Going on the troll this weekend

[Walleyed]

So....I'm going on out Sunday into the wild Raritan Bay to hunt the elusive striper.

Finally got a set of good bunker spoon rods, loaded with monel.

I'm planning on running 4 lines, the bunker spoons in the outrodders and 2 out the back, either stretches or mojo's (most likely a mix).

Most of my trolling experience is Great Lakes salmon fishing with downriggers.....been doing that for 40 years. Typically, with a fish on, you keep the boat moving and don't' worry about tangles, because the riggers are keeping the other lines out of the way.

Here's my question....do you normally run things the same way, keep the boat moving and simply work to boat the fish? Or do you pull in the lines and stop the boat until the fish is in?

I'm just curious as to what the prevailing wisdom is. I'm fishing out of an 21' boat with about a 6x8 fishing cockpit.

[Rubberhead]

Lines in. Stop. 2 MoJo's. That's all you need if your fishing the Bay.

[Gerry Zagorski]

If you are trolling with wire, when you hook up the last thing you want to do is take the boat out of gear.... You need constant pressure on the fish , especially with wire and bunker spoons because the fish will use any slack and the weight of the wire and spoon to spit your hook. You can slow it down some but keep it in gear.

You also don't want to pump the rod when fighting the fish since it can create slack too. Hold your rod up high and keep constant bend it in.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Here is an article I had written some time ago but much of the advice still applies today... One new hot lure since I've written it is the Mo Jo.

Many people, including yours truly, hate to troll. My brother Joe actually despises it. He says “ Id rather go to the Dentist”. However, in certain conditions wire line trolling can be one of the most effective ways to catch Stripers. This is especially true when the tide is not moving or there are no concentrations of fish or bait for you to set up on and drift or anchor and chunk.

Trolling allows you to cover more ground and find the fish and it keeps your lures moving when the tide slacks. In addition, it’s no secret that the larger fish are usually on the edges or at the bottom of a school. Just like us, larger/older fish are usually less aggressive, smarter and more opportunistic feeders then the youngsters. They tend to let the youngsters chase the bait around and casually feed on the bait that falls through the school to the bottom.

The reason wire line trolling in particular produces so well is because it allows you to get trolled baits deeper down in the water column then monofilament lines. The reason for this is that it’s heavier and sinks faster and it has a smaller diameter so it has less resistance in the water. A lot of people are also using braided line instead of wire these days. Like wire line braid has a smaller diameter and no stretch qualities, however it does not sink as well as wire since it is not as heavy. This can be cured with some extra inline trolling drail weights.


OK… Let’s switch to what equipment you will need….

I prefer to use a 7-foot pole with a soft tip and Carbaloy guides. The soft tip gives bunker spoons the action needed to be effective and Carbaloy guides are needed because wire line will tear through softer material guides. I also recommend using 300 feet of 30LB Monel wire line backed by a hundred yards of 30 lb mono. Join the 2 with a barrel swivel small enough to pass through your reel and rod guides. I don’t like Stainless since it kinks too easy and is difficult to handle. At the end of the wire use a haywire twist http://www.cptdave.com/haywire-twist.html to join a beaded chain swivel (this helps reduce line twist) and an 8-10 foot length of 50lb leader material. At the end of the leader get a 100lb test snap swivel and this is where you will connect your trolling lures. If you’re using braid or your wire line is still riding up to high in the water column replace the beaded chain swivel with a beaded trolling drail weight.


For wire line reels I recommend the Penn 113H or the Penn 330 GTI.
The 113H has a chrome spool, which is desired because it reduces the effects of the wire corroding the spool. I also like the 330 GTI because it has a line guide and makes it easy to get the wire back on the spool evenly when you’re reeling in. Although it has an aluminum spool the line guide can be used count how many feet of line you have out. The way you do this is to pull line off the reel and watch the line guide. Went it moves from one side to the other measure the amount of line it took then you can count how many times the line guide passes from side to side to judge the amount of line you have out. With out a line guide your stuck marking you wire every 50 feet so you can tell how much line you have out. Some wire line companies are pre-marking their lines. If you don’t have pre marked line you can use a small piece of telephone wire wrapped tightly around the line to mark it. The amount of line you have out is important but we will get to that later…..


Now that your all rigged up let’s get to the fun part. How to troll….

First of all it’s best to troll in an area where there are or there is likely to be fish (duh)
If your not marking fish on your sounder or seeing any birds I would concentrate on channel edges or any other structures like rips or tide lines you can find. Pay close attention to the depth of the area because here is where the wire line markings come in handy…. I typically like to troll the bottom 1/3rd of the water column. The general rule of thumb for wire is that it will sink at the rate of 1 foot of depth for every 10 feet of wire you have out. If your desired depth were 10 feet you’d want to have 100 feet of wire out. If your line isn’t marked then I would let enough line out so that your making contact with the bottom and then crank some line in so your running near the bottom. However, if your marking fish on your sounder pretty consistently at 20 feet you’d want 200 feet of wire out. Once you get the desired amount of line out you want to put your reel in free spool with the clicker on and adjust the line tension just tight enough so no line is coming off the reel. Put the rod in the holder or better yet out rodders. They keep the poles lower to the water and spread out further which tends to make the lines run deeper and keeps them from getting tangled when making turns

