New to trolling

[LotzoFish]

hey all,

  I just got very lucky and was able to buy alot of used trolling gear. Got a couple of penn senators with power sticks, mini outriggers, unbrella rigs and a mess or manns stretch 20 and 25 lures. not to mention all kinds of tackle and 2 reels of leader in every size 15# thru 125 #.  My problem is that Ive never did much trolling and I am not sure how to rig for trolling. I hear short lines, long lines, cigar weights, spoons, lures, rigs. Any info on how to troll would be helpful. also i just rented a house with a dock in barnegat for a week in end of may. usually fish delaware bay.....any tips on fishing bb would also be helpful

[ped579]

I can't help you with the trolling stuff but BB in May is pretty good.  If you can get to the flats by the inlet you are in for a treat.  The blues usually make their appearance big time around Mothers Day.  Use top water lures and have fun.  The best time is on the incoming tide.

Try the Sedge Islands behind IBSP for Weakfish usually the same thing incoming tide only thing different would be to use grass shrimp.

Again around the same area the striper's are up and running from the inlet to the Causeway bridge.  One good place to try is Oyster Creek they usually slam them back there.

I hope this helps.

I am sure the guys will chime in soon.

Happy Catching

Paul

[eagleyankfan]

LotzoFish --  Wind/tide/deptch speed etc etc come into play - there's a lot to trolling.  If you want to be successful - charter a boat that trolls and ask question after question.

You using mono or PP?   

There are great capt's out there that are willing to share.  Good luck.

[IrishAyes]

Where you troll is as important as what and how you troll.  Don't just break the inlet and drag line behind the boat. Put youself on structure.  Look for working birds.  Check out areas that would hold bait fish.  Don't troll on the blind.

As far as distance, depth, speed, etc.  That all depends on what you are trolling for.  If trolling for stripers, you want the boat to barely be moving.  Blue fish, you troll a little faster and tuna is a higher speed troll.

As far as what you are trolling.  Try to 'match the hatch'.  If there are adult bunker, go with large artificials.  Peanut bunker in the area would dictate a smaller bait, perhaps a shad umbrella.  If there are sand eels, put out the skinny stuff.

In due time, you will be the one given advise.  There is nothing magical to trolling, if you know your quarry. 

[Capt Craig]

Great info Ayes. LOTZOFISH follow what Ayes has said and go out a experiment. When you have success make note of it in a log book what you used for a bait, speed you were moving, water temp, bait pattern used, location, fish caught etc. This way you can repeat over again. GOOD LUCK!

[eagleyankfan]

I'm going to respectively, disagree a little bit here.  I know, hands down, you guys know more than me so please don't take this the wrong way.

It's sounds like he's never trolled before as he said, he's not sure how to rig. 

Sure, you can find visual aides to help(birds/bunker etc) but that's only half the battle.  Leader length?  #test of leader?  Drails(if any)? Drail weights?  Ratio of length of line out compared to the depth your fishing.

Speed does not only determine what you are fishing for but what you are fishing.  Bunker spoons are trolled at a different speed than stretches, stretches are trolled at a different speed than umbrella rigs.  This determined speed is also affected by tide(or strength of).  Also turning.  You can't simply turn while trolling either(as you know, the inner rod will go slower and can dip and snag if not careful).

That's where I suggest learning from a Capt..

It doesn't sound like he knows steps 1 and 2.  Once he gets those steps down, then he should start the experiements. 

Ok, so maybe I'm not disagreeing with you guys, I think he should just start learning the basics first.  I wish I knew the answers, I'd post them.

[LotzoFish]

thanks guys, some good info given.. I did get something, dont troll stretchs and umbrellas at same time. guess I will experiment and try different methods. I been bait fishing only salt water, but when i fish fresh all I use is artificials. I did troll some small clark spoons and small hard baits last year, did so aimlessly and only picked up a couple small blues. But i was doing exactly what you guys said not to, running the inlet and trolling the shore, thanks again for the info, anything else would be appreicated

[Hunter 2]

Anyone ever heard of running a stretch 25+ or 30+ on the long center leader of a shad umbrella rig to help get it deeper? Ive read that somewhere. Never tried it. I have run a 9" shad on the long center leader with success. I'm not saying it went deeper but I think it looked like a larger fish chasing some smaller ones. I may add a shad bluefish this time to increase the effect. Any input?
 

[IrishAyes]

I usually run a 9" shad behind the 6" set.  I get most of the fish off of the center dropped back shad, even if it's the same size.

I have run a bomber plug and such off the center, don't recall putting a stretch there.

[LotzoFish]

I guess the first thing is......I am getting ready to put line on my senators which I will mainly use for trolling, what pound test line should I use, I have spools of 30# and 50#. I will be using mono for trolling, I use braid for jigging and casting

[IrishAyes]

For what it's worth, I have 50# on mine.  Doesn't mean that it's right though. 

I like it and have used 50# for years without a problem. 

[LotzoFish]

thanks captain, I think I will feel more comfortable using the 50. Does it make a difference on trolling depth or how lures run?

[mboy]

I troll shad rigs and stretch 25's at the same speed. Especially if I have 1 rod out with a shad umbrella setup and another rod with a stretch at the same time.


Same thing with stretch or rapala on 1 rod and a spoon on the other.

Speed is not determined by strength of tide or turning either.

3-4 knots is 3-4 knots. What determines my speed is if the fish are not hitting at 3knots, I may bump it to 4 or drop back down to 2.

[mboy]

50lb mono for trolling blues and bass?

I think that is def a bit too much. 20-30lb mono MAX.

Absolutely no reason to use 50lb mono to troll bluefish and bass.

50lb leader, yes.

50lb braid I can see as that is = to about 12lb test diameter mono which will help you get down a bit deeper.

50lb mono tho? No offense Joe, but that's crazy for a basic bass/blue trolling setup.

[IrishAyes]

Mike, i agree that trolling speed is not determined by strength of tide.  
Trolling speed is determined by THE ACTION OF THE LURE BEING TOWED.  The strength of tide will have an effect on the action of the lure.  That is why you will get hits at 3-4 knots at times and you have to adjust the speed of the troll up or down at other times.  It is water's effect on the lure that determines speed.  
I hope that made sense the way it was explained.  

[IrishAyes]

50lb mono for trolling blues and bass?

I think that is def a bit too much. 20-30lb mono MAX.

Absolutely no reason to use 50lb mono to troll bluefish and bass.

50lb leader, yes.

50lb braid I can see as that is = to about 12lb test diameter mono which will help you get down a bit deeper.

50lb mono tho? No offense Joe, but that's crazy for a basic bass/blue trolling setup.

No offense taken Mike.  As I said, that's what I use.  I put it on when I was trolling mostly umbrellas.  They have a lot of pull on them and I went with the 50# for no other reason than that.   

[LotzoFish]

I will mostly be dragging shad umbrellas and big lures. If it dont change the trolling action can 50# mono hurt?

[mboy]

No, but it is way overkill in my opinion.

30lb is the max you need or want to pull anything inshore.

I would MAYBE use 50lb mono to troll Tuna (to 125lbs) in the Canyons.

25lb test is PLEnTY to pull what you are thinking.
50lb is a waste of money and line capacity.

[Hunter 2]

I have been using 50lb mono too, I feel that the umbrella rigs do have a large amount of drag. I also plan on catching the record Striper this season and I don't want to lose it because my line was underrated.

[mboy]

Geez, and what size rods and reels do you guys put this 50lb mono on?

Can you even feel a 20lb striper when reeling it in?