Trolling advice please!

[Dartman]

As a new bod on the forum I feel a bit guilty asking advice on a subject I fear may have been discussed at length in the past - like anchors ( thanks Moonyaker) - however a quick story of fishing near Dartmouth.

 

Last week I took my P13 on its maiden voyage - I didn'nt plan to fish to seriously but took a rod and, because I felt I might lose gear, used a tatty old plug I found washed up on Slapton Sands 3 years ago and have never caught a fish on!

 

In about an hour and a quarter of trolling I knobbled 6 bass, which in comparison with my recent shore record, is outstanding.

 

I went out today and tried a variety of posh plugs including a J13 and got nothing until I put the tatty old thing back on when I picked up two bass and - first for me - a 2 foot squid ( and boy was he yummy tonight!!).

 

The plug I am having success on is large cheap and has a very large diving vane - I'm scared I might lose it !!!

 

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD TROLLING PLUG/LURE PLEASE I want to stock up!

 

Thanks

[Snatcher]

As a new bod on the forum I feel a bit guilty asking advice on a subject I fear may have been discussed at length in the past - like anchors ( thanks Moonyaker) - however a quick story of fishing near Dartmouth.

 

Last week I took my P13 on its maiden voyage - I didn'nt plan to fish to seriously but took a rod and, because I felt I might lose gear, used a tatty old plug I found washed up on Slapton Sands 3 years ago and have never caught a fish on!

 

In about an hour and a quarter of trolling I knobbled 6 bass, which in comparison with my recent shore record, is outstanding.

 

I went out today and tried a variety of posh plugs including a J13 and got nothing until I put the tatty old thing back on when I picked up two bass and - first for me - a 2 foot squid ( and boy was he yummy tonight!!).

 

The plug I am having success on is large cheap and has a very large diving vane - I'm scared I might lose it !!!

 

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD TROLLING PLUG/LURE PLEASE I want to stock up!

 

Thanks

 

For a popper for bass there is only one mate - Yozuri Aile Magnet SB 18g Slider. Tight lines

[musket]

Hi Dartman,

I'm another local to the south hams but fish a bit more to the East.

Just out of interest when you say you knobbled six bass does that mean you kept them or do you catch and release?

[richardlawrence]

As a new bod on the forum I feel a bit guilty asking advice on a subject I fear may have been discussed at length in the past - like anchors ( thanks Moonyaker) - however a quick story of fishing near Dartmouth.

 

Last week I took my P13 on its maiden voyage - I didn'nt plan to fish to seriously but took a rod and, because I felt I might lose gear, used a tatty old plug I found washed up on Slapton Sands 3 years ago and have never caught a fish on!

 

In about an hour and a quarter of trolling I knobbled 6 bass, which in comparison with my recent shore record, is outstanding.

 

I went out today and tried a variety of posh plugs including a J13 and got nothing until I put the tatty old thing back on when I picked up two bass and - first for me - a 2 foot squid ( and boy was he yummy tonight!!).

 

The plug I am having success on is large cheap and has a very large diving vane - I'm scared I might lose it !!!

 

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD TROLLING PLUG/LURE PLEASE I want to stock up!

 

Thanks

 

Hi Dartman,

 

It sounds like your doing well with the plug you are using. It may be working better than others you've tried because it is fishing at a different depth. Presumably if it has a big diving vane it fishes deep down compared to the J13 which will fish quite high up.

 

With regard to loosing lures, you can often get them unstuck by paddling back over your tracks and pulling out from the other side (major advantage over shore fishing.) This doesn't always work though. There are also lots of adverts on the web for lure retrievers, not the smelly long haired golden type but chains or similar attached to a weight and rope that you lower down the line to snag the hooks. I haven't tried one yet but it's on the 'to do' list for the winter.

 

As alast resort, how about taking you're fav lure to you're local tackle shop and seeing if they have something similar in stock.

 

Good luck.

[Dartman]

For a popper for bass there is only one mate - Yozuri Aile Magnet SB 18g Slider. Tight lines

 

 

Hi Musket

Like I would hope most reponsible anglers do - schoolies at the very least go back, I kept two, both a tad under two pounds and the rest went back.

