Two Lines or One.

[MuskieBait]

(03-05-2014 03:09 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  I'm not real good at casting/retrieving 2 rods at the same time............ you?

2 lines in the Great Lakes came about not so long ago after Pacific salmon fever began - as a political crowd appeasing offering to Lake O boat owners/anglers & cities along the coasts to enhance the tourism $.... and a financially driven gesture for charter boats owners in all the Great Lakes..... it had zilch to do with how tough it was............. it was $$$$$$ and votes.

You missed consideration of bait fishing. This is where the crux of the inequality of the current regulation lies.

Cheers,

OldTimer

Casting/Retrieving - you only need to fish one rod at a time for that. It is possible to have 2-3 or more rods all rigged up with different lures and cover an area quickly with multiple presentations within a relatively short period of time. No need for 2 rods fished at the same time.

I'm not sure how people fish bait. There are different presentation even with bait. Live bait does not necessarily imply a stationary presentation.

A live minnow or leech bounce on the bottom in the current is just as active and effective (if not significantly more I would argue) as fishing a lure. You do not need to sit that live bait pinned on the bottom stationary.

Live bait fished under a float rig can be just as active. Crappie anglers are good example of fishing pinhead shiners or section of worms under the float with a pull, pause, pull, pause cadence. This allows the angler to cover water effectively, especially weedlines and bulrush edges where crappies hole up. You can't work two rods in that situation either.

Live bait on a jighead is popular for walleye and smallmouth bass. You can bump that along any bottom. Again, you can't fish with two rods at a time anyways, but you can effective cover water just as well.

The ONLY situation where I do see a need for two or multiple rods is carp fishing where it is a stationary presentation and you do need it to cover water.

Most people think sitting a live bait in one spot is a sure way to catch fish...but if there are no fish around, it doesn't matter how lively and attractive your fish may be...and how effective that presentation could be. Even with live bait, you need to fish actively to find fish and to catch fish.