First time using a drift sock

I was onmlake livingston yesterday as the front was blowing in and used my new 43” drift sock for the first time. I expected it to drag behind the boat bit it drug off to the side at a 45* angle. I moved it to the other side of the boat and it basically just swung the boat around and still drifted behind the boat at a 45* angle out the other side.

I figure i have 2 options. A2nd sock, or Y them between both rear cleats. I didnt even know what a drift sock was until last week so i may be looking at this wrong. Any advice?

I use 1 or 2 off the side of my boat. Depending on the wind. this will help

link

I use a Y off the rear cleats that centers the sock and fish out the back of the boat.

Yes it will drag at an angle if you hook it to a cleat. What type of boat do you have? If you boat has a chair pedestal in the center of the back deck try tying your drift sock to the pedestal and it will drift better, then use your trolling motor to stay straight on your drift. Or use the Y as stated above

maybe run a rope between two cleats and the attach the drift sock between them like an anchor trolley on a kayak.

If your fishing off the back and your only running 1 sock then use the tow ring on either side of the transom and turn the motor so that the boat steers back straight. You’ll still be slightly turned but still be able to fish out the back. I also use the trolling motor to keep me pointed on my targets. I run a variety of socks from 36” up to 10ft in different configurations depending on the wind and at what speed I’m trying to drift. Staying at a drift speed of around .4-.6 mph on any given day requires different sized socks.

Thanks for the help everyone. i'm in a 2072 seaark, and would prefer to fish out the back of the boat. The 43" sock had me going .6-.8, but i think it could have done a better job pulling directly behind the boat instead of off to the side. it seemed to float along limp some of the time even though we were in cold front winds. I'll set up a rope to tie off to both rear cleats and see how it reacts.

If its floating limp, its usually because the rope is too short. It gets caught in the wash of the boat and wont work

that's great info. It was about 8' behind the boat. I'll let some more out and see if anything changes. do i NEED a drift sock rope with the float? I saw that bass pro shops sold dedicated ropes for drift socks, but the damn rope was almost as expensive as the sock LOL. the sock has a built in float in one end so i figured it was enough.

That should be the problem mine always did that when I tried using a short dock line with it. and No to the floated rope unless the sock doesn't float by itself or is diving deep into the trees. I have heard of people using the floats to be able to unhook the sock from the boat, fight the fish and then go back and retreave the sock floating right where they left it