Long-liners: How do you tell when you've got a strike?

[bdorman]

I troll off the transom with a 3/8 oz. weight 18" in front of my jig on 6# mono line. The added weight keeps my bait within 10-15 feet of the transom...and makes it very easy to see strikes. The rod tip either goes up or down. I troll four rods in rod holders, so I don't have a "feel-it-in-the-hands" technique.

But if I'm long-lining with 75-100 feet of line out (mono line, so it has some stretch), will the strikes be as apparent? How do you tell when you've got a strike?

A friend invited me to go long-lining on his lake so I'm curious about what techniques I'll have to adapt. He's on a large lake where he can go for miles without changing direction. My home lake is only one mile long by 1/4-mile wide, hence the need to weight the line and keep it close.

[Dutch]

The rod tip will start "jumping". If you are snagged it will just be a steady pull.

[huntinslabs]

Pole starts shakin like heck! Normally they hook themselves and the fight is on to keep em out the other lines. If they are bitin short try changing small details like one color out of 2 or adjust speed a tad, but when ya got em dialed in there is no mistaking a fish. At least that has been my experience.

[yikess]

I use ultralites when long lining so there is no mistaking when I gots me a feesh on.

[jimp]

yeah, the rod bounces front to rear of the boat. If hung up, it will be a steady bend towards the rear of the boat.

[bdorman]

Many thanks.

One other related question: When you're long-lining how high do you have your rod tip off the water? When I troll (as described in the original post) I've got the tips just about 12" above the water.

From your responses it sounds like you've got your rods at a steeper angle (rod tips higher off the water). Is that correct?

[jimp]

my rod tips are usually 12-18" above the water line.

[Dutch]

I keep mine 10 - 12 in. off the water and have the rods fanned a little to make fighting a fish easier between the lines.

[big roy]

10-12" above the water and longer rods off outsides and shorter towards the moter. works well for me. good luck

[EARL KITCHENS]

I keep my rod tips as close to the water as possible. Sometimes they are so close they touch the water. I pull six rods, three off each side. 2-16ft,2-14ft,2-12ft. The person in the back uses 6 - 5 1/2 BPS Microlite rods.