Originally Posted by
Geraldlim
Trolling the way I do it:
-Study the charts, pinpoint fishy looking underwater structure.
-Study wind to find likely areas to hold bait and thus pelagic predators
-work shade lines early and late in the day to target light sensitive predators like stripers
-Start working the chosen areas, be they underwater points and ridges, or bays and coves.
-Watch fishfinder to look for fish and the depths they are holding
-Watch GPS chartplotter constantly to monitor speed and navigate lure around the structure I am working
-Try different depths/lengths of leadcore and speeds to get lure into target zone (often near the bottom)
-Work all the zones - upper water column, mid, and bottom to see where fish are holding
-Work close to shore, further out, and way out to see where fish are holding
*jerk the fly, work it constantly to make lure shoot forward then suspend and sink slowly like an injured baitfish
-sweep rod periodically to make lure climb, then sink
-speed up and slow down boat in a straight line to make lure climb and sink
-make "S" turns and "V" turns to make lure slow down and speed up, climb and sink (all this in at the same time as jerking the line by hand)
-Reel in and let out leadcore, as well as change boat speed to keep lure in the strike zone as bottom topography/depth varies
-As soon as a fish is landed, re-set and blast back to area of hookup at speed while letting out the line again to try to keep contact with the school
-work all other similar areas and depths to where fish was caught
-pull up lines (sometimes 10 colors of it, 100 yards!) and move as quick as possible to the next structure; let out the line again
-Note direction of travel relative to structure and/or wind direction that gets bit more
I have yet to catch a single striper just putting the rod in a rod holder and driving around the lake blindly!
I actually got shoulder problems and tennis elbow from trolling and jerking that leadcore!
I am not sure it is a method applicable to to guide charters; probably not all clients would appreciate having to work that hard physically LOL.
But it is effective for me.
I agree that having a 100 yards of leadcore out can take some of the fight out from a striper.
But so does having a 100 yards of mono with all that stretch.
It's all fun.
The more I understand the water, the bait, the fish, and the technique (trolling), the more consistent I get.
Gerald