Your thoughts about trolling

[Baseballer44]

I have a 115 hp outboard motor with no trolling motor, so when we do troll, it takes a toll on our engine. That aside, we usually troll a large iron (about 6"), a large crocodile (also 6"), and a similar size squid with a clear line leader. We usually travel between 4-6 mph, letting our lines back a good distance, about 50 feet behind us. We like to troll the usual spots, from the outside to the inside of the flats, the shoe, around the 100ft line of Catalina. All we have caught in about many times trolling is 2 mackerel, and one was on the reel in when we were finishing.

Are we doing things wrong, are there any good hot spots to troll that will yield better results than others, or is trolling the open ocean just that dead? other than mackerel of course. Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated!

[Fish Dog]

I'd try a CD14 Rapala in mackerel pattern or sardine pattern or some tuna feathers and troll at 6 - 8 MPH. Yellowtail! Especially around Catalina.

[gman90706]

50ft seems awfully short to me for trolling ... I usually run at least 150ft of trolling out on 30-40lb line... and usually troll some of the bigger Rapala lures (mackerel color have worked decent). Have had decent luck with larger baracuda and bonito trolling in the 120ft range ... usually on our way from the Shoe to the Flats or so and decided to just troll when we didn't feel like getting beat up by the swells :)

6-8mph seems about right. Don't be shy to try different speeds - tons of factors involved with trolling, from speed, lure type, etc... all depends on the conditions and how well the lure swims. I'm toying with the idea of trolling with some planers or weights (as I don't really feel like dropping the $$ right now on a downrigger)... maybe put one Rapala on the surface and another about 20-30 feet down with weight/planer and see how it goes.

In any case trolling is always a blast when the reels go ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ and it's NOT a chunk of Kelp! Last season we were just chillin' and I let my cousin drive (if anything to keep her from seasickness), I told her to watch the depth finder and let us know if she sees anything. 5 min. later she says "Hey we just went over a 'number 30' on the finder' ... hehe not seconds later ZZZZZZZZ and we nailed a nice 10lb or so bonito, right outside of a couple anchored oil tankers in LB...

Was a blast. Bottom line, I guess, is to try different speeds, different lures, different depths. And when you hit something, repeat and see what else is there...

[fishncatalina]

try live bait 8)