I have been seeing people talking about drifting on here and was wondering what do you mean by it. Is it like trolling. What kind of set up do you use.  Thanks Mike

Here's how I do it:

First, I use drift socks.  How big & how many depends on the type of boat you use.  I want to drift somewhere around .5 mph.  It ain't always possible, but that's what I shoot for.  Next, You need good rod holders, the type that you cans tick your rods in & never have to worry bout losing a rod, or a rod holder AND rod, for that matter.  I use BeeReady rodholders.  

For terminal tackle, and rigging... I use a regular 1 1/2 oz egg sinker, and a carolina rig.  It's a little different than a normal carolina rig I guess.  I usually use 20 lb berkley big game main line on my drifting reels & 40 or 50 lb leaders going to my hook, and I like a 30-36" leader.  For hooks, I'll use 7/0 or 8/0 octopus circles and when drifting I ALWAYS put a 3" croppie float right in front of my hook to keep the bait off the bottom.  This makes it much easier for the cat to get the bait in his mouth.  When a fish takes the bait, make him really load the rod before you even touch it.  When it's loaded up good & you know he's hooked, remove the rod, cross his eyes, and reel him in.

One other thing, when you're drifting you don't want to use whole baits usually.  I use cut bait exclusively, mainly because whole shad (which is what I use in nearly other situation) will spin like a son of a gun when you drift them.  Before long, you've got a darn mess down there & don't even realize it.  Try to match the size of bait with the size of fish you expect to catch.  '

Hope this helps.

Here is the rig I use for drift fishing I use a 3 way swivel with a 8 inch line on the bottom which I crimp splitshots on  just enough to sink the rig then I use a 20 to 24 inch leader with a 3 or 4 inch cigar bobber and a 5/0 circlehook if the splitshot gets hung up they will slide off when you pull on the line and the rig will float up and you can replace a couple of splitshots and you are right back in business   and I also cut the tails of the bait to stop the spinning and filet them on one side  to get more blood in the water



Here is how I rig my carolina rig a no roll sink from 2 to 4 oz a glassbead to protect the knot then a 50 to 80lb leader 12 to 18 inches [shorter for livebait ] and anywhere from 7/0 to 10/0 circlehook

Hope this Helps

Yes it sure does help me out. Thank you so much for posting the pics. I will be trying them both out as soon as i can. One more thing, what kind of fish is that, creek chub, shad, or something else. Thanks for all your help.

The cigar bobber has a peg in it to keep it in place and it is important that the peg is on the topside toward the swivel so that it prevents the bobber from rotating   :wink:  ::