Thread: Long line & tight line trolling... when do you switch between the two?

sometimes you need to switch during the same pass or you can tightline and longline troll at the same time just use heavier weights on your tight lines to get them down and keep them there you can do both at the same time just practice you will come up with the recipe the key to it all is being flexible and willing to change tactics to go with the situations on hand

I've seen guys tightlining in the front and the person in the back of the boat longlining. I think it is a matter of finding fish and then seeing what works best.

Originally Posted by JordanLimit

I've seen guys tightlining in the front and the person in the back of the boat longlining. I think it is a matter of finding fish and then seeing what works best.

This is exactly what Skeeterguy and I did last week. Skeeterguy tightlined on the front with 1 oz. sinkers on his lines. I ran eight long lines out the back with 1/8 oz. jigs on the four rods straight off the back of the boat. The four outer rods (two on each side) had 1/16 oz. heads. We were running 0.8-1.0 mph and my 1/8 heads were running about 12-15' deep. I guesstimate the the 1/16 oz heads were running 6-9' deep max. We were fishing in water from 19-26' deep and I caught fish on all rods. Skeeterguy was running various depths on his eight rods depending strictly on how much line he pulled out. He caught fish on all rods too. With this set up you can pretty much cover all the depths. Good luck and remember practice, practice, practice. You are on a great lake there to troll. Rhodhiss and Hickory are not so productive.

Originally Posted by Chugbug

This is exactly what Skeeterguy and I did last week. Skeeterguy tightlined on the front with 1 oz. sinkers on his lines. I ran eight long lines out the back with 1/8 oz. jigs on the four rods straight off the back of the boat. The four outer rods (two on each side) had 1/16 oz. heads. We were running 0.8-1.0 mph and my 1/8 heads were running about 12-15' deep. I guesstimate the the 1/16 oz heads were running 6-9' deep max. We were fishing in water from 19-26' deep and I caught fish on all rods. Skeeterguy was running various depths on his eight rods depending strictly on how much line he pulled out. He caught fish on all rods too. With this set up you can pretty much cover all the depths. Good luck and remember practice, practice, practice. You are on a great lake there to troll. Rhodhiss and Hickory are not so productive.

Chugbug, was Skeeterguy using single or double rigs while tightlining? Minnows or Jigs? If jigs... how was the rig designed?

Skeeterguy was using single rigs with jigs. Basically he's using the Capps and Coleman technique where the line is wrapped around the egg sinker several times and the jig or hook is tied below the sinker approximately 18-24". This rig is good for minnows and jigs. He can even run a 1/32 oz. at the deepest of depths this way. If you choose to use a double rig then a three way swivel becomes necessary. I think that there are some diagrams somewhere on this site, but I can't remember where. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

Originally Posted by Chugbug

Skeeterguy was using single rigs with jigs. Basically he's using the Capps and Coleman technique where the line is wrapped around the egg sinker several times and the jig or hook is tied below the sinker approximately 18-24". This rig is good for minnows and jigs. He can even run a 1/32 oz. at the deepest of depths this way. If you choose to use a double rig then a three way swivel becomes necessary. I think that there are some diagrams somewhere on this site, but I can't remember where. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

I'd love to see that diagram of the double rig with the triple swivel if someone has it saved somewhere.

I'm attaching a diagram of the Capps and Coleman rig that is quite popular. If you have enough rods, only one hook each is best to keep tangles out, just ask Monk. If you are like me and not that many rods at the present, a double-rig comes in handy. As you can see from the pictures, I have taken a large-size "noodle" that kids use for swimming and cut it up into about 6" lengths. I want to be able to store two in a gallon ziplock bag. It's hard to see, but I have a small nail stuck through the hole of the 3-way swivel. I make all these up at home in the evenings and it is has been a real time saver when I get out of the boat. I fish about 8 of these rigs at a time, so anything to help keep out tangles is good.

The blue one has 3/4 ounce weights to be used for tightlining and the red has 1/4 weights that I use for a trolling effect. This is still a work in progress, so I am not sure which is best, since I have caught fish on both rigs. I'll need some more time to see if there is a pattern. Hope this helps.

well I guess I am old school I dont use swivels ,I tie all my own rigs being singles ,doubles or three way ,terminal tackle cost to much for me to keep tying back on after hanging in the brush,you just need to learn to tie a bimini twist or a snell loop,or the devils veil and you have the best swivel on the water and it is a whole lot faster and cheaper.and you dont get the line twist because you are not running at a high knot speed when trolling for( sacalait)the cajun word for crappie meaning bag of sweet milk, or you could call them,strawberrie perch,calicos,papermouths,specks,tingills ,and if you are brush dipping you use galvinized nails as weights to get down in the brush without alot of hanging up useing differant size nails for speed of desent,or if you are on a new lake there is all kinds of little tricks to locate and draw mr crappie to your boat like what some of us call feeding the chickens to get those shut down fish to feed again or a pickle jar to turn them on,or maybe a balloon there is all kinds of neat little tricks to save time and money to fill your livewells with.