# 4/23/06 Trolling for Rock



## bwoodhouse (Oct 13, 2003)

Otter, PJDSR and I left Fairwinds Marina at 8AM Sunday morning for our first ever trolling adventure - novices would be kind. We had lines in the water by 8:30 a.m. just north of the Sandy Point light. All four rods had umbrella rigs - 3 with 4 arms one with 6 arms. We had two white, one chartreuse and one with bunker colored shads. During the morning we had lots of different weather - but mostly cool temps, dark clouds and light to moderate winds. We trolled the shipping channel back and forth from North of the Sandy Point light to the bay bridge. Since we've never done this we aren't to sure how far back our lines were or how deep we were. One was weighted with a 20 ounce inline sinker, one with a twelve and the other two with eights. 

We were using idling speed with my 200 HP Johnson Ocean Runner. We didn't have any hits for the first few hours - but we didn’t have any noticeable problems either. And then - one after the other - we started getting snagged and we lost several umbrella rigs. We had been erring on the side of putting more line out than less and I think what happened in the end is that we had too much weight on and too much line out for as slow as we were going which - according to the GPS - was 3 miles an hour or less at idle. 

We then tied on some tandem rigs, an umbrella and one 30 foot diving Manns stretch lure - put less line out - sized down the weight - and eventually landed one 36 inch monster (on the Manns stretch lure which dove to 30 feet) which weighed one ounce short of 23 lbs.

Weather got nicer and we caught one big fish our first time trolling – but still have a lot to learn. All in all it was a great day on the water – good times – good friends. We learned a lot (I think – you all who have more experience will have to be the judges of that) and I think we’ll do better the next time – and lose fewer expensive lure. A pic of our fish is below. True team effort to get it in – I reeled – PJDSR handled the boat like a pro and Otter pulled the other lines and landed the sucker with PJDSR.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

WTG for the first time. It's realy important that you know how far back each bait is as that will determine where in the water column you are. What kind of reels are you using. Most use level winds because you get a fairly accurate reading on how far back. One bar = approx 10' of line. You don't need to know the exact depth but you want to know where that bait was the produced a knockdown. Also troll in a lazy S pattern. This will automatically vary your bait depths. The inside bait will go deeper. Good luck guys.


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## bwoodhouse (Oct 13, 2003)

Great tips - thanks Catman - we were using 3 reels with level wind and one with out - actually caught the fish on a stiff boat rod with a Penn spinning reel with 50lb power pro.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

You're hooked! Fishing will never be the same again. I know a few guys that run a 12 rod spread and didn't do any better than you. I troll solo and can only handle 4 rods.


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## Talapia (Apr 27, 2003)

catman said:


> You're hooked! Fishing will never be the same again. I know a few guys that run a 12 rod spread and didn't do any better than you. I troll solo and can only handle 4 rods.


How has your spring trolling been so far?


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

Great report. This time of year, loose the lead weights (if you only got 4 rods)and send em back even farther but vary the lengths. Like Catman said, the S pattern will get the baits deeper...on one side then on the other as you turn. First time and a 36" er, well I'll be. Also, loose the umbrellas if you want to actually feel the fish, glad you got your on a real lure. Great job guys.


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## Otter (Jun 18, 2004)

Lipyourown said:


> Great report. This time of year, loose the lead weights (if you only got 4 rods)and send em back even farther but vary the lengths. Like Catman said, the S pattern will get the baits deeper...on one side then on the other as you turn. First time and a 36" er, well I'll be. Also, loose the umbrellas if you want to actually feel the fish, glad you got your on a real lure. Great job guys.


Ok, so you're saying _all _unweighted? I've read a lot of reports on boating sites about fish being caught fairly deep, 40'-90'. How deep can you get w/ no weight?

Keep the tips coming....we'll be at it again soon


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

The boat is in 40-90' but the fish are in the top 30' at the same location. Honestly, this time of year I use 2 in line sinkers- 16 and 12 ounces but we put many rods out. Your plug got hit in less then 30', but your weighted lines got the snags.

This advice is reversed during the fall run.


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## gordy (Aug 20, 2004)

Otter said:


> Ok, so you're saying _all _unweighted? I've read a lot of reports on boating sites about fish being caught fairly deep, 40'-90'. How deep can you get w/ no weight?
> 
> Keep the tips coming....we'll be at it again soon


Yep, no weights, especially if you are using weighted shads like storms. Send them WTFB!


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

But by all means the bucktails/parachutes need a lead head. Most of mine are 2 ounce swing tail but up to 8 ounces is ok by me.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Talapia said:


> How has your spring trolling been so far?


I don't even have her in the water yet. No big deal since she's being repowered anyway. I actually quit trolling last year. I sold my planner boards and 6 of my trolling rods. Just no fun for me. I much prefer to LTJ (light tackle jig) and fishing skinny water in the early morning with topwater lures.


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## Talapia (Apr 27, 2003)

I agree. In the Ocean I like to bounce eels or chunk
also.


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## Minnox (Mar 27, 2006)

The best results I have had were un-weighted umbrellas 100' out - 12oz tandems 75-80' out -30oz tandem 40' out - large spoon 200' keeping the baits in the 20-30' water colum and have boated some nice fish!


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Nice fish.*

I do more chunking and buck tailing when fishing for stripers. I also use eels in the rips. I have done some trolling and I like the Mann's deep divers for that.


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## PJDSR (Apr 2, 2002)

*Great teamwork!*

Brad and Otter, great time out on the water with you boys. Sure glad we didn't come home with just that one perch. And I'm sure glad we didn't lose that monster like we thought we had for a second there.

Brad, now that you've caught a couple cows in the suds on a surf rod with spinning reel and one from the boat with a boat rod and conventional reel, could you notice any difference? Is it true you can exert greater control over the fish during the fight with an open face reel?


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## bwoodhouse (Oct 13, 2003)

*So...*

this has been a real helpful thread - one more piece of advice - what's the ideal speed to troll at this time of year - our idle speed was probably less than 2mph


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

As slow as possible, keep in mind when you turn against the current/wind that will slow your lures too, sometimes too much and you drag the lures on the bottom. When we troll with the wind/waves and feel we are going too fast we put it in nuetral for a 5-10 count (many strikes happen this way) then proceed. Course the slower you go, the deeper the baits go (except your stretch) Sorry, I don't have exact sppeds to give you, you just feel it after a while, many variables to pay attention to for this form of fishing that requires no skill (sarcasm).


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## bwoodhouse (Oct 13, 2003)

*4/28*

Hit it again yesterday - trolling by myself for the first time just north and south of the bay bridge. Followed everyone's advice and used little weight - put two umbrellas out - one 200 ft. back and one 75. Fished 2 tandems - one 120 back and one about 100. Fished white and chart. Nada. Will try again today.


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## skiffisher (Apr 10, 2005)

*planers*

dont forget about them. great simple tool for controled depth.


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## MANDINGO (Apr 4, 2004)

*congrats on your 1st time*

wtg guys. the pic says it all " good friends and a good day on the water with a great reward" again good job. im heading out tomorrow hope i get some of that action


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