Clark Hill report

[drill instructor]

Sorry for the delay, having computer problems. Trolling has been great lately, caught 27 slabs yesterday and about 15 today. It got pretty windy today, the fish are in about 14ft on flats in soap creek, alot of people have been trolling this area with good luck. All the crappie are a pound or over, biggest today was 2lb3oz. Baits were all Kalin's popsicle, john deere, black/chart.

[lnlsacres]

Sorry for the delay, having computer problems. Trolling has been great lately, caught 27 slabs yesterday and about 15 today. It got pretty windy today, the fish are in about 14ft on flats in soap creek, alot of people have been trolling this area with good luck. All the crappie are a pound or over, biggest today was 2lb3oz. Baits were all Kalin's popsicle, john deere, black/chart.

So, for us beginners can you explain how trolling works with the depth. I'm sure we're not doing it right. Thanks for the help.

[GABoy]

So, for us beginners can you explain how trolling works with the depth. I'm sure we're not doing it right. Thanks for the help.

It is a combination of several factors:

1. Jig head size
2. Trolling Speed (considering wind, especially now)
3. Diameter of your line and it's buoyancy
4. How much line you let out

You have to get out there and really learn that if you have say 4lb test on all your rods, and you single rig a 1/16 oz head, let out 40 yards of line, and are trolling at 1.0 mph that you might be running about 5 - 7 ft deep. It is by no means an exact science, you just have to hope you can get it in the right ballpark.....

One way to do it is this......get into some water that stays consistently say 5 ft deep.....get out there and put on a rig and slowly let out line until you see your rod tip start bouncing from dragging on the bottom......then understand all the variables.....

- What size jig do I have on?
- How fast am I trolling?
- What pound test is on this rod?
- How much line was let out?

That is the major trouble with trolling is to understand what the variables are and how they affect your running depth. I know this probably doens't help all that much, but experience trolling is absolutely the best way to learn......and you will lose A LOT of jigs in the process, so keep that in mind, that this "learning curve" will not be cheap....HA HA!!

[SIG70]

Hey GABoy,some of my freinds and I started trolling here "Houston,TX", about 2 years ago. we use roadrunners and add on line counters..this presentation catches fish when nobody else is......

[lnlsacres]

The information on trolling is great, thanks for that! We're having fun learning, just trying to shorten the curve a little. I guess we're going to battle the wind tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

[GABoy]

Hey GABoy,some of my freinds and I started trolling here "Houston,TX", about 2 years ago. we use roadrunners and add on line counters..this presentation catches fish when nobody else is......

Yes, I agree the roadrunners will sometimes add that little bit of flash that is sometimes needed to trigger a strike....sometimes the fish just want to see something different because they get conditioned to seeing the same thing over and over.....

I have not ever used line counters, but you still need to consider all the other variables too...but that is a good way to gauge the amount of line out.....

[GABoy]

The information on trolling is great, thanks for that! We're having fun learning, just trying to shorten the curve a little. I guess we're going to battle the wind tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

I would love to hear how it goes...you going to The Hill?

[lnlsacres]

I would love to hear how it goes...you going to The Hill?

Yeah, my dad is coming up from Atlanta so we're going to put in at Fort Gordon Rec and try to stay in the coves and out of the big water. I'd read about tight lining, thought that might be easier to control with the wind coming up like it's suppose to. Any other suggestions? Where do you generally fish?

[GABoy]

Yeah, my dad is coming up from Atlanta so we're going to put in at Fort Gordon Rec and try to stay in the coves and out of the big water. I'd read about tight lining, thought that might be easier to control with the wind coming up like it's suppose to. Any other suggestions? Where do you generally fish?

I usually fish Oconee, Sinclair, I am more toward Middle GA.

Tight-lining may be the best approach with the winds the way they are supposed to be....that way, you may not even need to turn on your trolling motor at all...just let the wind push you around. Trolling in that type of conditions is extremely tough and very frustrating at times. Especially, the fish appear to have gone back to deeper water (according to DI's report, and it will be easier to get your jigs down tight-lining, unless you are familiar with double-rigging....because unless you got some heavy jig heads....a single rig most likely will not get down to 14ft.)

I am not sure if I would stay in the coves though, unless they have some deeper water.....you need to make sure you are where you have a chance to go over some fish.....if the cove has 20+ ft of water that may not be bad.....but you need some deep water in my opinion.....

[JimmyS]

Georgia Boy, That is good information on trolling, Thanks for sharing! Sig70 we are happy to have you visit us . Jimmy S.