Float Trolling

[Jack81]

My dad made me a 14ft Canadian canoe last year for Xmas and its been out a couple of times this summer, but not fished with it yet. He also gave me an outrigger for it and I've made the arms to attach it, they just need painting and I'll have a stable platform for a bit of pike fishing.

 

This is a video of my dad's canoe (with my girlfriend catching a little bass at the end), mine is the same but only has one outrigger and no sail. It's paddle power for now but may get an electric outboard if I get serious about it.

 

Obviously I will have a large unhooking matt, long forceps, etc in the boat and there is loads of room to unhook a (hopefully) monster pike. Again lifejackets are a must, my dad made his first canoe when I was about 10 so I've got plenty of experience with them. However I have never fished from one.

 

As well as static deadbaiting and lure fishing I was thinking of doing some deadbait float trolling. Fishing with a partner to watch the floats while I paddle from the back. Anybody got any advice for rigs/tackle for this. I was thinking basically a wobbled deadbait presentation with a single hook though the head of a spratt and a size 6 or 4 treble in the side. I was then thinking a 1/4oz lead running above the trace to keep it down and a float fixed so the deadbait fishes a foot or two above the bottom. I was just going to have one rod sticking out either side of the boat. A centrepin with the check on one side and a baitrunner on the other. I'm still thinking about rod rest attachments but I think a few pieces of wood overhanging the side with holes the correct diameter to take a bankstick could be the most versatile.

 

I have a fair bit of pike fishing experience but not much from a boat.

Does that set up sound ok?

Anybody have any experience of float trolling?

Is a very cheap fish finder worth bothering with to avoid constantly snagging bottom?

Edited December 11, 2010 by Jack81

[watatoad]

Hi,

 

Sorry but its been a good few years since I fished from a canoe, you need someone who is bang up to date and I have to admit my fish finder was a bucket with the bottom cut out and I never had outriggers.

Edited December 11, 2010 by watatoad

[Dick Dastardly]

Hi mate.Sorry but my reply is going to be a bit negative I'm afraid!

 

Ive spent more time fishing from a boat for Pike than I care to think about,Ive float trolled lives and deads on waters as different as Irish Loughs,Scottish Lochs,Glacial lakes and various trout reservoirs. Spent many many hours developing "trolling locks" that actually work and rowed probably thousands of miles.........

 

I wish I hadn't bothered! Float trolling baits for Pike is just not the method its made out to be/I thought it would be!Our results afloat on trout reservoirs improved dramatically when we ditched trolling and adopted the "Noddy Method"! Shame as we had put just so much time and effort into perfecting it.

 

Two big problems with trolling baits,firstly you are in effect fishing many many more hours over unproductive areas than you do good ones.Secondly converting takes to landed fish (especially on live baits) is a joke! With live baits you have to hook the fish so that they are facing up the trace (other wise you will just drown them) this means that when you go to set the hooks they are facing the wrong way! Very much a problem on trout reservoirs where a much delayed strike (I can hear the boos and hiss's from the "Instant strike" lobby) is often needed.

 

I still troll with lures and love the method despite problem one I mentioned still being an issue.Don't mind rigging up small deads to troll on non trout waters (stocked ones I should say as the problem isn't so bad on natural trout waters) and treating them like a lure. But I honestly wish I hadn't wasted so much time trolling.....and so do a lot of my contemporaries.

 

Regards a "fish finder" then yes definitely I would be lost without mine for feature finding and indeed safety on some waters.

[Jack81]

Cheers for the advice!

 

I was hoping that the trolling would be a good way to quickly locate productice areas. Even if you don't land a fish a take is a good indication that it's worth fishing that spot with statics/lures on the way back. I did wonder what the hook up rate would be like as the fish is going to feel resistance immediately, but probably not enough to set the hook until I get to the rod. Maybe I will concentrate on static deadbaiting and lures, the canoe will at least get me into some unfished spots.

 

I was thinking I may be able to use a weedless floating pike fly, weighed down with just enough shot up the trace to sink it. That way the shot should bounce along the bottom with the fly floating up just above it. No need for a float with that set up and don't have to worry about changes in depth so much. Something tells me it won't take long to find the shopping trolleys in my local river that way though!

[watatoad]

Cheers for the advice!

 

I was hoping that the trolling would be a good way to quickly locate productice areas. Even if you don't land a fish a take is a good indication that it's worth fishing that spot with statics/lures on the way back. I did wonder what the hook up rate would be like as the fish is going to feel resistance immediately, but probably not enough to set the hook until I get to the rod. Maybe I will concentrate on static deadbaiting and lures, the canoe will at least get me into some unfished spots.

 

I was thinking I may be able to use a weedless floating pike fly, weighed down with just enough shot up the trace to sink it. That way the shot should bounce along the bottom with the fly floating up just above it. No need for a float with that set up and don't have to worry about changes in depth so much. Something tells me it won't take long to find the shopping trolleys in my local river that way though!

 

I wonder if you could get paid for locating the trolleys you refer to in your local river - I do not suggest for a moment that you attempt to retrieve them yourself - let that be done by either people from the EA or possibly a contractor appointed by the local council.

[Jack81]

I wonder if you could get paid for locating the trolleys you refer to in your local river - I do not suggest for a moment that you attempt to retrieve them yourself - let that be done by either people from the EA or possibly a contractor appointed by the local council.

 

To be fair most of them are under the bridges, I guess its more fun to throw off. They are usually easy enough to spot in early summer when they do the Gipping clean up in Ipswich. Saw them pull out a couple of motorbikes a few years back! To be fair the trolleys get covered in weed and seem to make a good holding area for little fish in the summer so I guess they don't do much damage to the river. Just a pain when your best lure gets stuck on one!