umbrella rig setup?

[jimmythegreek]

can someone gimme the basics on trollin umbrella rigs, and which ones they like. I have seen the spreads that are just tails/tubes and also the swimbait style ones. basic info I need

weight of rod/reel (obviously conventional)
line weight/style
how much inline weight
average trolling speed

thanks in advance, new to trolling the salt wanna give it a shot

[Pete]

Go to the search feature and look up Old School Inshore Wireline Trolling. Gerry Zagorski wrote an excellent tutorial which covers all the bases and then some.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Thanks for the plug Pete

Old school guys mostly use wire (monel) since it is heavy it helps getting your line to run further down into the water column... Most people I know have switched to braid and will add beaded drail weights in line ahead of the umbrellas to get it down.

You need a 30 pound class rod/reel combo with 50 pound braid. At the end of the braid tie in a snap swivel which you can connect directly to the unmbrella rig or if you need more weight to keep the rig down, put a drail sinker with beaded chain between the barrel and unbreall rig to keep it down. Amount of weight will be determined on where you are marking fish... If up on top less weight, if down further than more weight. Try one with weight and one without and see what works best on that day.

As far as what sort of umbrella rigs, tubes or shad bodies are pretty typical..I've also recently seen some with Savage tails on them which are long and narrow like a sand eel... They'd probably work best right now with all the Sand Eeels around. Once again, best thing to do is run an assortment and see what works best since that is subject to change every day.

[catsmeow]

Any thoughts on trolling without wire ? How about some of the fresh water umbrella rigs ? There is an article in dec/jan outdoor life about using them in the salt. They recommend the titanium Strike King Tour Grade Rig for action and durability. Have no wire setups currently.

[Jigman13]

We troll wire out East when jigging parachutes. When we need a break from jigging, we snap on some umbrellas--tube tails in either red, green, black, or white with the red tips. Our set ups consist of st croix trolling rods paired with shimano tld 25s. We spool with 40-50 lb mono backing, 150 lb spro barrel swivel, then 300 ft of wire, another 150 lb barrel swivel followed by a 20 ft of 40-50 lb mono (or fluoro is you'd like) leader, a 150 lb coastlock snap swivel, then the umbrella. Works well out there... Double and triple headers of big yellow-eyed demons also make for an adventure.

The upside to jigging the chutes is that you very rarely get bluefish and you're actually holding the rod when a striper blasts the jig.

[arat]

There are multiple options on tackle. Many rod manufacturers make wire line setups. Any tackle shops should have several types with caboloid guides. As for reels Penn 4/0 wire line specials are standbys but canyon avet And Shimano among others make hood options.

It seems to me that my buddies that troll wire do better then the ones that troll braid. Just my observation. my sugestion is stop by your local shop and ask some questions they can help you out big time and show you everything you will need

[JerseyCoast]

If using wire/monel your going to want to go with 1- American Tackle Zirconia Rings. 2- Carboloy . 3- FUJI SIC Guides.
All of the above are still pretty lightweight and will accept wire. We build with American Tackle Guides and never had an issue in 18 years.

If buying a true wire line rod, for umbrellas you can go short and stiff, but if you want to troll bunker spoons, you NEED to go with a Spoon Rod. DO NOT use a short, stiff rod for spoons, your not going to do as well as the longer, softer rods made to give the spoons the proper action they were made to have.

Spoon Rods - Seeker, Tony Maja Spoon Rods, Lamiglas 1083M Blanks or old Harnell Blanks. We build our Spoon Rods on the Lamiglas Blanks because they are so much lighter in weight than Seeker Blanks. We can build a complete rod and still be at the weight of the Seeker Rod Blank alone.

Ok, the wire is out of the way and let me say that you can use mono or braid too. Umbrellas are not the same as bunker spoons. You can get away with a wider variety of tackle.

Use trolling weights, to get deep, or down riggers. Use a trolling leader, between the weight and the rig! I dont suggest going right to the main line swivel with umbrellas. It will work, but its not as good as using a leader.

PM or email me any questions you may have that I can help with.