Trolling for Stripers in fresh water lakes and rivers is
a tried and true way is to catch fish.
While there are different techniques using
downriggers and artificial bait.
With the below method we will focus on using live bait.
 Striper Guides |
Trolling with live bait when the fish are spotty & scattered, as they
often are during cold months
and transition periods,
is an excellent way to find Striped Bass
Start by preparing your rods.
Slid a 1/2 to 3oz
barrel weight on your line and attach a swivel.
Use a 5-6 foot
leader to the end of your line using a hook in proportion to the bait size.
( adjust weight for season and size of
bait and area fishing if over shallow water, trees use no weight at all )
Pick the area that you want to start trolling and set the trolling speed
which will typically vary between .8 and 1.2 mph.
The Minn
Kota Auto/Power Drives with the co-pilot installed and Lowrance depth finders with
GPS speed indication
are my
choice. If you have not used this combination you are missing out on some fantastic
electronic advantages.
With the reel out of gear and the clicker on, I use the Garcia 6500
series, let out line from the reel, the amount will vary as to depth and time of year.
For our purpose we will say the stripers are marking around 30 to 35 feet. So we pull out
30 to 40 feet of line.
( you can make a quick determination by pulling line
from the top to bottom of your rod )
Put the bait on the hook.
( through nostril / upper jaw. )
Lets say we will be using 6 rods.
( six rods is a
good number to start with when you get proficient start adding rods to the basic
formation. )
When the first rod is baited simply drop line and weight over the side of the boat, pull
your determined amount of line out.
In our example we pull out 4 counts on the rod, top to
bottom which will give us about 30 feet (7' rod 5
leader) of line fed over the side.
 |
When you have pulled the line out attach a planer board,
or balloon (
a planer board's advantage is to get your
line out to the side of the boat providing stealth as well as fishing versatility ) and
simply drop over the side (reel out of gear and the clicker on) and start letting line out
(the speed off the boat will pull line) until the planer board is moving out
from the boat. When the first planer board is out about 90 feet place the rod in the front
rod holder, reel in gear . Repeat with the second rod and place in the middle rod holder and
release line until it trails the first planer board about 30 feet or so behind the first
board, letting line out until you get your desired spread and distance behind the boat..
Now on the 3rd rod, using the same line let out drop beside the boat method,
instead of using a planer board tie on the balloon or desired float when you have measured out the
amount of line you want the bait to be below the float tie on the balloon and start
feeding line out until it gets out past the outside planer board. Place the rod in the
back holder.
Now repeat for the other side of the boat. The balloon rod on this side we will stop
behind the first balloon about 35-40 feet.
When you first drop the planer boards the reason to engage the clicker is so it adds
enough drag that the planer start moving out to the side of the boat and it frees you up
to start setting the other lines. When you feel its far enough out to side engage the
spool.
With practice and a good planer board you can run out beside the boat 30 - 50 yards With
that kind of coverage you can see where you would be covering 60 - 100 yards a pass.
Now you should have out 6 rods out in a formation that will cover a lot of water and not
tangle up. With practice and varying the depths of the trolling baits you can adjust to
the bite of the fish. Also the same type of pattern can be achieved with more rods.
4 or
more float (balloon) lines behind the boat can be achieved fairly easily by staggering the
distance between them.
I recommend that you keep the boat moving while baiting and dropping the
lines. When fighting a larger fish, you may need to decrease boat speed, or
even chase the fish, but do not stop the boat unless someone else can bring
in all the other lines in .
Turns can be a tricky maneuver while trolling. To avoid tangled lines make wide sweeping
turns and not tight ones and turn the boat to the long distance balloon. Watch how much line you have out and learn to make your turns
accordingly. A tip to Live bait Trolling, and the way to catch more fish, is the increase
of presentation to the fish. You can also varying the presentation. I always try to run in
a figure eight pattern as opposed to running straight. This will cause the baits to speed
up and slow down. As a result, they rise and fall and do not trail right behind the boat.
An additional benefit is that you are covering more water with the figure eight pattern.
Another idea is to stop your boat for a few seconds and allow your baits to fall a few
feet, then continue the speed as normal. Many hits come while in the turn, and on the
temporary stops.
If you hit an active school and are getting a lot of fish hits fight it, net it, dump it,
put into the box or released. Then hang the net in a pole holder outside of the boat out
of the way and ready for the next fish. Change the bait, get your line/bait back into the
water. Tie a new bait to the empty hook. Hook and land the fish that is now on another
rod. Repeat above until exhausted.
Please Practice Catch and Release when possible ....
And most of all Create Cherished Memories.
"There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart.....pursue those."
Privacy Notice I Striper Links I Glossary of Fish Terms
Home
Arkansas
Stripers
Arkansas Striped Bass
Site Map
Striper Recipes
Fishing Tackle
Striper Facts
Striper Boats
Fish Finders
Live Wells for Stripers
Rulers of the Lake
Live Shad
for Stripers
Keeping Live Bait Alive
Striper Reproduction
Mounts
Catch and
Release Can Kill Stripers
Fishing Line
Striper Age
Weight Chart
Spawning
Bait Tanks
Cast nets
Best Times To Catch
Stripers
Striper Seasons
Buy-Swap-Sell
The National Striped Bass
Association:
Search the Outdoors
Fishing-Hunting
Local Fishing "Slang"
Morone saxatilis