Wireline Trolling Tips and Techniques
Wired Trolling for Bass
Overview. Wireline trolling is a technique used by thousands of New Englanders each year to catch striped bass. It can be very productive if you know what you’re doing, but a lot of people think you just throw out your line and turn your boat around to fish, and are surprised when they see others catching fish after fish in the same area and seemingly doing the same thing and even using the same equipment. Well, there must be something different. Knowing where the fish are, what they feed on, and the speed at which you are trolling are just some of the considerations to keep in mind.
Where are the fish. You have to go where the fish are, not where you want them to be. You also have to go when the fish are there, not when you want them to be there. For any type of bass fishing, early morning is usually best. Early in the season they may feed all day, but as the season progresses and the sun rises in the sky you won’t find them feeding during the day unless there is a tide and plenty of bait or weather pattern to attract them. . in activity. You might find them clinging to the structure and catch them, but it’s pretty sure there’s something in the way of the food to keep them interested. If the fish cling to the structure, you have to present your offering on that structure, if you miss 50′ there is no joy. If you are trolling and tagging and catching fish, turn around and keep scouring the spot until you stop fishing. Don’t go trolling unless you’re absolutely sure there’s something better to go for. And don’t spend too much time hanging around a place and not catching it.
Tides and currents. Bass are ambush predators and a current will give them a chance to wait for a small creature to be swept past their position so they can gobble it up. It is the current generated by the tides that you have to pay attention to. An example of this would be Block Island North Reef. The currents there provide areas that bass like to use as ambush points, and some of these are places to line fish.
Drag speed. Never drag at the same speed all the time if it doesn’t work. Fish will often follow your offer and will be waiting for that trigger that tells them their prey has spotted them. Accelerate, brake, change speed, accelerate during your turns. You’ll be surprised how many times you hook fish immediately or very soon after a gear change. Sometimes it just works to go at a particularly slow speed, or a particularly fast speed. The most important thing to do is pay attention to what happens when you connect. You should notice if it is always during a change of speed, only when you are going fast, only when you are going very slow, etc. If you throttle and turn, and the inner line catches a fish, you may not have enough line, as the inner line will generally be deeper and the outer line shallower. The current can be used to control its speed. If you want to go very slowly, jump straight into the current. There is an area where I troll to the same spot and slow down as the boat gets closer, going into the current. Sometimes we barely make headway, and by the time I get to the spot on my GPS, one or both rods will sink with the fish on (the tide is very important in this case). in one direction relative to the current. Pay attention to what happens when you connect.
Drag depth. This is extremely important. Your depth finder can mark a million fish below 30′, but if your trawl is only 20′ deep, you will end up very frustrated and catch very few fish. Your offering should be presented in the “strike zone”, which is the area close enough that the fish is interested in hitting your lure. This zone of attack can be very large when the fish are feeding aggressively, or very small if they are “off”. If you see fish breaking through the bait at the surface, try letting out a small amount of line and go around the feeding fish, not through them. So many anglers shut the fish down very quickly by trolling in the middle of breaking fish. It’s the dumbest thing they can do. You need to have the lure near the bottom if you are targeting Bass that do not feed aggressively near the surface. If you are in water less than 30′ deep, you only need to be 5′ off the bottom, unless the fish are very slow. In deeper waters. light penetration becomes an issue and you need to get as close to the bottom as possible without dragging. The general rule of thumb is to let out 10 feet of cable for every 1′ of depth. This varies depending on the speed of the boat and the weight of the lure. Naturally going slower will make the rig go deeper and pomp will make it run less. Remember, if you’re not bottom dragging from time to time, you’re trolling too shallow.
Hatch match. You need to troll an offering that is representative of what the fish eat. If there are hordes of sand eels, then you should not be trolling for 6″ soft plastic tarpon. Bass commonly eat bunker, sand eels, and squid. Lures representing these species are what you should have at your disposal. If you catch a ward, open up its stomach and see what it’s been feeding on.
Sport fishing. This is supposed to be a sport. Keeping the boat in gear and continuing to trolling after you’ve hooked a fish is winching, not fishing. I have seen so many bass jumping across the surface of the water while coiling, it is absolutely ridiculous. You should fight the fish and not the ship. Where is the fun in that? So the advice is to remove the gear from the boat after hooking it up.
By following the guidelines presented here, you will be rewarded with more success for your fishing trips. The last and most important piece of advice when it’s not contagious is this: remember to ask yourself, “what do I need to change?” Going too fast, using the wrong gear, trolling too shallow, etc.? Look at what other people do, it can give you a clue. Catch them!