Learning to troll

So now that I have a boat, I'm interested in learning to troll. I have basic questions, because this is all new to me.
1) what baits do I use? I know that cranks are popular, but can you also use jigs? Do you troll with live minnows?
2) where do you troll? Close to bank, out in the middle, weedlines?
3) how do you control depth? What's depth is best? Does it need to be close to bottom or near the surface?
4) do the baits follow in line with the boat or out to the side?
5) how much line do I need to have out while trolling?

I know nothing about trolling so any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks again guys!

Jesse


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Troll where the fish are. That means you can do it everywhere depending on conditions and time of year. Bait is preference. Cranks are great for reaction and covering water. Spider rigging minnows seems to always produce. Jigs can also be good. If you want to longline you will have to ask someone else. That stuff is way to confusing for this hillbilly. I like enough weight to keep the bait nearly vertical. Much easier to know how deep I am. I'm sure someone with more experience will be along soon. Good luck

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To most of your questions, Yes.

Trolling has many applications. Minnows, with and without corks, and jigs and cranks. Pushed with weights and pulled longline. The best i can tell you is to be careful and patient when buying equipment, as some can be technique specific, but others will lend to several ways to troll. I started with 12' rods and haven't varied much since. Others use longer and I can't argue with them, it's just what works for me.

Rod holders is another argument that will get some mileage. I use and prefer Hi-Tek Extreme rod holders after trying others that fell short for one reason or another. These are high sided which lets you troll with the rods 90* to the boat like I do without having a fish pull the rod sideways in the holder. All aluminum and a half inch wrench to do all adjustments. I tried knobs and got my line hung up now and then. Gotta be smarter than what you're working with. Lots to choose from.

While baitcasters work well for cranks, I think that spinning reels in the 2000 series will do a very good job for most any presentation you would choose. Hi-vis 6lb line in a big spool will last a long while, but I prefer 8lb for trolling cranks. Cheap in the store brand at BPS.

How deep and how fast is determined by the fish. Spider rig anywhere from .2 to 1.5, more weight needed the faster you go. Cranks from .7 to 2.0 mph, and there's combinations of the two used together.

Suffice to say that all you need is a desire to try something new and get after it. Ask a question, watch a you tube video, or bother someone at the ramp like I do. Start moving and throw a line over the side, you'll be surprised what goes on after that.

There is a sticky on the Mississippi board on pullin cranks and a sticky on the South Carolina board on longlining. Both are great reads and divulge a ton of information.

Thank you for all the information. I have a 10' mr crappie rod that says it's for jigging / trolling. I figure that will be sufficient. Now, if I didn't want to buy another rod.... would 7' be too short to troll with? And also, this may be a dumb question, what is "pushing"? I assume it trolling from the front of the boat but I maybe wrong. I've got 4 rod holders that came with the boat. 2 in the front that I havnt mounted yet and 2 in the back corners. They are plastic and you can change the angel and they swivel 360degrees and lock in place. What sort of rig do I need to use? Just a squishie on jig head or do I need a drop shot type rig.


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Originally Posted by huntinslabs

There is a sticky on the Mississippi board on pullin cranks and a sticky on the South Carolina board on longlining. Both are great reads and divulge a ton of information.

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I'll check these out. Thank you.


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Originally Posted by Jman5626

Thank you for all the information. I have a 10' mr crappie rod that says it's for jigging / trolling. I figure that will be sufficient. Now, if I didn't want to buy another rod.... would 7' be too short to troll with? And also, this may be a dumb question, what is "pushing"? I assume it trolling from the front of the boat but I maybe wrong. I've got 4 rod holders that came with the boat. 2 in the front that I havnt mounted yet and 2 in the back corners. They are plastic and you can change the angel and they swivel 360degrees and lock in place. What sort of rig do I need to use? Just a squishie on jig head or do I need a drop shot type rig.


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You can troll (longline style) with pretty much any length of rod ... just be sure and have a couple of feet of separation between the lines of those rods being used out the same side of the boat.

