Trolling Speed

[ScottB]

A friend of mine was recently given a 20' Whaler Outrage, which he repowered with a 175 Johnson. We launched the boat a week ago, and since then he has been asking me questions about trolling for macks, stripers and blues. I know some, but not a lot, about trolling.

Anyways, can anyway recommend trolling speeds for macks, stripers and blues which I can pass on to him? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Scott B.

[Van]

Jig for macks (see some other posts, lots of info been given lately)

Troll REAL SLOW for bass, sometimes the boat's idle is even too fast, so try and slow down even more. drag a bucket or sumptin.

Blues----Whatever they ain't to picky....

[fishsmith]

Van is right, slow for stripers when trolling, another trick to slowing the idle speed is to tilt the motor up some so the prop push is upward vs forward.

[Vectorfisher]

Very very slow for bass like hunting rabbits, also dont forget to troll with the tide not against

[quick decision]

with the tide? I like the idea. First i heard of it. Is it because of the action on the lure or for the realism of bait going with the tide.

[Fish On]

It is because feeding stripers lie in wait facing into the current. They typically find structure that will reduce the waters force against them allowing them to expend as little energy as possible to maintain their position. They then thrust out to snatch bait as it passes by. Bottom line: they are lazy and want to work as little as possible to get their food.

[porcupine]

Scott B,
If the boat has a speed indicater as part of the fish finder unit you want to see 2.5 to3.0 for stripers, this is your speed in the water column , not the speed over bottom as on your GPS.
Also, trolling against the current is almost useless.

[Sweetwater]

Porcupine is absolutely right. Don't go by GPS since your water speed and "ground speed" aren't going to be the same.

If you don't have a water speed indicator, troll as slowly as the engine allows, if you bump bottom then you want to pick it up a bit.

I find that engine speed (revolutions) is a pretty good indicator, and I try to troll at 1,000 - 1,200 rpm. It's a 115 4-stroke on a 19 footer, so that works fairly well.

Troll as slowly as possible, especially with tube and worm.

[beamie]

-Jig for macks, troll a bit -just a bit if spotty

-Blues, I like anywhere from 3 to 5 knots, many times the higher speed get the blues hitting better.

-Bass, Depends- jigs in the water column 3knots. Jigs thru the sand. 2 knots. Tube and worm 1.5 to 2.

Now when it comes to trolling buckets to slow you down as many people have to do. My advice, troll a sea anchor from your BOW cleat, with enough line so it comes about halfway down the side. Why? it will NEVER get in your prop(s). You will forget about it otherwise and it will end up in your prop after playing fish. Writing form experience.

Jon

[ScottB]

Thank you all for the information. I will pass it on to my friend, as well as the name of this website from which it came.

[Rip Runner]

Trolling with the tide makes sense, but you can catch just as much fish trolling against the tide especially when fishing rips. Some days you'll catch most of your fish with the tide, others against. It depends on where you are, which way the tide is going and what type of structure you are on. The key is certainly going slow, but it's judging how much pressure you have on your line that's going to catch you fish.