Help in trolling- Basics

[troutmania]

Hi today i went to lake chabot and tried to troll for my First time. Went around the whole lake with kastmaster and did not get one hit. Can anyone give me any pointers. anything will help. Lures, speed, how deep.

one question that i kno i should ask is how do i know how deep i am trolling. Someone told me to fish 5 ft down with castmaster but i dont know how deep i was at the time. Should i put weight near the leader so it can sink?

Anything will help because i kno absolutely nothing

Thanks

[jstcrzyengh]

Originally Posted by troutmania

Hi today i went to lake chabot and tried to troll for my First time. Went around the whole lake with kastmaster and did not get one hit. Can anyone give me any pointers. anything will help. Lures, speed, how deep.

one question that i kno i should ask is how do i know how deep i am trolling. Someone told me to fish 5 ft down with castmaster but i dont know how deep i was at the time. Should i put weight near the leader so it can sink?

Anything will help because i kno absolutely nothing

Thanks

Hi Troutmania welcome to the boards.

There is a lot of different ways to troll for trout. I will give you a few setups here.

Direct line
This is where you tie the lure directly to your line. Great lures to use are Rapala's in the countdown vareity. My favorite are CD3's, CD5's, and CD7's in Rainbow trout, Brown trout, and firetiger. CD3 brown trout is my personal favorite followed by firetiger. The reason you want to use something that dives like a crankbait, Rapala, etc... If you read the box on most of these kinds of lures you will note that they will tell you how deep they will dive. If the fish are very shallow you can direct or "flat" line spoons like thomas buoyants, kast masters, super Dupers, etc... However 5 feet, with a lot of 4lb test is about as deep as it will go. Countown and Deep Diver Rapala's will go anywhere from 10-22ft when trolling.

Leadcore
This is a special setup, you may want to research a bit more as you will need a special reel and rod, however leadcore will allow you to get down very deep to get to fish at 40-80feet. I use leadcore whenever the fish are holding 30-45 feet typically.

Keel Weights
A keel weight is typically a weight that you place about 5 feet up from your spoon, plug, or whatev er lure you choose to get it to deeper depths. However with a keel weight you typically need to have a heavier setup.

My favorite lures to troll are:

CD3 brown trout
CD5 firetiger
Bikini needlefish
Frog needlefish
Rainbow trout Thomas buoyant
Wooly buggers
Crawlers on a crawler hauler

This should give you a start.

James

[Matt]

James gave you some good info. Depth and speed are the keys to trolling. If the fish are at 40 feet, and your lure is at 5 feet, you won't catch fish, even if you troll right over them. My favorite lure is a Frog Needlefish. Most Needlefish patterns will work very well. Frog, Bikini, and Firetiger are my favorites. Hardly ever have to use anything else. Keel weights are the least effective, because you don't really know how deep you are running, but better than flatlining if the fish are deeper. Consider getting a leadcore setup or 2. If you have two, you can troll at different depths searching for fish. We set our lines out at a 90 degree angle from the boat (not directly out the back) to cover more water. You could look into a diving plane, which is a device that take your lure to depth, and when a fish hits, trips the plane and brings the fish to the surface. I have not used one of these, but they are fairly cheap, and might be worth while. You also probably need a fishfinder of some sort. If you know what depth the fish are, getting your lure to them is easy. I also have a portable downrigger on my boat, it is a fairly expensive little thing (total was about $100 for the cheapest Cannon makes), but makes targeting specific depths very easy. When we troll, we usually set 4 lines: 1 flatline, 2 leadcore at different depths, and a downrigger below all of them, all with a different lure. Then let the fish tell you what they want. As far as speed, again you need to let the fish tell you what they want. Most boats without a trolling motor will just move along at idle speed. Sometimes this will work very well, and other times will not. So vary your speed. If you're not getting hit after a while, speed up a little, then a little more, etc. Keep experimenting. Look at what the other boats around are doing. If they are getting hit, try to match their speed. One of the biggest hints I can give is to not troll in a straight line. Move along in an "S" type pattern. This does 2 main things: You put your lures into more water, and you automatically vary the speed of the lures. When you turn, the outside lure speeds up (and moves up in the water column), and the inside lure slows down (and sinks). This will often prompt a strike from a fish that has been following your lure. One last thing: Keep up to date on the local fish reports (paper, magazine, web) as to where they are hitting, how deep, what color etc. Most fish reports will say where and how deep the fish are. Go to that spot and fish at that depth. Keep a written record, or try to remember what worked: time of day, weather, water temp, boat speed, lure type etc. It takes a little homework, but after a while you'll learn the techniques that work for you and your boat. Matt

[DementedFish]

Do different types of leadcore sink at different depths?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by DementedFish

Do different types of leadcore sink at different depths?

