FG

[portofthesea]

I'll amend my above statement based on further clarification:

Hanging 250' of line off the back of your boat is asking for trouble. That is 85 yards, 100 feet beyond the legally-required passing distance under power. I can't tell what someone is doing 250' away on their boat, nor do I care. I wouldn't know how to tell that you are fishing steel line.

I'm not saying who's right or who's wrong, but if I had 250' off the back of my boat, I would fully expect someone to snag it, regardless of time of year. Running downriggers with a bit of a setback seems like an excellent way to achieve the same result.

I respectfully say you are wrong. You cannot achieve the same result. You will never be able to achieve the same result that my flatfish will do with the steel line than running a down rigger. You will constantly have a false release and not have the same presentation. Another example of someone not understanding how steel line works. You can argue all you want. Those who don’t like steel line fishing don’t like any of the original fisherman that taught people how to fish the gorge and catch very large fish. 
Comes down to respect. I have fished the gorge for over 15 years and I understand many of the gentlemen on this board are much older than me and the fished longer. However, I became good friends with a guy who is fished up there for over 35 years and 30 of those being paid. He was taught by one of the original steel  Fishman, a gentleman named Bruce. I urge you to reach out to Bruce and Kyle And ask them how they feel about your opinion. I would imagine you will get an earful and tell you to keep your head on a swivel that if you can’t realize what another man is doing when you were 100 feet away from him you might want to put the boat back on the trailer. I will reiterate one last time. The gentleman came by me with the rods, nearly touching, and then they did a sharp left face. It was an idiotic move, and I mentioned it on here to allow other people to understand that you need to be more respectful. I intentionally added it to my report to allow people to see that some people might think that they’re doing the right thing, but in reality you’re not. Just because you have been doing it longer doesn’t mean you are doing it right. 
I can add another example of being a courteous fisherman. I met a gentleman by the name of Travis up at Willard the other day and our rods nearly touched as we passed each other on the structure We were trying to follow. We each talked to each other and  told each other which way we were going as we went by, we appreciated  each other‘s communication. we found out we both like to fish the gorge and we each made a new  fishing friend.

Redrebel- 
  I also fish with steel line at the gorge. Bruce also showed me how to use it and helped me set up for it. Kyle has always passed on helpful info too. I’ve tried jigging but always fallback to my steel for larger fish .