Throwing Tins

[nofish]

I've never been one to have great luck with casting tins from shore. Allthough I understand working the bottom is great, but how do you keep from getting hooked up constantly? If you use a fast return to keep from getting hooked up, then your not on the bottom and retrieving too fast to attract a striper don't you think? Using the count and pull method still hooks you up? Anyone with a better success rate?

[stripercrazy]

some tins run deep, some shallow, try a different tin. I use them on the beach, small tins work great when sandeels are around or small bait. get some shallow running tins.ed

[Frightnight]

Sorry to sound stupid, but new to the fishing thing this year. What are tins?

[Leptar]

Originally Posted by Frightnight

Sorry to sound stupid, but new to the fishing thing this year. What are tins?

pt. jude, charlie graves, acme, hooligan are just a few companies that make tins. Tins are lures that are made from metal (usually tin, hence the term) that are fished parallel (cast and retrieve). You can fish a tin vertically but then your jigging and it's not the same...

[Pete_G]

Tins are a precision weapon for me. I don't usually use them to "search" the water, but they are certainly effective for me that way.

I like to use tins in a couple situations. One, is where I know the structure I'm casting at but can't necessarily reach it due to shear distance or due to wind blasting almost everything else out of the sky. Two, (and I HATE fall and chasing birds) when the fish are out of range and I need to reach them.

Check out tins like the Pt. Jude Sea Scallop and the 2.5 ounce Butterfish for tins that ride higher in the water column. Almost all butterfish tins stay high up even with a slow retrieve. The 3.5 Nautilus is my long range bomber. It sinks slower then you think it might but it's no Sea Scallop.

Every plug bag should have at least a couple tins.

[Frightnight]

Thanks for the lesson from both of you. Pete, I guess you have those " tins" at your shop? I will be up if so. Let me know. Thanks again

[Pete_G]

Of course.

[nofish]

Hi Pete, unless it's a trade secret, what do you use to search the water? And if you answer part one, why are these your best search weapons?

[Pete_G]

If I'm actually searching the water then I don't know the spot I'm fishing that well, or it's simply a spot where the bottom is so random casting at anything in particular is pointless.

If it's a spot I've never fished before I'll often fire a bucktail out there to see what the bottom is actually doing. It's a great tool to learn the spot and search for fish at the same time. You'll feel the rocks, bumps, ledges, etc, that might be down there with a bucktail. Some Newport and Narragansett spots, if you've never fished them before, can definitely benefit from a quick feeling out with a bucktail. Sometimes I just keep fishing the bucktail instead...

Point Judith, as a contrast, is a place where there's some structure worth targetting but overall it's a spot where simple fan casting casting is very effective. It's mostly a big boulderfield not counting some minor changes in the bottom. I'm not married to any plug or tin in particular for a spot like PJ, other then that it needs to ride fairly high up to avoid hanging.

[nofish]

Thanks Pete. Yeah, I have to change my approach. I've been doing too much plugging and I'm just getting back to bucktails now. I'll also start going to my surfhogs more. I just can't seem to get away from zinging them habs and those SS poppers though.