Quote Originally Posted by LazyDays View Post
Only have experience trolling but wouldn’t mind mixing in a little drift fishing. Does a “5 count” mean cast the bait, once it hits the water count to 5, then start slowly reeling in?
Yes, that is correct. However, since everyone counts a bit differently. Here's what I do. On my first cast in an area, I will start counting as soon as it hits the water, and then stop counting when it hits the bottom. Let's say that the water is 24 feet deep and it hit the bottom at a 20 count. Then I know that 12 feet down would be a 10 count and 6 feet down would be a 5 count, etc. See where the fish are marking and target that depth. You may not mark the super shallow fish, so always mix in some higher counts now and then to see if they are high in the water column. Especially when it is calm and sunny.