In one of the lakes I fish, I target vertical objects. Examples are dock post, standing timber,( with the tree tops rotted and gone), and in shallow water, stumps, along with weed edges.                I'm always trying to get a straight, vertical fall next to these things. The water is too clear for me to move close and pitch, so, I'm always casting here, from a good distance to not spook any fish.                                              I often cast several feet past these objects, reel slowly up to them, then kill the retrieve so my bait falls as straight down next to these things as possible.                                            In a past thread on fishing t rigs, Catt mentioned making your cast, then immediately stripping an arms length of line from the spool, to get a straight, vertical fall.                                              I did this for the first time recently, and, there was no doubt that I got a straight vertical fall.I cast, then with light thumb pressure on the spool, let the line feed through the guides until my bait hit bottom. It works well, and holding the line this way is a great strike indicator also.                                                       The longer rods along with high speed reels we have now are good for many things. But, there's still a good chance you've moved your bait away from your target with this tackle.       In this case, your banking on the fish moving away from the cover to hit your bait, and, this doesn't always happen.              You might want to try this if your fishing these vertical things. And of course, thanks Catt. Another good tip, and one more reason I like BR. Always learning something here.                You'll need some slack line to make it happen. But as Ive learned here, fishing these t rigs is all about slack/ tension with your line, and learning how to control it.                  

This is a really great tip. I always do this when target casting with jigs and t-rigs. Unless you’re using a very heavy weight, letting the weight of the bait take line off the reel will inevitably cause it to pendulum back to you. 

Pitching with excess slack line (stripping) is really the only way to get a vertical drop for a light weightless plastic. 
Problem is it’s next to impossible to detect a light hit with braid. 
 

Reverse rigging an Ika will make it fall away from you. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

Yeah any friction on the line is going to make It pendulum back to you. Even just free spool may not be enough depending on the weight of the lure. Gotta strip line some times. And hope you see the line jump on a bite because it’s hard to feel. 

Limp line helps a lot here, braid is great minus the bite detection.  if you're fishing weighted, then more weight will pull the line more directly and fall more vertical (as the compromise of a faster fall usually).  Also when you pitch you can end with your rod tip high in the air to get another couple feet of 'slack'.

FFS has been an eye opener in this regard for me. Lots of variables come into play that anglers probably overlook, and I’d guess a good bunch of guys aren’t getting a true vertical drop like they think they are a lot of the time.

Legendary angler Mark Pack was known for targeting suspected bass with a weightless M-Pack Shad (7" Fluke style).

 

Try counting that down 25-30' while holding the boat in place with your trolling motor.

Two of the best changes I made to my t-rig fishing were slack(er) line falls via feeding line and stopping spool with my thumb before water landing. That second one might be the best thing technique adjustment I've ever made. Started it years ago. 

The vertical drop is one thing a spinning reel achieves effortlessly. No need to strip line off. 
 

With that said, I still use both reel types and will strip line off my bc reels as needed.