Been geting skunked too often lately trolling umbrella rigs with tube eels....I have been running at about 3.5 mph (3 knots)......too slow??? Or too fast???

Could use some sage advice from the board.....thanks.

Homerun4 I troll my rigs from 3-4 knots and find that to be the best speed. Are you useing spinners on the rig? I put a spinner in front of each bait and find these rigs to out fish the others 3 to 1. If you do not know what I meen by the spinners let me know and I will post a picture. I also troll my umbrella rigs on 60# lead line this way I can control the depth,each color out puts the rig 5 feet down. You want to keep it just a few feet off the bottom in most cases. Also try a rig with shads or large 8" grub tails. Good luck and safe boating to you. GB

GB is your whole reel spooled with lead core? i do ok with my umbrella rigs but i think i could do better. I have to use a trolling weight to get it down in the strike zone. I really think the lead core is better because you can real in line if i am coming into shallower water.

Homerun,
I think that (3.5-4.2) is a good speed for the umbrella rigs, for the tube-n-worms I try to maintain (2.0-2.5).

It's probably not your trolling speed now, fishing has really slowed since last week. Not really sure why...

i've got a situation where i have no instruments (guages or speed sensor) to determine my speed. when i'm trolling umbrella rigs, i'm usually guessing on the speed. sometimes i catch them sometimes i don't. i'll somewhat determine the speed by dropping the umbrella rig into the water and keeping it within sight(usually a few feet behingd the boat). then i'll play with the speed to determine how fast or how slow to troll. is there an easier way to find out how fast i'm trolling?

Mr. Kav I use a penn GTI 330 and fill the reel with one spool of 60# lead core. I like the lead as it playes a fish much better than wire and like I said it is very easy to know how deep your offering is. Are you using spinners on your rigs???

Lead line works great if you are in shallow water. I agree it does play fish more like mono. If you get into the 50 and 60 ft depth mark, you can't let out enough line.
Have you tried Inconel wire?? Its smaller and has a better feel...Great sink rate.
My .02

GB Outdoors: I'm interested in learning about spinners, can you post a pic.

Here is the spinner next to a can of soda to give you an idea of the size.

And here is a rig set up with 6" shad. I do not use the 4 inside spots and run my rigs with only 5 baits.

Thanks.

So it appears that the spinner goes directly from the umbrella rig to the baits without using leader material to connect either. Is that correct? Is there something that I'm missing, it's hard to see from the pic?

I've never seen spinners in tackle shops - but then again I've never looked - are they fairly common?

GBOUTDOORS: THAT'S A SWEET SET-UP! I'M GONNA START WORKING ON MY UMBRELLA RIGS TONIGHT. IS THERE A REASON WHY YOU DON'T USE THE 4 INSIDE SPOTS? NOT EVEN WITH JUST TEASERS?

BassmanN most of my trolling is done in the 15'-25' range and the lead works fine but if I do need to go deep yes the wire is the ticket but I just do not like to fish it. I will be out to Cuttyhunk Thur. on the Rudy J charter fishing and all that will be used is wire. Jimmy loves to jig wire and when fishing with him thats what catches the fish. Oliver I get them at CMS in NB and also at M+D in Wareham. They also kick but if you put one in front of your tube and worm but I did not tell you about them:smash: And yes they hook direct from the umbrella to the bait but use a swival from the umbrella to the spinner to help keep things free. The reason we only use the 5 baits and NO leaders is most humps that hold fish are small and you only need to make a small short pass to get the fish off them and the smaller set up makes it easy to get the rig in and out of the water with no tangles and back for another fish (pass). It took me a long time to learn the lesson that 90% of the fish are caught in just 10% of the water!!!!! Look for reefs and humps on your charts that are small and come up out of 20-30-40 feet to 12-15-18 feet make your short pass and hold on to your rod as the rig comes over the top of those humps:happy: :happy: I always do best when I troll with the tide but you will catch fish both ways. Let me know if this rig helps you any. GBOUTDOORS


PS the spinners are made in Westport Ma. I forget the name but if any one can not find them let me know and I will get the name and site name for the co. I know they sell on the net.

When I troll 9er rigs I find 1.9kts is the "sweet"spot As slow as you can go, very tough in rough weather.

trolling speed useing only your tack, 6 - 700 rpm

I use only wire 40#....as I need to use the same rod & reel to jig with as well as umb.'s

for every 10' of wire, the rig go's dowm 1'

we always fish in about 30' of water = 300' wire

if your into jigin lead 3 -4 oz. or better you will need wire

the one thing I do know is that some day's the bass only want
black & white tubes.....x-day white red & black....white & red combo...........who knows why ?

When trolling slower the better especially now that the water is warming. idle speed around 1.5 over ground is plenty. Its harder to get the rigs down at higher speeds. I use wire 50ft plus and lead core 50ft minus. Black back or chartreues 9ers work best.

GB, no i do not use spinners on my umbrella rigs but i am willing to try them, i have however used them in front of tube and worm rigs.

I'm still looking for a place to buy those spinners GB uses. I've tried 4 different tackle shops, cabelas and a couple other online places and no luck. Does anyone know a place in Southern RI, Eastern CT or online where you can buy them. Or for that matter, what is their name? Thanks again.

"Zing"spinner blades.

Snug Harbor had them, last I knew.

Dave

Devils,
Hey I think I saw your partner in crime Trayder towing his boat down route 1 in South Couny, RI this morning, are you guys planning on fishing Watch Hill?

I finally got a 9'ers setup and used it last weekend, I think just about every shad body on it has been butchered by the blues, it does work though as I caught bass where I wasn't without the 9'ers.

I haven't been out for a few days, what's the latest?

Hey Lou they are made by Zing Prod. out of Westport Mass.
508-636-3100 they should be able to give you some names of bait shops in your area that carry them. Good luck and let me know if you still can't get them. If you are going to the Mass leg on Sat. Mike has them at M+D .

179.....I put out a 9er two weeks ago with 5 rubber shad.....all 5 came back no tails.

Gotta love the blues!

Hey picked up two more rods last night, I have 3 now ready to go for a shot at the fast ones next week. Hopefully they are around.........