What and how to troll

Trolling speed and direction are very important. General rule is slow for Stripers, usually 2 to 3 knots. If you’re using Bunker spoons I would ignore the speedometer and look at the rod tip to determine the correct speed. When you’re pulling a bunker spoon at the correct speed the rod tip should be pulsing up and down and move from side to side once and a while. If your rod is constantly pulsing your spoon is spinning and that’s not good. As far as direction is concerned this is somewhat trial and error since there are so many variables like current wind. In general it’s best to be either trolling with or across the direction of the current and make lazy S turns with your boat. Pay close attention to your direction when you hook up because often times the fish will only hit when your trolling in certain directions. One other tip is to take the boat out of gear once and a while. This allows the lures to flutter down and is often times enough to trigger a strike. I can’t tell you how many times this little tip made the difference between fishing and catching.

As far as lures are concerned, in general it’s best to match the hatch. You want to have your lures look like whatever baitfish is present. I’m after quality fish and there are mature Bunker around I use Bunker Spoons. If I’m after quantity and there are small baitfishes around I use Umbrella rigs with tubes or shad rigs. Other effective lures are single red tubes (usually a minimum of 12 inches) or Parachute rigs tipped with a pork rind. If you don’t have a wire line set up one way to cheat is to use Stretch 25’s 30’s and 40s. These lures will run 25, 30 or 40 feet down respectively on regular mono line since they have large lips on the front of the lure that works against the forward motion to make them dive.

OK so now you’re hooked up……..

Once you get a hook up you engage the reel so you’re now fighting the fish on the preset drag setting. No need to set the hook as the fish will set it themselves. Your drag should always be set to 30% of the breaking strength of the line. You can set your drag by using a fish scale with a hook at the end of it. Tie your line off to the hook and pull the scale. Your drag should start give line when the scale reads 10 lbs (in this example your using 30lb test). Make sure and heat the drag up before setting it by pulling line out against the drag several times. Here is the most important part of the whole wire line fishing deal……DO NOT PUMP THE FISH WHILE REELING AND KEEP THE BOAT IN GEAR. Wire line is stiff. If you let any slack in the line the fish will use that slack as leverage and spit the hook. If you pump the pole up and down you may create slack. Reel and keep the pole tip high keeping constant pressure on the fish. You can slow the boat down some but keeping it in gear keeps pressure on the fish.

Don’t blame it on me

If you’re not catching fish you need to try some different things. Speed up or slow down, use a drail weight on one pole and no weight on the other. Troll in different directions. Mix it up and find out what’s working that day and stick to it.

Happy trolling fellas!!

[Walleyed]

If you are trolling with wire, when you hook up the last thing you want to do is take the boat out of gear.... You need constant pressure on the fish , especially with wire and bunker spoons because the fish will use any slack and the weight of the wire and spoon to spit your hook. You can slow it down some but keep it in gear.

You also don't want to pump the rod when fighting the fish since it can create slack too. Hold your rod up high and keep constant bend it in.

I've done a fair amount of wire line fishing, although all on stainless. I'm looking forward to using the monel. I will definitely be careful with the wire, I don't want to have to toss a $100 birdnest.

Thanks for the input.

[Capt Sal]

Four lines is a no no. Troll two with wire and you will have your hands full. Spoons work better in the fall than stretches. I put out 150 feet of wire with no weight in Raritan Bay. I like white spoons but everyday is different. Down riggers are nothing like out rodders and wire line. The proper rods are a must.I would never even consider trolling four rods and that was with a beam of just under 13 foot.

[Hunter 2]

I agree, don't troll 4 lines. Using downriggers in a lake is very different and works great. The bay is gonna be very busy this weekend. Remember the scene in Jaws when 100 boats were sharking and tossing dynamite in the water? Good luck and watch out for other boats cutting you off.

[Walleyed]

Ok....2 rods, bunker spoons, forget the stretches unless I need to toss the tackle box at the fish. I do have proper rods. Should be a learning experience.

Ain't my first rodeo, just new to the bunker spoon world.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Or run your spoons on the corners and run a stretch, umbrella rig,or mojo down the center. If I had to choose one out of the 3 for the center, it would be the mojo. It's been the hot lure this year, especially in the bay.

[Walleyed]

Spoons will be on the outrodders. If I feel comfortable, I'll add something done the middle.

I gotta get out of Lake Erie walleye trolling mode. Miles of room and planer board out 50' on each side with 4 lines a side. Can't think that way in the bay.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Blah blah blah blah I said it before and I will say it again. Trolling SUCKS!!!!!!! Boooooooooooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiib. But yes it produces.

[Walleyed]

Ya know what sucks more than trolling?

Getting the Skunk!

[Joey Dah Fish]

Ya know what sucks more than trolling?

Getting the Skunk!

That's very very true !!!!!