[spuds]

Try the rapala x rap in mackeral or silver colours around dawn /dusk on incoming tide.Also the small bubble floats with a small pearl coloured rubber eel work well.Troll with the tide at an angle across reefs or submerged features.Losing gear is a total pain but you have to try where the fish are likely to be and it tends to be in the snaggy areas.For ease of release i would suggest flattenning the hook barbs down with pliars as this will cause less harm to the Bass and also your fingers when retrieving hooks.All the best

[s2vto]

Try the rapala x rap in mackeral or silver colours around dawn /dusk on incoming tide.Also the small bubble floats with a small pearl coloured rubber eel work well.Troll with the tide at an angle across reefs or submerged features.Losing gear is a total pain but you have to try where the fish are likely to be and it tends to be in the snaggy areas.For ease of release i would suggest flattenning the hook barbs down with pliars as this will cause less harm to the Bass and also your fingers when retrieving hooks.All the best

 

Do you put any weight on the lures or just use weighted ones?

[Dartman]

Try the rapala x rap in mackeral or silver colours around dawn /dusk on incoming tide.Also the small bubble floats with a small pearl coloured rubber eel work well.Troll with the tide at an angle across reefs or submerged features.Losing gear is a total pain but you have to try where the fish are likely to be and it tends to be in the snaggy areas.For ease of release i would suggest flattenning the hook barbs down with pliars as this will cause less harm to the Bass and also your fingers when retrieving hooks.All the best

 

Thanks Spuds -I will give it a try

Thanks for the barbs bit, but all my bass gear barbs have been flattened for many years!

[GB]

Do you put any weight on the lures or just use weighted ones?

 

Don't add anything to a plug as it will spoil the action. Use a 6ft leader of flrouro or amnesia 20-30lb tied to your mainline (no swivel) and tie the plug on with a rapala knot (google search if you dont know the knot) this does take extra time when changing lures but it is well worth the effort.

 

I agree with spuds the x-rap is a top lure although it is a better casting lure than a troller due to the internal weighting/casting system. Also try floating magnums and sinking magnums both in size 9 or 11, the Sliver is also a top lure for trolling and often fool the sea trout if they are present (check your local bye laws on sea trout) Yo zuri crystal minnows are also a good lure for a slow troll. In snaggy area's give the storm and berkely weighted shads a go, try the smaller 3 inch ones for trolling, they take some getting used to with troll speed but they do work. The diawa range of plugs are also worth a look.

 

If the makerel are about then a slow trolled joey is a good bait for the bigger fish, use a length of 25lb clear mono or fluuro terminating with a 6/0 hook. Add a small egg bullet above the hook length to help sink the makerel I use between half ounce and two ounce depending on depth and tide. When you get a take on this method dont strike just keep paddling untill the rod takes on a healthy bend as the bass often hit the fish side on first then come back in for the kill a few seconds later. This also works for launce and small fish such as pout, poorcod and whiting.

 

Every lure has it's day including tatty old ones found on a beach, if you lose this lure whilst trolling fear not as it has earned it's keep already so anything more is a bonus. Post a picture of the plug on here and see if anyone recognises it.

 

If you are getting snagged up often it is worth making a lure retriever, I use a stainless 50mm heavy guage ring with a slit cut into it tied to a length of thin orange crab line, put a piece of silicone tube on the ring to cover the slit once threaded on your main line. To use, when you get snagged up paddle back past the lure and feed the ring over your mainline, let it sink down to the lure then jig up and down till it gets stuck on the lure, then pull for a break. It does not always work as if the front treble is caught there is nothing for it to grab, and also it your in fast deeper water the orange line is just to thick to get it down.

 

Hope this helps

 

GB

[Moonyaker]

Hi again Dartman, GB's suggestion of posting a picture of your lure on here sounds like a good thought and could be entertaining but if this is not an option, why not have a look on the Harris/Sportmail website, it is very likely that you will find it on there. Here is a link :-

 

 

www.harrisangling.co.uk

 

 

Their 'Mean' range are imitations of some of the more popular and successful lures and that might be a good place to start looking.

 

As a side issue, the 'Calcutta' shads are very effective (Pearl & Mullet), easy to use (as they have their own internal weight), and cheap enough that losing them isn't much of an issue. Here is a link for them

 

http://www.highoctane-angling.co.uk/

 

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Moonyaker