“This isn’t finesse fishing,” chuckled Jeb loudly. “We want to get them in.”
It starts with their terminal tackle. He ties a ¼-ounce jighead to the end of his line. Eighteen inches above that he ties a 2-ounce pyramid sinker directly to the line. (A pyramid sinker is better than other shaped sinkers because it plants into the bottom better without twisting up, he explained.)
Tina’s rig differs only in that she uses a 2/0 Mustad Ultra Point Wide-Gap Croaker Hook, which she feels gives her better hooking results.
Both stick to 30-pound test monofilament, although they admitted they break lines on fish “all the time.” Jeb said he’d rather fish with 50-pound line, but that it’s too difficult to break off when their hooks snag cables and other debris under the bridges.
Both he and Tina use one-piece, solid fiberglass rods, Shakepeare Sturdy Stiks in medium-heavy power, and muscular Zebco Quantum spinning reels to go with them.
“I’ve broke a bunch of hollow poles on fish,” Jeb explained as to their preference for solid rods. “These are cheap, too,” he grinned.
The clunky-looking equipment doesn’t impair their fishing, since long casts aren’t called for. They either make short lob casts or drop their hooks straight down.
The couple has a shed full of expensive lighter rods and reels, but seldom use them. “You can’t do this with 2-pound test line and light rods,” he exaggerated for effect. “The fish always break off.”
