Trolling Tactics for Striped Bass

Yes, trolling might seem like an easy way to catch bass, but to be really successful you have to know a lot about what you’re doing.  It’s easily possible for several vessels to be trolling the same area and yet only one of them is catching fish.  It’s all in the tools and techniques used.

Trolling is essentially running the boat under power at relatively slow speeds while dragging some type of lure through the water behind the boat.   It allows you to cover a lot more area than is possible when drifting, which can be very useful when trying to locate fish.  It can also use less fuel than running from spot to spot and drifting.

When to use the Trolling.
Trolling is mostly used as a deep water fishing technique, although it also works in shallow water under the right conditions.   When the sun gets up above the horizon bass normally go into deeper water.  Their pupils are not capable of dilating as are those in human eyes to adjust for the amount of light, the only defense they have is to go into deeper water.  So it follows that as the day goes on you have to fish deeper water to get them.  Another time to troll is when there are birds and bait with fishing chasing the bait, but you cannot approach under power close enough to cast to them.  This is when you would troll around the edges with a lure that matches the bait but is not trolled too deeply in the water column. If they are chasing bait and you can see the activity they aren’t down all that deep.  If you are trolling an area that normally holds bass and you go over the spot two or three times without catching fish, don’t waste time, go somewhere else.  This is probably the number one mistake anglers make, trolling an area for 20 minutes or more without catching fish.  Just like any other fishing method, if the fish aren’t there you’re wasting time.   Just because a ton of fish are showing on the finder doesn’t mean they’re bass.  They could be scup, dogfish, or some other species or even large pieces of seaweed.  You may find be fishing with plugs and find that the fish won’t hit unless you use a very fast retrieve that is exhausting to maintain for any duration.  This is another time to troll, using the same plug or another lure that is similar, since it’s much easier to present a fast bait that way.

Where do you troll.
You can’t just troll anywhere, you need to be where the fish are.  For bass you need to find a spot where they will hold.  Some examples of these areas are rocky bottoms or bottoms with large boulders, an area with a steep change in depth that creates a rip or upwelling of bait, reefs, and any other useful structure they can use as an ambush point.  Bass are efficient foragers, and their preferred method is to lay in ambush in an area with a good current, and let that current bring the forage past them.    The edges of a rip are another ambush point they like, as the waves generated by the current cause bait to tumble out of control so they can jump on them.  Bass are not fast swimmers, but are very strong and have a lot of control in this situation, allowing them to jump on a small fish that loses control in the eddies of the current.  There are a lot of small reefs and rockpiles along RI’s south shore, many of these will hold fish at some time or another.  Block Island has a great deal of structure at many points located all the way around it.

What Lures do you use.
This is all about matching the hatch.  This means that it is best to use a lure that most closely represents the forage they are feeding on that day.  So if they are eating sand eels, don’t use a parachute jig since it simulates squid, not sand eels. 

For sand eels use an umbrella frame with limerick hook tubes.  A 6/0-9/0 limerick hook has a swivel at the top and a length of tubing run down its shank.  The best color of the tubing for sand eels is natural latex, which is like a light brown/tan.  Green is also a good color.   

For menhaden, butterfish, and other wide baits use an umbrella frame with 3” long spoons with 6/0 salmon hooks instead of treble hooks.  They have an excellent wiggle action that creates a lot of vibration in the water.  A short tube should be put over the hooks, green or red work well. 

Another option for menhaden is to use a single storm bait.  It can be very effective, but expensive in the long run.

For larger menhaden, a single large spoon or plug should be used. 

In shallow water areas you can use plugs or soft plastic baits that best represent the forage of the day, on outfits spooled with braided line.  Sometimes a trolling sinker will be necessary to get them down deep enough to get noticed.

The Tube and Worm jig.  This does not actually represent anything, but it does work well to catch bass especially during the day when the sun is up.  This is a large tube anywhere from 18” to 36” long in a variety of colors but most often in a very dark red.  The nose has a lead weight and swivel, and there is normally a double hook in the tail.   These are often tipped with a small piece of sand worm.  In any event some type of bait must be placed on the hook for it to be most effective.   These are best when used in 20 feet of water or less on bottom that is fairly regular in depth.  They need to be trolled slowly and very close to the bottom to be most effective.  Where these are an issue is when the bottom is very rocky and many scup live in the area.  Trolling slowly allows the scup to attack the bait on the hook, getting your expensive sandworm off.  Sometimes I will put a strip of bluefish belly on the hook.  They can’t get that off, but it doesn't work as well.  Tubes generally work even though they don’t "match the hatch".

