Long Line Trolling Explained

I just got back from Alabama where I was introduced to Long Line Trolling for the first time. I had several questions about it before I left, and have had several people ask how it's done since I've been home so I'll try to explain it the best I can! It was showed to me by a fish guide while on the trip.It's a very fun and exciting way to fish regardless of how it sounds. It also sounds like it would be hard, and lines would stayed tangled but it's not and farely easy to do.
To start you really need rods that vary in length. The reason for this is so the lines can be spread out at different lengths to keep lines from tangling and to cover more area. We used rods that were 12 foot, 10 foot and 6 to 6 1/2 foot. We fished 1 rod out of each side of the boat on the front, 1 rod out of each side in the middle and 2 rods out of the back left, and 2 rods out of the back right of the boat. You need some type of rod holder, there are several out there, I prefer driftmaster and hi tek. They make several types of mounts, floor mounts, tbars which hold multiple rod holders, we used the driftmaster floor mounts, with the one rod holder per base mounted directly to the floor, next to the edge of the boat. It's important to put your longest rod on the outside or up front, this keeps the outside line away from the shorter rods on the inside. It's easier to cast out the inside lines first. You make a pretty decent cast, then let out about two rod lengths of line, and fllip the bail back over. Once you flip your bail over just place the rod into the rod holder. Continue this until all your lines are out. You typically want to troll at your lowest trolling motor speed (but it depends on the wind). The professionals recommend a speed between .6 to 1mph, but we didn't have a gps to tell us our exact speed. The diameter line, weight of your jig head and speed determines how deep your bait goes. We used Jig heads weighted at 1/24 oz, which is kind of hard to find around here. If you don't have any of these use 1/8, 1/16, and 1/32 weighted heads depending on how deep you want to be. 1/8 is typically used to fish below 12 feet, 1/16 for 6-12 feet and 1/32 for 6 feet or less. But remember speed, line diameter, and how much line is out also determines the depth at which the bait is running. I've just given you a general ideal, but its easy to play around with it and figure out what works for you. At this point you just troll around in coves,mouths of coves or wherever you think the fish is holding, Look for humps, creek channels and schools of fish on your sonar to find the best spots. When a fish bites, the rod holder basically sets the hook itself, but your rod tip will bend over, indicating you have a bite. Just bend over pick the rod up and usually the fish is hooked. We used Southern Pro Grubs, hot colors were Blue/chartreuse tail, blue-black/chartreuse tail, and red-black with chartreuse tail. Our jig heads were red, but you can use about any bait you want. Just remember to make wide turns while changing directions in the boat to keep your lines from becoming tangled. We caught over 200 crappie in 3 days using this technique in Alabama. I'm still trying to figure out where to use this technique in Kentucky. The water is shallow in Alabama and it's much easier to find and locate fish. I'm up for any suggestions on the best lakes to troll in Central Kentucky.
These are just suggestions and im by far no where near an expert. This technique worked for us and hopefully it will work for you. I hope the information ins somewhat useful and can help you get started. Once again there are many variations, but this is how we done it. You can find the Driftmaster rod holders at basspro.com or the cheapest place i've found them is at extremefishingconcepts.com. It's also handy to have an extra trolling motor battery because trolling all day takes a lot of juice Good luck and let me know if this helps any.

Did you guys try this in the wind? Thanks for the post.

Believe it or not we did fish this way in the wind(right at 20mph)! It makes things a little tougher but its really not that bad. The biggest challenges was casting without going over other lines, the best way to get around this is to drop the bait straight down by the boat and let the line run out as the boat is moving. It's not as accurate as making the cast but it's close. The other challenge is trying to troll against the wind. The best way we found to get around this was to troll with the wind (you really just about only need your trolling motor to keep the boat straight as you drift with the wind)Once we passed our spot up we would turn around and fire the big motor up to where we want to start again then just drift with the wind again. It sure does save a trolling motor battery when your not battling the wind. Hope this helps

I'm looking forward to learning this way of fishing for a while now. I've tried it a couple of times. I need to get a wind sock. I got 10lb. line on now but I'm thinking it is too heavy to troll with.

10 lbs is to heavy. You need to be in the 6 pound range. For me wind is a killer. No boat control and no control of depth of jigs. I have fished this way for around 15 years and I try other ways in the wind. I am not saying you can't do it but when I go I am looking for a specific drop in depth or a specific brush pile in KY Lake and a 20 mile an hour wind creates a huge challenge when trying to hit the right spot. Speed is also a big factor when it comes to wind. You want to troll as slow as you can go and in the wind that is impossible. I think everyone should try lone line trolling. It is very fun and does catch a lot of fish.

Thanks for all the info. I have to fish from my Hurricane Deckboat, so the wind may cause some trouble. But, this method seems good enough for me to give it a try. I usually fish Barkley around the bend. I have been chasing the slabs for a couple years now when I can get down to Barkley--I have yet to get a hold of one. This method sounds like I could cover some decent water instead of just throwing at every stickup and bank I can find.

Thanks again