Trolling Newbie - Questions

[brianj]

Posted this on state forum as well and didnt get any feedback, thought I'd try the larger group...

Hey guys - great forum and looks like we have some great fishermen on here. I'm just learning how to catch crappie and have probably only caught 10 of them in my entire life, hoping i can get out and more double that number in one day as i get out more and pick up some trick to the trade. I went out for the first time yesterday on lake allaotoona in ga and wanted to try up my new rod holders/trolling motor and give trolling a try.
I was pulling at .8 to 1mph and my lines were at a 45% angle or less.
QUESTION: should my lines be vertical and if so, how do i get them to do that? I was running 4 poles with a single tube or curly tail with split shot about 12 inches above. Assuming I need more weight, not sure how to achieve that without making the rig look bulky. Maybe that doesnt matter, but would welcome and advice you can give on how to properly rig the pole. I'm fishing in 15 - 20 ft of water.

Also, what the difference between long lining and vertical trolling - when would you use one vs the other. After doing a little searching on line last night, it seems like what i was doing was long lining, because my lines were pulling behind the boat.

Good news is that I did catch four fish (1 crappie, 2 spots, and channel cat); probably a terrible day in your books, but if i can come home and can say I caught anything - I'm usually happy.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Downwind]

Lots of information here. Knots and Rig drawings and setups for beginners I'm sure there are others on cc. that will help with your questions. More weight would be my suggestion. Keep at it and pick these guys brains. They are very helpful and have way more knowledge on the subject than me.

[bdorman]

Hi brian,

Sounds like we're in the same boat: new to crappie trolling, 15 ft deep lake with tubes and curlytail grubs, etc.

I don't think your lines can be absolutely plumb vertical if you're moving; just the drag of the fishing line will cause it to lag. For approximate depths at an angle see http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...pth-chart.html I mark lots of fish at 3-7 feet so it's nice to know that at a 45-degree angle I need 9 ft of line out to put my bait at 5 feet depth. As a poor man's line counter, I've tied two stopper knots at 7 and 12 feet from the jig as a visual reference for how much line I've got out. That's an enormous time-saver.

Here's how I set-up my trolling rigs. (I'm not saying this is the correct way to do it, in fact I'd like comments from more experienced members):


The bullet weight is nice and stream-lined which catches less lakeweed than other weights. You can use any bullet weights but I sprung for the titanium weights at BPS because they are much smaller for the same weight. The plastic bead protects the knot at the swivel. Using two swivels has eliminated the line twist I used to get.

Have fun!

[Dutch552]

For slow vertical trolling of jigs or minnows I will usually start at 1/2-3/4oz egg sinker depending on the depth. I also don't use a snap swivel most of the time, especially with 4lb mono unless I have some significant current. Just wrap the mainline through your sinker a coupole of times where you want it and it will stay put. The faster you go, the shallower your baits will be so when slow trolling/spider rigging I never go above 0.8mph GPS.

You can pull at much faster speeds when spider rigging but plan on upscaling your tackle to accomodate up to a 3 or 4 oz weight in order to keep your lines vertical.

[skiptomylu]

I am a long line trolling type guy and I do it spring and fall. I usually use a 1/32 Oz Roadrunner, but do also use my regular hackle tail and marabou tail jigs as well. In the spring I expect to normally troll in 6' to 9' of water, but sometimes it can go from 4' to 15' of water. My lake has Hydrilla and I always want to be around it and once I find some I want to keep as much as possible in that depth.

If the fall I would probably find them in water something like 12' to 15', but can be less at times and you just have to find what depth the fish are holding in.

Both times of the year I will keep my speed between .8 and 1.2 MPH and I like a long rod to help it keep away from the boat as I don't want it to get in my big motor prop. So if I am in front of the boat I always will hold my rod into the wind so when the back end of the boat tracks a bit away from the wind again I don't want my line in that prop.

Also in both times of the year you don't need more than 30 to 50 yards to work in and just go back and forth.

I do not spider rig aso am not any real help with that. You can do a search on this board and fine many time where it's been talked about and I mean both Spider rigging and long line trolling.

Skip

[bdorman]

Hi Skip,
I read your post with interest since I've had good luck with roadrunners too.

Question: In long-lining do you use additional weight to get the lure to the desired depth, or does long-line mean it's just the weight of the lure and the rest is achieved with a lot of line?

[Wildcatter]

Brian,

This months In-Fisherman magazine has a good write-up of trolling for crappie with crankbaits. There is also a picture of the setup.

[brianj]

Thanks for the info everyone, much appreciated. Plan to get out on the water again this weekend and will let you know how it goes.

[jimp]

there is a long long thread (but very informative) on pulling cranks in the MS forum. I long line 90% of the time, pull CB's 10%. I only use 2 rods (lazy), use 6lb hi vis on a light/med light 6.5-7' rod, with a driftmaster T bar on the bow to hold the rods. The line stays fairly close to the boat, and I have only gotten my line caught up in the big prop once. See there is a reason for only 2 rods. Some use 4 on up to 8 when longlining or pulling CB's. I usually use a 1/16 jig head, and a variety of plastics (no live bait), and troll along at anywhere from .8 up 1.5mph (get a HH gps if you don't have one, you'll want it to know zackly how fast you're going) cause sometimes .1mph difference can make a difference in how many fish you catch. Sometimes I use 2 jigs on each pole which causes the lures to go deeper, or just add a splitshot 12-18" above the jig if I don't want to re-tie with 2 jigs. Using 2 jigs per line allows you to experiment with colors and types of lure that might get a strike ( 4 possiblities vs 2 possibilites). I read an article on another fishing forum where a experienced longliner use only one 1/16 jig and grubs, and only cast it out 20-30 feet, then controlled his depth with speed only. He had built something that would allow him to control his speed consistently down to .2mph or so using his TM.

An easy way to determine how much line it takes to go a certain depth is the trial and error method, rig up your pole, find a spot on the lake that is x feet deep via your DF/FF, then troll back and forth over the same spot until you bump/drag bottom. You'll have to figure out out to measure how much line you have out (most reel specs indicate how much line is retrieved with each revolution of the spool). Then you can adjust the amount of line out (some people mark their line every 5-10' with different color markers, length of the rod (7 ' rod), etc. you'll get the feel for it after you do it long it enough.

Vertical trolling is similar to spyder rigging from what I've read, never done it, too many rods (8) and you need to go slow slow and then slow down some more I think. The spyder rigging experts will be in shortly I'm sure. I'm not a longline expert by any means as I get skunked on a too frequent basis to be even in that zip code.

[skiptomylu]

I do not add any weight at all. I have actually caught crappie in water as deep as 20', but the crappie were something like 8'-10' down. Crappie will come up to get it, but remember they will not go down to get it as they will feed at their depth or above. I just trow it out about as far as I can and start with my TM set on 3 and it's a variable speed which would be different if it's a 5 speed which I don't like because I can adjust a variable seed to what ever I want. I can then adjust by slowing down a bit or speeding up a bit. Also if you are fishing water with not much grass or hydrilla coming up high in the water, you can always let out a little more line, but most of the time it's not needed.

Skip