Trolling Mojos for Stripers

[Gerry Zagorski]

Trolling Mojos is one of the most effective and fool proof ways to target Stripers…. Unlike Bunker spoons, no special rods or wireline is needed and the Mojos run well at varied speeds. Having said all this, if there are adult bunker around, I will always have at least one Bunker spoon in my spread. Sometimes 2 spoons and a Mojo down the middle, other times 2 Mojos and a spoon down the middle. Some people also troll spoons and Mojos on the same tandem rig…

As far as the pole is concerned, a 30 pound class rod in the 6 to 7 foot range will do. A slick butt is nice to have since it makes it easier to get the pole out of the rod holder when you have the pressure of a fish on it. Out roders are nice to have but not a must…. They help keep your lures spread further apart but if you are careful about not making too tight a turn you can make due without them. If however you are going to use the rods for trolling spoons as well as Mojo you are going to want at least a 7 foot rod, 8 would be better, with a nice whippy tip to make the spoons run best.

Braided line is practically a must since it has much less resistance in the water because of the lower diameter compared to mono and this allows you to get much further down in the water column with less weight…. I use 65 pound braid…

As far as reels, for trolling this is where a lever drags have one distinct advantage over a star drag reel.. With a lever drag you can adjust the line out tension just enough to keep your Mojos from taking line while trolling yet let the fish take some line when they hit. Once they hit you can move the lever up to Strike and you are at your preset drag setting to fight the fish… With a star drag reel you don’t have that type of flexibility…. The reel is engaged and on the drag or not and nothing in between. Having said that, many people do use Star drags. More on that further down in the post.
Let’s move on to the Mojos….

The rigs most have been using are pre tied tandem rigs… You have a 3 way swivel tied off to your braid and 2 mono leaders coming off the swivel. One shorter mono leader has the heavier Mojo on it and other is a longer leader with the lighter Mojo on it. The heavier one will run further down in the water and the lighter one higher. See attachment...

Now how to troll them… In general you want to troll them between 2 and 3 knots and run them as close to the bottom as possible without hanging them up…. Mojos do come in different sizes but for our area, a 12 and 8 ounce tandem should cover most depths and conditions although you might want heavier if you are fishing deeper then say 40 – 50 feet… What you want to do is get your boat at trolling speed and slowly let line out until you feel contact with the bottom.. Once that happens reel in a few cranks to get the rig to troll as close to the bottom as possible without hanging up.

We all know depths change and tides or currents will make the rigs run higher or lower… For this reason you can’t set them and forget them, you need to keep a constant eye out and adjust the amount of line you have out accordingly… Look for depth changes on your depth finder and if you are trolling in one direction and decide to change, you’ll likely have to make adjustment to account for running with or against a tide or current.

Now that you have your Mojos running at the right depth you want to move the lever drag on your reel just tight enough so they are not taking line off the reel when you are trolling and set the clicker on… When a fish hits, move your reel up to strike and fight the fish. If you are fishing a star drag reel first thing you want to do is leave the reel in free spool with the clicker on and try to adjust the line out tension just enough so that the there is no line coming off the reel against the resistance of your rigs. Once again when a fish hits you engage the drag. Unfortunately many star drag reels don’t have enough resistance in their line out adjustment to make it tight enough and if that’s the case, you’ll troll with your drag engaged, hence the reason I prefer lever drag reels.

Every day is different and the conditions change so if you’re not having success, mix it up… White and Chartreuse are the 2 most popular colored Mojos….. Run a rig in each color and see what works best that particular day. The direction you troll can make a big difference too so if you’re not catching and you know there are fish around, try trolling with the current, against the current, across the current.. Try trolling straight or lazy S turns and see what works.

Happy Mojo trolling everyone and if you’re new to the Mojo scene, please visit one of our sponsors to get the rigs and gear you’ll need.

[Billy223]

Thanks Gerry! I wasn't sure what weight would work as I had seen 12 or 24 oz. Is it more beneficial to use a tandem rig vs just a single mojo?
Although you covered this, could it or would it work trolling outside of a bunker pod?

[Captain Rich]

Love the drawing of the "Hungry Striped Bass" !

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Billy223

Thanks Gerry! I wasn't sure what weight would work as I had seen 12 or 24 oz. Is it more beneficial to use a tandem rig vs just a single mojo?
Although you covered this, could it or would it work trolling outside of a bunker pod?

Billy - I think a tandem rig is better since you double your chances and each run at different depths.... Now you have two targets at different depths.

They sure do work around bunker schools... The shads are pretty big so they sort of match the hatch...Having said this, if I'm fishing around a Blitz were I see bass actively Spraying bunker on top, I'm going to stop trolling and live line or snag and drop live Bunkers or throw some big surface poppers at them... Much more exciting then trolling for sure...

Trolling is not for everyone but it does have it's advantages in certain conditions. If you see no signs of an active blitz and are in search mode and or marking bait deep, then trolling can be more way more effective since you are covering more ground and fishing towards the bottom. This is especially true when there's a lot of boat traffic around which drives the Bunker and Bass down and scatters them.

Bottom line is you want to be prepared for both so have trolling and bait fishing or poppers ready to go is a good plan... Troll when you have to and pop or live bunker fish when the opportunity presents itself.

If you've never seen a blitzing school of big Stripers create a spray of white water around bunkers on the surface you will and you want to be prepared, There's nothing like watching a Striper inhale your bunker or popping plug on top...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTafcO3Mlho