Fishing the "slide" is relatively simple. Get your "slide" rod with your plastic tied on, and go stand at the stern rail. The second someone yells hookup or you hear a clicker scream, chuck that thing as far back as you can. That is the basic idea behind fishing the "slide", but it is a little more complicated than that. Find out which side of the boat, the skipper usually fishes on, most boats seems to fish the port side. In that case stand at the port/ stern corner, the reason for this is so you don't tangle up other the troll lines. When you do cast out, throw it as far back as you can, and leave the reel out of gear for a few seconds letting a hundred or so feet of line out; this gets the bait to sink. Keep the line in between your forefingers as it sinks, so you can detect a pick up on the sink. Be mindful of the line to take a quick jerk and start to come off faster, this is what will happen if a fish picks it up on the sink. Towards the end of the "slide" put the reel in gear and let the boat troll your bait till it comes to a stop. Often times when you engage your reel you are already on. If not begin a slow to medium retrieve. Tuna will bite quickly retrieved swim baits but, they really like them at almost the same speed the bass eat them at. When they bite, don't expect a hard full speed hit. Most of the times as you are cranking or trolling it will seem as though you have a hooked a plastic bag in the water, that's a fish, Turn the Handle! Half way through your retrieve if you are still not bit put the reel out of gear and let it sink another fifty feet or so and then work it back to the boat.

Fishing the slide is an extremely fun way to fish albacore. Most troll stops will produce a slide fish, but the key is being one of the firsts in the water. While everyone is scrambling for a bait, you could already be hooked up. This is an increasingly popular method for targeting tuna, so there are more and more people doing it now a days. Please remember to be courteous, of other anglers, if you are not careful it is easy to get in a lot of tangles while fishing the "slide." You don't want to be on an all day boat with 35 strangers, and be the one responsible for all the tangles. It's a pretty quick way to become very unpopular. Just remember to keep your line in front of you and to turn the handle when you get bit. Good fishing.

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