A drift sock is put in he water, and as the boat is being pushed by the wind, the drift sock drags behind, almost acting as an anchor that slows the boat down. For fisherman that often fish open water, moving at slow speeds, a drift sock is almost a must have. As a walleye fisherman , I like to use a drift sock on days where the wind pushes my boat too fast for an effective drift speed, which is usually around.
For lakes that do not allow trolling, this means that you are at the mercy of the wind, and you need to change tactics or location. Where trolling is legal, the drift sock allows you to keep fishing the same location, even when the wind does pick up—keeping you on the fish. Another use for the drift sock is to slow down your trolling speed. One option is a trolling plate. Slowing down also allows more precise placement of baits fished at depth, and fragile baits that rarely fare well at a fast clip, stay active.
Sea anchors also provide extra time to live-bait or chunk along weed lines and rips for dolphin, over humps and wrecks for blackfin tuna, near canyons and eddies for tuna and swordfish, over schools of kings and Spanish mackerel, or when deep jigging reefs and wrecks.
In bays and sounds, a slower drift keeps the boat near sea grasses, rock piles and bars as well as schooling fish, such as seatrout, striped bass, redfish and flounder. A drift sock, popular for small inshore and midsize coastal boats, is primarily a fishing aid.
It is smaller than a true sea anchor, and to function it requires just enough rode to rise and fall in sync with the boat. Its funnel shape creates drag, and depending on how close to the bow or stern the rode is attached, it makes the boat drift broadsided, or keeps the bow or stern into the seas. To retrieve it, you simply pull on the trip line, which brings the narrow end of the drift sock forward, breaking the drag.
By contrast, a sea anchor is a safety device first and foremost. It is several times larger than a drift sock, requires much more rode to work properly, and it also creates greater resistance, which slows the drift considerably. This fish finder definitely gives you the best bang for your buck. The high-definition 3D Structure Scan is a really cool feature that shows you all the underwater features and fish in the front, back, and sides of your boat.
Lastly, having the shortcut keys is a phenomenal idea that allowed me to customize my unit for my needs. In contrast, having an advanced fish finder may be a little overwhelming and may not be suitable for everyone.
For the first one, I use it on my kayak. The Striker is small, lightweight, and compact. Personally, I like the mapping feature that best. The screen stays bright and offers a crisp definition, even in blue-bird skies at high noon. The unit comes with everything you need. Just hook it up to a power source, add water, and off you go. But luckily I solved that problem. These Garmin Striker units are super popular and fly off the shelves especially this time of year.
Installation was really easy and you can even swap out other products Atwood makes into the same mount. I wrote a complete review guide, Best Tackle Bag for Fishing, check it out by clicking here. Fishing Pliers — Nothing will ruin a day quicker than getting a hook embedded in your hand, or worse your eye. I recommend a scale that has a large LED display like this one fishing scale here.
Wearing a wide brim hat not only gives you UV protection, but it also keeps you cool. It fits any size head and it feels really comfortable. My name is George and I'm been fishing my entire life and love all things outdoors. My passion is helping anyone catch more fish. The newest things I've been doing lately is learning how to break down and clean all my reels, teaching my boy how to kayak fish, and bushcraft wilderness survival.
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Share on facebook Facebook. Share on reddit Reddit. Share on pinterest Pinterest. In addition, the drift sock can also be used to hold the boat position when it is anchored. Who uses a drift sock? Fishermen are the most common people who use a drift sock.
Anyone who fishes out of a boat, canoe, kayak, stand up paddle board, or any other type of floating vessel should have a drift sock ready to use. Other recreational boaters also like to have drift socks handy, just in case their motor goes out on them the drift sock will help slow their drift.
This could be instrumental to allow rescuers to find that boat quickly and easily. In order to use your drift sock system you should have these three important pieces:. The Harness Line. Marine grade cordage rope is known to resist drying out, fraying, and frankly it can last you nearly a lifetime. The premium harness lines come with stainless steel quick release clips on both ends.
This will make it so much easier when you attach and remove both the harness from your boat. You will notice the better harness lines should have a highly visible buoy. The buoys will range in size from inches in length. The harness line with buoy serves four functions:. You might be inclined to, but this could have terrible consequences. Dragging the sock through the water using ordinary rope increases the chances the sock will twist, tangle, hinder the drift sock performance, and wind up frequently removing the harness from the sock and untangle the lines.
The Drift Sock. The drift sock has several parts that give its unique characteristics. The harness strap needs to be made of a durable nylon material strapping. Quality of the bucket material can vary. I recommend a drift sock that is made from heavy duty, construction grade rip-stop nylon material. The Collapsing Cord. The collapsing cord is often overlooked as an integral piece to your drift sock kit.
Like the harness line, the collapsing cord should also be made out of UV resistant marine grade polypropylene rope. The collapsing cord will save your back — literally! When you are done using your drift sock, you do not pull in the harness line. If you do this you could injury your back since you are pulling against the water that has filled the drift sock. Pulling on the harness line could also place unneeded stress on the harness straps and could cause tearing over time.
Before deploying your drift sock system simply tie one end of the collapsing strap to your boat and the other end to the drift sock collapsing strap. The best practice is to pull in your drift sock after use is pulling in the collapsing cord. The collapsing cord quickly and easily collapses the inflated drift sock.
Step 1 — Start by choosing a cleat with a hole big enough for the harness line to clip or tie down on to. Step 2 — Clip the other end of the harness line to the drift sock harness straps. Step 3 — Tie off one end of the collapsing cord to your boat or the harness line carabiner clip. Step 4 — Then tie down the other end of the collapsing cord to the collapsing strap located on the narrow end of the drift sock.
Step 6 — You can let out as much or as little amount of the harness line that you want. Make sure the buoy is closer to the drift sock. Furthermore, I recommend positioning the sock out approximately feet at first. Helpful Tip: If the weather is giving you choppy water conditions, try to let out as much rope as you can for better control.
Allow your Drift Master Drift Sock to slowly drift or slow troll. The preferred way to use your drift sock for trolling is to first find the fish or landmark on the map you want to target. Then continue past the spot heading into the wind. Drop all lures or bait into the water that you want to use. Deploy your drift sock and let it slow the boat down. This will allow for your lures to remain in the strike zone longer, giving your more opportunity to catch a fish.
It depends on a number of factors such as wind or current speed, the size of your boat, and what type of lure you are using. If the wind speed is really blowing, you want to position your boat farther back. It will take a least a minute or two to deploy the drift sock and for it to inflate and slow down the boat.
In windy conditions, it can really push you over the target spot faster than you think. Helpful Tip: Whatever distance you think you need to start your drift at, triple it.
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