Pushing is fishing out the front of the boat, with the rods more or less pointing forward, and a trolling weight on the line ahead of the bait being used. You are usually going faster when "pushing" than when Spider Rigging. I push a single jig under 1/2oz weight @ 0.5-0.9mph & use three 14' rods off the front rod holders. If I were "spider rigging", I'd be going less than 0.4mph (and I'd probably have my jigs tipped with a minnow).

Your rear holders would work fine for "pulling" or "longline trolling" ... and it would depend on how much (if any) weight you put on the line ahead of the bait, and how fast you were moving, as to how deep your bait was. The angle of the rod also comes into play, as the closer the rod tip is to the water's surface will play a role in how much line needs to be out to get to a specific depth. Rods pointing skyward have a lot of line "in the air" between rod tip and water, and that length of line doesn't count when calculating how deep your bait is running.

How you rig for trolling is a personal choice ... and there's quite a number of different riggings that will work. I would suggest starting out with a single jig/plastic and go as slow as you can without dragging the jig on the bottom. If you can't go that slow ... add weight to the line about 12-18" above the jig.

You "can" determine how deep your weight is running ... as long as you can keep your line at about a 45deg angle. Just multiply the length of line you have out (below the surface) by 0.6 ... and that will give you the approximate depth of your weight (or jig). So, by that method ... say you have 20ft of line out, and your rod tips are a foot above the water - then you'd have about 19ft of line below the surface. So 19 x 0.6 = 11.4ft deep ... so you would be fishing @ 11-12ft deep (if you maintain the speed which gives you the 45deg angle). Higher speeds will bring the bait shallower, lower speeds will drop the bait deeper ... if you're still using the same weight on the line. A lighter or heavier weight can be used in conjunction with higher or lower speeds to keep that angle, when necessary.

Sounds complicated, but once you figure it out and try it (& catch fish doing it), then it won't seem nearly as complicated as it sounds when reading it.

Thanks to everyone for all the information. I'm Gona give it a try this weekend on either Grayson or yatesville. I'll let ya know how it works.


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Originally Posted by Jman5626

Thanks to everyone for all the information. I'm Gona give it a try this weekend on either Grayson or yatesville. I'll let ya know how it works.


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if you don't do well first time out don't give up, it sounds easy, but there are little nuances that take time to learn and you need to practice practice practice. I've been rigging for a couple of years and still trying to get the hang of it, of course I don't get out a lot as the closest place from me is about an hour away.

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

I don't get out a lot as the closest place from me is about an hour away.

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I have the same problem



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I bought all of the trolling racks/holders. Bought 12' and 14' rods. I have boxes of cranks. I have a set of planer boards for pulling jigs in a wide spread. At the end of the day, I have learned that I am a single pole fisherman because that is what I enjoy. I rarely load the boat, but just as rarely ever get skunked. I don't knock anyone's method of fishing, I just want to enjoy my time on the water.

I like to use 14 and 16 ft rods to get the bait away from the boat. Less chance of catching a line on the trolling motor.
Check the regs. on the waters you fish, number of rods and baits.
I like the old Johnson Century 100 series spooled with 30# Power Pro, I run them under the rod, left handed. A bobber stopper that can be adjusted to run at water surface for the depth I want the bait. A snap swivel at the end to attach the bait rig.
For waters without limits I run 6 baits per pole. The bait rig, 10 to 12 lb test mono, has a loop at both ends. One for the snap swivel and the other for the sinker. The loops and baits are 1 ft apart.
If the bobber stopper is pulled to arms length up the line from the swivel it's about 6 ft deep. The first bait is 7 ft deep, the bottom bait is 13 ft deep, sinker at 14 ft when sitting still. I use a 2 oz sinker at the bottom and speed 1, sometimes 2 on the trolling motor. My baits should be running between 5 and 10 ft deep with the bobber stopper adjusted to the surface.
I use a lot of different colored jig bodies at different locations from rig to rig. If one color seems to catch good at any depth I can swap colors around or go to that color on all baits.
On waters that have a 2 bait per rod limit my rigs have a bait 1 ft from the loop, a sinker 1 ft deeper and a 2nd bait 12 to 18" deeper at the bottom.