How To Set Up A Trolling Reel

Anybody who's serious about line-fishing knows that trolling for fish in the open up ocean is the ultimate sport-fishing challenge. While non considered to be an ideal course of angling for beginners , trolling for fish is a major challenge many anglers aspire to master. The open sea is habitation to several species of pelagic fish that any angler would be proud to bring abode. It's not uncommon to catch salmon, trout, tuna, dorado (also known every bit mahi-mahi), kingfish, and even billfish similar sailfish and marlin.

What sets the trolling technique apart from other fishing methods is that information technology typically uses more than one line-fishing line, all prepare at the back of the boat and then that the lures or bait fish can lag behind. The gunkhole can either be static or moving while the line tin exist drawn in or swept from side to side to attract fish.

Whether you're going to be angling from a commercial big game lease line-fishing boat with multiple trolling line-fishing rods or sportfishing with smaller boats and yachts with much simpler trolling gear, it may assistance to call up these trolling fishing tips and techniques to brand the nigh out of this popular line-fishing method.

Trolling Fishing Tips and Techniques

landscape shot of fishing rods set up along the back of a moving boat

Become the Right Gear

fisher shopping for trolling fishing gear

The equipment y'all'll demand to troll for fish largely depends on the kind of boat you lot desire to use and how much y'all want to increment your chances of catching fish. As with every line-fishing method, y'all'll obviously demand one or several sets of the three most basic pieces of fishing equipment : fishing rods, line-fishing lines, and saltwater reels .

For trolling (fishing), yous might take to look for specific trolling rods likewise as non-corrosive lines and reels. But the most of import gene that you'll demand to consider when choosing your basic gear is that they have to be able to handle heavy loads. This means a potent and sturdy rod, a high-load multi-roll baitcasting reel with line counters, and durable lines with high tensile strength.

Other necessary equipment for trolling are as follows:

Rod Holder

Having rod holders fix behind your gunkhole is the all-time solution for keeping your rods steady throughout the expedition. Even if you're fishing with a single rod, you wouldn't want to keep holding it, particularly since you lot'll want to go on fishing while you lot drive the boat.

Depth Rigs

A depth rig is a heavy sinker that you lot attach to the angling line in order to bring it downward to your desired depth. Considering its weight, the depth rig alone tin can get your fishing line deeper even when you're trolling from a static boat.

Paravane

The trolling paravane is a plastic device that works like an inverted fly. It also helps elevate your lure deeper, just it does then past diving deeper as your boat speed increases.

Planer Board

Planer boards are considered must-haves for two main reasons: it keeps your lines away from each other and so they won't tangle and helps y'all comprehend more surface area. Using multiple planer boards helps you multi-task and attract even faraway fish that are keeping their distance from your boat.

Sonar

A sonar (or fish finder ) is an important gadget that helps you find where the fish are, even when they are more than than a couple of meters deep. Most sonars also provide depth, temperature, and sea bottom readings.

Take a Plan (and Stick to Information technology)

solo fisherman trolling for fish on a lake

No affair what method of fishing you program to execute, you don't just caput out with your gear and starting time casting. Programme for it to increase your chances of not only catching the right fish but of having an enjoyable time out in the water. Check the weather forecasts, know which lures to utilize, pack for emergencies, plan your route, and absorb all the information that y'all can well-nigh trolling.

Utilize Your Electronic Gear

sonar device set up on a boat

Make it a role of your plan to familiarize yourself with the expanse that y'all want to fish in. While you're at it, utilize your sonar or fish finder to become an idea of the type of fish bachelor and how deep they are in the water. Past identifying which depths are holding the most bait ahead of time, yous tin spend more fourth dimension catching fish than looking for them when the day comes. Proceed monitoring your sonar for temperature changes, fish locations, and bottom surface fabric.

Listen Your Depth

half underwater shot with a boat on the surface

We can't stress it plenty; your trolling success depends on your cognition of where your lure is and how to command it. By ensuring that your lure is in the correct place, yous accept a much greater adventure of catching fish consistently since they rarely swim to different depths. Call up, a lure goes by fish quickly, and so your lure has to be very visible to your prey in order to increase your chances of actually catching them.

Start Small

display of big catch after trolling for fish

Having a large boat, multiple rods, and a scattering of boards increases your chance of catching multiple game fish, merely that doesn't hateful you should become all out on your first try. You could start out with simply three lines, planer boards on each side, and another line out the back and notwithstanding exist more successful than a beginner with a 10-line setup and no noesis of what's out in that location—that is, if you plan for it carefully.

Keep Going

fisherman trolling for fish in the open ocean

Another beginner mistake you wouldn't want to make is to stop the boat equally soon as you grab fish. Call up about it: When you kick the boat into neutral before reeling in your catch, the lines are spring to become tangled up. Whatsoever happens, don't cease the boat and fight the fish while you motion. Have reward of the electric current'southward natural forcefulness to keep your lines directly while you lot reel in your spread at the terminate of the day.

Experiment

colored lure in the water

With multiple rods out, y'all wouldn't want to use the same blazon of lures. Take the opportunity to experiment with different lures and baits throughout your spread. This way, y'all not simply increment your chances of communicable various types of fish but you also allow them to tell y'all what they want. If you are sure that you're in an surface area where there are lots of fish but are not getting any bites, attempt changing your colors and baits every 15 minutes or so.

Change Speeds

several fishing rods trolling for fish behind a fast-moving boat

Another mode that yous can concenter more fish is by changing your speed. Yous wouldn't want to brand the mutual mistake of fishing at the same gunkhole speed or following the same straight path. Attempt starting out ho-hum and then gradually increasing your speed if you're not getting whatsoever bites. When aught happens, dull downwardly and brand a few irksome turns.

For all-time results, do some research on the boat speeds that are correct for the fish you seek in order to increase your gamble of catching them. The aforementioned works for other factors, like maneuvering techniques and types of lures. As with every other angling method, your level of noesis on what works for your desired species of fish significantly increases your chances of success in fishing.