves; don’t wedge a light head into a crack then rip it out. As a drop-shot weight comes over the edge, manage slack—if the line suddenly falls early, verify the bite. After hooking up, check the leader near the hook for abrasion, then re-cast.

Starting gear and when to swap

Around boulders, use a 7' ML/F spinning rod, 2500 reel, 10 lb braid to 8 lb fluoro leader, 1/10–1/8 oz Ned head with a 2.5–3 inch soft bait; a 1/4 oz drop shot with a size 1 hook and a 3 inch finesse worm when a bit deeper or when you want it to hang off bottom, keeping reasonable drag.

Rigging, hooking, and tackle details: Ned rig, Drop-shot. If you need to compare boat positioning and execution, see Related tactics.

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