Trolling for Bass

[Chrisper4694]

ok i'll throw in my 2 cents. Trolling is the last way i want to catch fish but some days you can't argue with the results. I don't want to sit there with bait soaking in the water either...but you just can't catch stripers consistently every time casting lures...at least i can't...if you can, i bow to you!!

When bass are busting near the top and guys are trolling back and forth through them, that's a little lame. I almost wet my pants when i see that and start peppering them with light gear and a popper or sub surface. If we're marking them under I'll try a jig but it just doesn't always produce. I'd rather catch anything in anyway rather than nothing the stubborn way...too expensive to go saltwater fishing and get skunked!

There is a difference between something being easy to do and easy to master. oh i went out and trolled up a bunch of bass with 3 keepers and i have no idea what i'm doing it's easy! well derek on fisherprice trolled up tons more bass and over 20 keepers...what's the difference, you think he get's lucky? keep dreaming! It's easy enough to do, but mastering it is another story.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Originally Posted by MVP

I personally am not a big fan of trolling as I would rather catch 1 stripers or tuna on a jig (1st choice) or bait ( 2nd choice) than 5 on the troll. I like to have contact with the rod and interpret and visualize what is going on at the end of my line before making the decision to wait or swing on fish. Big rush when line is peeling off reel and you lock drag and feel that rod load up. Jigging or squidding also exciting as you are the one imparting action on jig to elicit a strike. Rather than stroking it all day when bite is off trolling may be last resort to locate fish and get them to bite. Go home with no fish and no action or do whatever is necessary to catch a few. You make the decision as fishing is not all about catching but it sure makes for a better day when you have caught a few. You do whatever makes you happy.

What i do know is that trolling is a very effective way to put more and bigger fish in the box especially on spoons. I am lucky enough to be able to fish with the crew of the Legacy and see them in action. Getting a bass to eat a home made chunk of metal instead of a juicy clam or bunker is truly an art form. Where to fish, what tide, direction, how much line to let out, speed of boat. The variables are endless. They manipulate their spoons by adjusting there shape with pliers to get them to swim a certain way. They have different spoons for different condition. It is not by accident they consistently put fish in the box when others are struggling. It takes years of experience and the skill to interpret all the variables. It has little to do with luck and all about SKILL

Joey
Your post would have been fine if you left it at I hate trolling for bass and prefer to clam, chunk or live line. Could have had good conversation about what is better or more enjoyable bait fishing or trolling. Where you F_ _ _ UP is saying their is NO SKILL in trolling. Your words check your initial post. I think you might want to reconsider that portion of your post as it was way off base or maybe you are truly an expert troller and where just looking to stir the pot

Sorry to call you out brother but The grasshopper still has much to learn

Agreed Alex I should have worded it better

[NoLimit]

While we are on the subject, I see lots of people using spider line instead of wire. It seems to get the lures down just as well and but is there any other benefit to wire vs braided?

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by NoLimit

While we are on the subject, I see lots of people using spider line instead of wire. It seems to get the lures down just as well and but is there any other benefit to wire vs braided?

Braid works on stretches but I hate it for bunker spoons. It will work but not nearly as good pulling spoons.As far as umbrella rigs go stick with the wire.

[dfish28]

Originally Posted by NoLimit

While we are on the subject, I see lots of people using spider line instead of wire. It seems to get the lures down just as well and but is there any other benefit to wire vs braided?

If,and if lol, you happen to get a tangle,maybe even have a fish on, wire, Monel, is a lot more forgiving, and the ease of - 50' is 5' 100' is 10' and so on... Ya there's always a newer way, could be better, but I'll be an old dog on that one...

[blynch]

The point of fishing is to catch fish. Any given day I go out I will employ whatever technique it is that will put fish on the deck. Whether that be livelining, trolling, jigging, trolling to find fish then jigging them etc etc I'm never going to turn down a method because another tactic is more "skilled" or whatever the initial argument was. It requires skill and experience to decide which is best and to execute a technique with maximum efficiency... even bass trolling (which, as it were, I find to be more nuanced then the OP seems to.)

[Duffman]

NOTHING better than the troll IMO. And I'm sure I'm in the monority. Nothing but skill and knowledge.....wind speed and direction, tide stage and direction, Cross current, up current, down current. What to pull and when.

Danny plugs on wire just north of the rips after midnight are some of te best memories my father ever gave me.

[Reel Class]

Trolling spoons or rigs takes more skill than you think. Speed, current, direction, and how much wire or braid you need to send down all factor into catching. It's a full-team type thing on the boat - captain has to keep the boat where it needs to be at the speed it needs to be at, anglers need to adjust readily, and need to fight the fish effectively and efficiently to get it to the boat.

Trolling puts fish in the boat if done properly, and I completely disagree with the lack of skill comments - it's simply a different approach where YOU the angler aren't actively fishing, the boat n captain are doing the work and the angler's job is to get the fish to the boat.

With that said, we only troll when we have to

[sportfishingusa]

Are you talking trolling bass in the fish tank they call the raritan? Or talking trolling in general? because ill bet you a 1000 bucks, i'll take you offshore, hand you 13 rods, bags of lures, 5 dozen baits, and you will look at me like i have twelve heads when you can not figure out what to do with one rod...


But if you are talking trolling bass its not as involved but still takes a ton of skill., yet it may not be the most exciting thing in the world. but just like the #prostaff chasing bunker pods and jacking themselves off all year, or the guys following the leader in the bay with a bushel of clams, you will always have the stragglers that will produce just as many fish and much bigger fish with the proper trolling techniques that most wish they could figure out.

How many charter boats and private boats come back with a goose egg during the spring ocean run of stripers? TONS!! why? because all they know how to do is throw a treble hook at a bunker and hope it gets eaten.. Shit we were snagging bunker one day on my personal boat about 9 years ago and had 5 fish over 50lbs in one day.. and 3 guys with me on my boat could not tie a not...

But when the going got tough, and no one caught, i would be out fishing the lumps and the line with spoons putting limits in the boat and big fish to boot.. have had plenty of fish over 50, and roller fish off the spoon much bigger... but if your in to catching cookie cutter fish all year, then i would stick with dead sticking a clam or better yet burning 100 gallons of fuel running along 150 other boats on every bunker pod that pops up from the hook to cape may.

Whats right for some, may not be right for others, but to call is no skill? I would say that is about as far off as you can be..



There.. I BASHED bahahahah

[Joey Dah Fish]

Bass I troll for Tina offshore and exciting to watch fish coming into the spread