YES! Check on the package for sink rate info. Most "light" leadcore lines (12lb test) sink about 5 feet for each color. But that really depends on speed. A really fast troll might be a little less, a really slow troll will be a little more. But sink rates "should" be printed on the packaging, for an average trolling speed, 1.5-3 mph or so. You can get heavier line, mostly for larger gamefish, for trout, I'd get the lightest available. Matt

[umoa]

i have had luck on a old needlefish pattern. duno if they still make it. greeen with yellow, orange? dots... =( i lost my only one tho when some a hole ran behind my boat.

[Wahoo!]

Great info guys!

["MN PATCH"]

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

Great info guys!

SOMETIMES A GUY NEEEDS A GOOD SMACK IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD TO WAKE HIM UP TO GO FISHIN'!

[Wahoo!]

Welcome to the board MN PATCH! I moved your other post here:

No Cal Freshwater Fishing Help

This way more people will see it and you'll get some more responses. I'm looking forward to reading your reports.

[fishsteelhead]

James,
There was mention of a planer, these also come in handy when trolling because they keep the plug, bait, "triple teaser's", etc., parallel to the boat. When turnin' a boat to make another pass, riggin' has a big tendency of wantin' to head for the stern (food for the prop). Most planers specify for port or starboard side, however some can be used on either side, soooo check out the info., that it comes with. There are a whole lot of different techniques for this type of fishin', so it becomes sorta' trial & error (hopefully not the latter). Also mentioned was fish-finders, another helpfull addition for locatin' them puppy-dogs! Man, is'nt a site like this great for the free info.. Good luck. Outta here... ~Skip

[PlatinumHooks]

Originally Posted by Matt

James gave you some good info. Depth and speed are the keys to trolling. If the fish are at 40 feet, and your lure is at 5 feet, you won't catch fish, even if you troll right over them. My favorite lure is a Frog Needlefish. Most Needlefish patterns will work very well. Frog, Bikini, and Firetiger are my favorites. Hardly ever have to use anything else. Keel weights are the least effective, because you don't really know how deep you are running, but better than flatlining if the fish are deeper. Consider getting a leadcore setup or 2. If you have two, you can troll at different depths searching for fish. We set our lines out at a 90 degree angle from the boat (not directly out the back) to cover more water. You could look into a diving plane, which is a device that take your lure to depth, and when a fish hits, trips the plane and brings the fish to the surface. I have not used one of these, but they are fairly cheap, and might be worth while. You also probably need a fishfinder of some sort. If you know what depth the fish are, getting your lure to them is easy. I also have a portable downrigger on my boat, it is a fairly expensive little thing (total was about $100 for the cheapest Cannon makes), but makes targeting specific depths very easy. When we troll, we usually set 4 lines: 1 flatline, 2 leadcore at different depths, and a downrigger below all of them, all with a different lure. Then let the fish tell you what they want. As far as speed, again you need to let the fish tell you what they want. Most boats without a trolling motor will just move along at idle speed. Sometimes this will work very well, and other times will not. So vary your speed. If you're not getting hit after a while, speed up a little, then a little more, etc. Keep experimenting. Look at what the other boats around are doing. If they are getting hit, try to match their speed. One of the biggest hints I can give is to not troll in a straight line. Move along in an "S" type pattern. This does 2 main things: You put your lures into more water, and you automatically vary the speed of the lures. When you turn, the outside lure speeds up (and moves up in the water column), and the inside lure slows down (and sinks). This will often prompt a strike from a fish that has been following your lure. One last thing: Keep up to date on the local fish reports (paper, magazine, web) as to where they are hitting, how deep, what color etc. Most fish reports will say where and how deep the fish are. Go to that spot and fish at that depth. Keep a written record, or try to remember what worked: time of day, weather, water temp, boat speed, lure type etc. It takes a little homework, but after a while you'll learn the techniques that work for you and your boat. Matt

Matt, that Frog Needlfish is a killer! I love that lure. Excellent choice of lure and pattern for trolling.

[PlatinumHooks]

Originally Posted by fishsteelhead

James,
There was mention of a planer, these also come in handy when trolling because they keep the plug, bait, "triple teaser's", etc., parallel to the boat. When turnin' a boat to make another pass, riggin' has a big tendency of wantin' to head for the stern (food for the prop). Most planers specify for port or starboard side, however some can be used on either side, soooo check out the info., that it comes with. There are a whole lot of different techniques for this type of fishin', so it becomes sorta' trial & error (hopefully not the latter). Also mentioned was fish-finders, another helpfull addition for locatin' them puppy-dogs! Man, is'nt a site like this great for the free info.. Good luck. Outta here... ~Skip

Good info Skip. Always like to read your advice. It's always dead on.

[first5]

does anyone know what forage fish (or other) the frog colored Needlefish are supposed to immitate?

they seem to work everywhere.

[PlatinumHooks]

Originally Posted by first5

does anyone know what forage fish (or other) the frog colored Needlefish are supposed to immitate?

they seem to work everywhere.

First5,

I really don't think they are supposed to immitate small shad or forage fish at all, could be a small frog immitation, but I think it's just designed as a good "flash" color combined with the mirror side that makes it attractive.