Originally Posted By: hybridcx
with a spinning rod set up how do you long line through boulder gardens while on anchor and do it smoothly? i have found a baite caster works way better and its instant thumb down and pull when the bobber goes down 100 yards away from you. i missed a nice mid teener fish on the hoh this year due to long linning with my 9'6" lammi light set up and learnd a good lesson as i got to be net boy for my buddy who was bait casting long line and limmited in the first boulder garden.
i cup my hand around the spool and use that to control the line coming off. if i see a strike, my finger flips the bail and i cross its eyes.

it's easier to see my method work in person than it is to describe, that's for sure. also a very effective way free drift bait(the main reason i own a spinning rod), or control a spoon's depth. todd and herzog may preach the virtues of the levelwind for spoons, but the original spoon man himself, milt keizer, preferred a 9' fenwick spinning setup!