I have seen this in a couple reports and on a couple other boards. I am sure its the 3-4 rods hanging off the transom when you see people pulling boards and such:stuck_out_tongue:, but how are they fished? What purpose do they serve? Are they just there to cover more area? It usually seems they have weight on them. Are these just DR setups being trolled with the boards and suchā¦ Using same weight as DR or do most people come down a lil on the lead size? Any help here? Thanks
MurrayMaker,
A Transom rod is just a free line right behind your boat. I use very little weigh on mine. It works better in shallow water. I donāt let a lot of line out, I usually can see the swivel thats tied to my leader. I just started last year using transom rods and they are awesome in shallow water, remember to keep your drag loose, because the fish will hit it so hard and agressive if its tight the line will break. I hope this helps.
The transom bait is so coolā¦It not only catches fish but you often get to see the strike. Sometimes it just scares the daylights out of you when the water explodes right behind youā¦ Like Tommy said it seems to be most effective in shallow water and I prefer a larger bait like a nice gizzard shad or trout in that position because they seem to be more hardy and can take the abuse of being dragged around on a short leash much better. They tend to wake more at the surface than the other baits in your spreadā¦ You may notice more hits on it when you make turns in the creek or river. Experiment with leaving the reel in free spool with the clicker on and engage the reel after the fish is zipping off with it. Sometimes this helps when they want to short strike the baits. Just make sure you engage the reel before you try to pick up the rod from the rod holder. When they are slamming it, its probably best to just engage the reel to start withā¦ It certainly dispels the notion of Stripers being boat shy. I think they see the boat as cover for ambush or either assume the bait is trying to swim under the boat for protectionā¦either way the striper will blast him. Another variation of this is to put a down rod off the side of the boat in shallow water and drop the weight to where it just disappears maybe 2 or 3 feet down. You probably wouldnāt think to use a down rod when you are fishing in shallow water but believe me, it worksā¦
Iāve spent about 85% of my lifeās wages on fishing, the rest I just wastedā¦
My transom rod is very light action with a spinning reel that is spooled with 15 pound test. I use a #5 splitshot and only let out 10 to 15 feet of line. Some days the cheapest combo I have accounts for most of my fish. Bites in the prop wash are extremely exciting!!
thank yall very much. much more informative than i thought. In fact first thing after work going to have to do some crafting on the back of the boatā¦
In the tournament Sat. Team Shad Up & Fish had only 2 keeper fish at our first spot of the morning. We moved to our 2nd spot that was in about 5 ft of water and got our freelines, transom bait and planer boards out. Big John asked me if I was going to put the two ft down rod out off the side of the boat and I said āoh yeahā. I baited up, set it out and less than 5 mins, BAM keeper #3 hits it. I rebaited it set it out and BAM keeper #4 hits it and goes in the striper tubesā¦Instantly we knew we needed another off the other side of the boat. We set one out on the other side and BAM it catches a fish tooā¦3 fish in a row on the 2ft down rods when we put them outā¦
Iāve spent about 85% of my lifeās wages on fishing, the rest I just wastedā¦
Our transom rods were on fire Saturday! It got to the point where I could look at the graph, even in less than 10 feet of water, and know one was getting ready to go off. Also, I donāt think Gary believed me when I talked of jumping stripers. He does now! We had a 23 incher hit a transom rod and rocket a good 4 feet above the surface like a tarpon! Anyone else ever experience this?
sure have fogmanā¦when the water is shallow, they will definitely come out of the water on the strikeā¦ I donāt think iāve ever seen a striper over ten pounds come way out of the water but the smaller ones sure haveā¦I have seen a huge striper pushing a wake with the top her head and back out of the water, going about five feet for a trout in two feet of water. i bet it was a 30 pounderā¦she got the trout but I didnāt get herā¦
Iāve spent about 85% of my lifeās wages on fishing, the rest I just wastedā¦
In the tournament Sat. Team Shad Up & Fish had only 2 keeper fish at our first spot of the morning. We moved to our 2nd spot that was in about 5 ft of water and got our freelines, transom bait and planer boards out. Big John asked me if I was going to put the two ft down rod out off the side of the boat and I said āoh yeahā. I baited up, set it out and less than 5 mins, BAM keeper #3 hits it. I rebaited it set it out and BAM keeper #4 hits it and goes in the striper tubesā¦Instantly we knew we needed another off the other side of the boat. We set one out on the other side and BAM it catches a fish tooā¦3 fish in a row on the 2ft down rods when we put them outā¦
Iāve spent about 85% of my lifeās wages on fishing, the rest I just wastedā¦
I have caught many, many quality fish on downrods in less than 5 feet of water, including several over 20 lbs. It is amazing at times, how many fish are attracted to a shallow downrod.
