Posted by Silentpardner on 08/19/14 - 3:51 PM
#26
donp, no apologies needed. Slowing the boat for drifting, trolling, mooching, etc... are commingled. Looks like different applications for weather conditions that bend the designed use for the various methods. We did not have a bag available to us so we put the motor in reverse and mitigated. All methods useful.
Garris
I agree with this 100% !!! It's all about improvising, that's how sea anchors came to be a very long time ago :)
Wing,
My Montauk 17 with the E-TEC 90 will not troll at less than three mph which is too fast for some of the fish I target in Lake Michigan.
I feel your pain there...sorta. I don't know what you are targeting specifically, but I assume Trout and Salmon? Possibly Walleye?
I have caught these species in Lake Michigan while trolling. I don't fish at all up there anymore, but 3 mph (surface) was never too fast to catch fish when I found them there. I guess, from what I read now, the fish in Lake Michigan have evolved into being a bit more fat and lazy :) More meat for the table I guess, but the ones I see pictured around the net don't look any bigger...anyway, I digress, as usual :)
Wing,
There is a wealth of information avail on the internet about this method of reducing your speed when trolling if you care to learn.
Hmmmm, actually, I hope you won't hold it against me if I do not care to learn...I am sorry. Here's why.
The fish in the gulf of Mexico, where I fish now, travel and feed at much higher speeds, apparently, than those fat, lazy, no-fightin' Lake Michigan fish :) They feed at 20-40 mph. These are the slow ones. Wahoo have actually been clocked hitting baits on the troll while travelling 55-60 mph!
The fish I target trolling now, (Wahoo, Kingfish, Tuna, Dorado, Marlin, etc), all hit lures I pull at speeds of up to 25 knots! I have actually recently invested a small fortune in heavier trolling lures and trolling weights, as well as a set of rigging needles for dead bait, just so I can troll faster!
It seems, the faster you troll, the larger the fish you are likely to attract to your bait, lure, and hook, at least here :)
Bump trolling is another technique that is used here...almost coming to a complete stop, then slamming forward with the lures in the fish...almost guaranteed hook-ups. We used to do this in Lake Michigan, as well, over deep trout and salmon with downriggers. I would lay money that you will do better like this than straight trolling there. Try it.
Y'all can have all the Salmon and Trout...and good luck slowing down. I been there done that, I like what I do now much better:)
To each his own. :)