How Deep do you run them.
The depth you troll at naturally depends on where the fish are actually holding.  Not everyone gets this right.  It’s not always about putting out all the wire and getting right to the bottom.  If you’re trolling the edge of a rip using wire, you may only need to be down 10’ in the water column, so you let out around 100 feet of wire.  If you’re trolling in 40’ and there is significant structure on the bottom, then you want to be down at least 35’ deep with your lure which normally means letting out 320’ of wire.  The normal rule of thumb is 1’ deep for each 10’ of wire, but trolling speed has a large effect on this.

Keep in mind that you don’t always mark fish when you catch them.  Also, if you go through a spot and catch fish, even though you didn’t mark anything, always turn around and go back to see if you catch again.  Sometimes you mark and catch, sometimes you mark fish and don’t catch, and many times you don’t mark fish but catch them anyway.  The depth finder is just another tool, it isn’t the be-all and end-all for finding fish.   If your trolling around the edge of birds and bait, it is very unlikely to see any fish on your finder.

Setting the drag.
Set light for the strike and tighten somewhat when fighting the fish to the boat.   This is very important, since at times you might be going 5 or 6 knots in a high speed turn with wire.  Remember that wire does not stretch, so when the fish hits he gets hooked instantly, and if the drag is set too tight it will rip a large hole in the side of his mouth, enabling him to escape very easily if any kind of slack is allowed in the line while reeling him in.  Bluefish are especially adept at this, coming to the surface, they will jump and shake their head, often coming free if the angler is not paying attention to keeping the line tight at that time.

How fast do you Troll.
All depends on your boat and the rig being used.  Umbrella frames need to be going 3-5 knots.  Tube and worm should be trolled at 2-2.5 knots max.  Frames can be run much slower when going against a current.   Strong currents can be used to slow the boat down by trolling only against the current.  Speeds of 1 knot are possible using this method and it can be very productive.  There are many areas around Block Island having strong currents that can be used in this way.

It may become apparent that the fish will hit far more often when you’re going in one direction than in the other direction.  Paying attention to this and not wasting time can pay off big in catching a lot of fish.

Another thing to consider is that trolling in a perfect straight line at a fixed speed is not always the best method.  You should be experimenting by changing the troll speed up and down to entice a following fish into hitting.  Often they will hit right after speeding up or slowing down.  When using wire and turning around to go back over where the fish are holding, I will often speed up to keep the trolled rigs from hitting bottom.  Very often a fish will strike while making the turn.     You might be surprised to know that many fish will come up behind a trolled rig and watch it, waiting for a reaction, when there is none they swim away without hitting it.  After all, if a predator comes up behind a baitfish, wouldn’t the bait run for their lives?

What rods and reels do you use.
 I recommend using level wind reels for the heavier outfits.  Level winds have a couple of advantages, they wind the line on automatically so you don’t have to, and you can use the level wind mechanism to determine how much line to let out for your rig.  This is the method I use to let out the same amount of line each time to control the depth of the lure being trolled.  The  Penn 345 and 330 GTI level wind reels work best for this.   With the 345, each time the level wind goes across, 16 feet of line is let out.  On the 330 GTI reel, it is 8.5 feet each time the level wind goes across.  You can get consistent depth every time using this method.

For wireline trolling anything other than parachute jigs, I use light-medium action wire rods 6’6” long that I custom made myself with the 345 GTI level wind spooled with 200lb dacron under 320 feet of 60lb stainless wire, with a 15’ 80lb test mono leader.  They have roller tips which reduces the drag as the wire comes across the tip of the rod.

For parachute jigs, you need a rod that is a little stiffer to get the right jigging action, so I have a pair of meduim action custom wire rods with 345 GTI reels spooled with 200lb dacron under 320 feet of stainless 60lb wire with a 15’ 80lb test mono leader, tied directly to the parachute jig.  These rods do not have roller tips.   I use parachute jigs of different weights to control depth.

For trolling shallower water with single lures (not umbrella frames) a light-medium rod is used with 50lb braid and 330 GTI reels, using a 6’ mono leader of 60-80lb test.  This is usually good for up to 20’ deep. 

Take the boat out of gear when you hook a fish.
I see this happen a lot and it makes no sense. This is supposed to be sport fishing and an angler should only be fighting the fish, not the fish and the boat.  Many anglers want to hook up another fish on the second rod, so it doesn’t have to be reeled in.  In my experience, many times the second rod will catch one or more fish while it is being brought in if you reel steady and not too fast, with an occasional jig.  This is especially the case when trolling with umbrella frames.

Trolling is a viable fishing method that can be very productive, but I personally prefer drift fishing structure and rips with plugs and soft plastic baits.  Trolling is only one tool in your toolbox for catching fish, it’s not the only way to fish for bass.