1st Time Troller

OK. Read 80 pages of the Pulling Cranks 101 and decided I would give it a try. Wasn’t going to outdo the maj. So I took some advice from creekslick and wanted to see if pulling was for me. Gonna start out low buck so I used gear I already had. Equip. used: Berkley 6’ Lighting rod w/ Shimano spinning reel, Quantum Select Bill Dance spinning rod/reel, And a B&M BGJP 112 with @ 5” of tip missing I repaired so it was kind of stiff. Had a Stratus spinning reel on it. Nothing fancy. A Garmin etex hand held GPS, 92 Bass Tracker Pro 16 w/ 40 Johnson that won’t idle good. Motorguide 28 lb thrust TM foot control , backup Minn Kota Endura 40 hand control, and a Humminbird 100SX w/ transducer mounted on Motorguide. Both TM are 5 speed so the speed you get is what it is. On 5 the MG would go @1.8mph. This is good. And was using homemade trolling rack. Went to the Rez today. Used Wally Marshall Midnightfire, Grn Hornet and BPS Hot Mustard. Put the TM on continuous, sitting up front and started putting out lines. 1^st thing I caught was my finger. Think I’ve got a magnetic bones. After about 45min-1hr caught my 1^st fish trolling crankbaits.
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Went to throw crankbait (Midnightfire) back in watching my bail on the Stratus reel because it doesn’t want to flip back over and at some point the CB came undone. Good knots are essential. Don’t know which way it went so I reeled in the 2 other poles and trolled around looking for it. Didn’t find it. Ok put that pole down. TM started intermitting. Would run then it wouldn’t run. Finally nothing. So to the back and put on the Endura on the transom. No worry, just gonna hold the 2 rods and continue on. No depth finder. Did look up to the sky and say “Thank You Jesus”, everythings all right. Did ya’ll know that when you’re facing out the back you get confused which way is right turn and which is left. Hand held GPS, laying on the deck, trolling now at 1.9 mph. I knew close to where the channel was so I stayed out in it. Man those cranks can really work on your elbows. About 20 min. later boom, 2^nd fish.
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Time around 11:30 looking bad cloudy so I said I’ll give it another chance another day but I’m gonna be in the Ranger next time. And I think line counter- good reels are in order. Maybe even a Bandit or 2. Can’t always go cheap. Of course I’m not gonna be a fanatic (YET) like maj.

Sometimes "Beginners Luck" is not so good. Be positive tho. It takes time to figure it out. Might try a trip with someone that's done some pulling before. It works and it's addictive once you get the hang of it.

At least you did catch fish. [emoji4]

Sorry for the not to positive first try but you tried and that is what counts. Hope you have better luck next time

Momma said there'd be days like this.....even when you think you got it figured out.

Hang tuff, worth riding over to Okatibee and getting bit a lot, hard to learn if you ain't getting bit.

Oh I'll admit it was exciting when you had a tug on the line. I'm definitely gonna try it again. Gonna get a little better setup, start out a little at a time. Watch more videos and read more about it too. All in all the 1st time inspired hope.

My first time or two didn't work out too great either. But once it did, I was hooked and have been spending money ever since. Hahaha

I just hope I don't invest as much as majflyboy.

You will

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Haha...didn't know you could invest too much