OK
To date we have discovered, always the hard way, that match stick releases are a pain in the ass when you have to cast the whole rig out and down from the shore. They are ideal when you can drift off a boat and gently drop them in to be swept downtide but from the shore, they are a disaster. The impact of the whole Pollack bait (porgies in winter) is enough to smack the balloon off the water and if it hits an incoming wave wrong, off it floats and the bait nosedives into conger territory...
We've been trying various options. One was even a kite purchased online from New Zealand. It was launched into a strong offshore breeze, and promptly did a 180 and smashed itself to sh*te into the cliff behind us = still pulling the piss out of poor Peter - "the pilot" - this six months later.
The best we've got to date is a modified zip slider rig. Wire trace (130 lb IGFA) to choice of hook (8/0 bronzed Shaughnessy) holds the kilo pollack flapper. Swivel...
[ Continued ]