Rob,
Fishing the slide was really sweet. I was gettin into it. I saw a couple methods for bein quick on the slide. Some guys would sit on the rail and cradle the rod so that it stuck out, behind them (and they were holding it backwards) over the water. When somebody said hook up, they'd just pop it into freespool and turn around. I didn't like that method, because you can't tell if the line's wrapped around your tip, or your swimbait tail's stuck on your hook, etc. I like to know that I'm ready. What I did was hold the rod in my right hand with my thumb on the spool and the reel in freespool. On the underside of the rod, where my fingers held the rod, I pinched the swimbait tail between my middle finger and the rod. That way all I had to do was lift up one finger, grab the swimbait with my left hand, and throw it in the water as I turned around. It felt most comfortable for me.

One thing I picked up, was that if you've got a yellow stuck in a kelp paddy (or seabass in kelp, or calico, etc.) you can ping the line with your thumb and it'll send a vibration down the line which will make the fish want to get away and often they'll turn around and get away from the kelp. I thought that was cool.

I think I said it in the report, but on the slide, most guys were just freespooling till the boat stopped. I was getting bit better by engaging the reel once the swimbait got just in front of the trolling feathers and then letting it drag through the water as the boat stopped.

Also, somebody told me that when they're trolling, after one rod goes off, they'll take the clicker off and freespool the feather for about five seconds and often the fish will hit it. This chick said she got like 5 fish like that.

As for gear on the slide, a 7 foot rod is key. Anything shorter and you're too close to the troll rigs and get tangled. Anything longer and you get your arse kicked while you're amongst 20 other lines in the stern and will probably end up sawing somebody off or getting sawed off. Something like a jigmaster or 99 sized reel is cool. I was using the yellowtail special (narrow 4/0) and it seemed perfect. Most guys will tell you to fish 30 on the slide, but I got sawed off on 40, so I'd recommend 40 (afterall there's four 80# rigs in the water...).

I was gettin bit really good on channel islands chovie, but if I were to run out I was going to switch to green sardine. I asked deckhand Eric if he ever fishes green sardine on the slide and he says it catches, so I gotta try that... Didn't get around to it on this trip. I figured if I was catching fish, I was gonna stick to that!!!

I think with a little practice, I might get fairly capable on the slide. It's super fun (much better than stupid bait fishing... j/k ;-)). I didn't try the iron, except when we'd circle a kelp paddy and the yellows would hit a feather, then I dropped back a scrambled egg 6x jr. but didn't get bit... Those megabait irons were gettin bit fairly well just being yo yo'd and hopped up and down underneath the boat while we were at a standstill though.
-Brian