Does it count?

[TheSaint]

I thought it would open this up to the good people on ausfish about a friend who believes catching fish while trolling lures behind a boat means nothing.. even if it is a 1st, PB or Fish of a life time!! He thinks it as bad as using a net ::)

So i would love to hear what you guys think of this idea cause i think it's more Jealousy on his behalf cause he is unable to land any decent fish.. :P

[kingtin]

Mate, when bait fishing, I can guarantee a feed of something, even if it's only vermin. I've even caught on placcies ;D I've trolled 3 times now and haven't landed a fish, although I've had a couple of hook ups. IMHO, trolling is one of the finer arts of fishing.................perhaps it's sour grapes 'cause he can't afford such an expensive pastime ;D

kev

[blue_mako]

Wellaty wellay wellaty. Started a thread have we Simon :P . I think trolling is acceptable in some situations. They include, trolling for pelagics miles offshore and maybe kayaking.

Though I think it requires next to no skill if you're trolling the estuaries. The only effort it takes is to be able to feed line out the back of a boat, so you don't even have to know how to cast (Take Simon for example). Maybe change your lure to a deeper/shallower diver, and look on the sounder and hope :P .

ABT and many other major comps even back it up by banning any form of trolling :P .


he is unable to land any decent fish..

This coming from the person who can't catch a Jack :P .

Troy

[Horse]

All fish count. I dislike the idea that a fish caught casting is somehow more meritorious than one trolled or caught on bait. It all depends what you like to do. If trolling is your game then go for it. I'm sure some of the big game boys would set your friend straight.

[blue_mako]

I am his friend :P .

Troy

[Horse]

Troy

I think you might be being a bit myopic with your views on fishing

Cheers

Neil

[blue_mako]

Only on trolling in estuaries ;) .

Troy

[Horse]

Troy

I certainly respect your preferance for casting but a lot of us tend to use the techniques that are most applicable for the conditions. I will troll, cast, live bait etc.
If it is ethical, legal and I enjoy it then I will use the technique. I think we can become very precious about our preferred styles.
During the seventies and most of the eighties I felt that anything not caught on lures was a waste of a resource that should have been kept for the "enlightened " fisho's. Now I just relax and enjoy catching a few fish and will use my full repoirtre of techniques if needed.
Each to his own

Neil

[kingtin]

Ahaaaa! We're talking about trolling in estuaries? Now why wasn't that made clear? A whole new ball game in relation to blue water trolling. Then again, try trolling the Pine after a big wet. If you can catch anything other than water hyacinth then you're a genius ;D

kev

[Black_Rat]

I did have a long post to make only for IE7 (Internet Explorer 7) bugger up yet again >:(

Voted yes it does count ! Wether you spend the hours trolling or soaking baits in differnet spots they all count !

Troy's just jealous :P :P :P ;D

[blaze]

a fish counts if it brought under control to the boat or land and then netted, gaffed, tagged, released or what ever but it cant be count if it got off while trying to gain that control. I count them speared, on fly, by lure, trolled , by bait etc
even counted a gaffed free swimming gummy shark cause if I hadnt and the fisheries had check my catch they would have done.
cheers
blaze
ps
even trolling in an estuary and catching a target species, even if that target species is fish

[bundylundy]

Trolling does count. Whether it be selecting the right colour of lure, the right depth of lure, the right size lure, the right lure type, the right depth of water, the right speed to troll, the right time of day, the right time of the tide, whether you leave the rod in the holder or hold onto it, whether you impart any extra action to the lure. On some days it might not matter but other days get any one of the above wrong can make the difference between catching a fish or going home with an empty esky. To me a person who only uses the one style of fishing exclusivlely
is probably missing out on the full fishing experience.

Jeff.

[roydsy]

Trolling definitely counts BUT the pleasure of casting and getting hit is far more fun. Sometime trolling can taking the sting out of the fight especially with bass.

[bushbeachboy]

So far I've found trolling to be as boring as bat droppings. But if you boat a fish, yes it counts. A bit more if you get to eat it.

[ffejsmada]

Troy, what's wrong with you mate? No skill in trolling?

All fish count, albeit trolled, live baited or whatever.

Troy, there's more skill involved in trolling to avoid snags, trolling drop offs, current lines, eddies etc than there is in drifting with a dead bait out the back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good estuary troller doesn't just stick his rod in the holder, he works his lure to impart more action and to steer his lure around snags, pylons, moorings etc.

Bloody oath a trolled fish counts!;)

Cheers, Jeff.

[banshee]

I think the purists should realy get a grip,we even have magazine articles now refering to trolling as 'the T thing' and advocating that it is a some what substandard means of catching fish.Why would anyone want to discount a style of fishing that may be the only productive method on the day?
Late last year I ventured to Awoonga with two other blokes,some weeks before we left one of them made the statement that no one would be trolling while he was in the boat even if others were geting them on the troll,the other bloke agreed.Now for the life of me I can not see the sense in driving 700 k's to target a fish that is not available to you localy and jeopardise your chances over some crap ideological notion that you have been programed to believe by some tall poppy.If the art of casting is what drives some then maybe they should purchase a tweed jacket and join the fly purists....they should fit in very nicely.

[fishytales]

Troy

I certainly respect your preferance for casting but a lot of us tend to use the techniques that are most applicable for the conditions. I will troll, cast, live bait etc.
If it is ethical, legal and I enjoy it then I will use the technique. I think we can become very precious about our preferred styles.

Now I just relax and enjoy catching a few fish and will use my full repoirtre of techniques if needed.
Each to his own

Neil


Well put Neil, and I totally agree. T'is a bit silly really , this poll.:)

Chris

[RayB]

Silly question really but I guess it was done to generate a response and I'm stupid enough to respond. Of course it counts.

For sake of argument, lets go further than trolling. Lets eliminate impoundment fishing as the fish are land locked and too easy to catch, how about all forms of bait fishing and while we are at it just say that only non-land locked fly fishing is allowed to be counted towards your tally. This would eliminate all of Troy's fish caught by using casting. :)

Raymond

[Pistol_P]

Watch that new DVD that has just come out....'The Fishing DVD no 7'
and listen to what the guide says up North.
There is alot of skill in trolling....Using your sounder to find structure,seeing what depth the fish are at,selecting the right lure to get down to the right depth and making trolling patterns around the structure you find.
There is skill involved and YES trolled fish DO count.

Cheers
Pete

[finding_time]

.

Though I think it requires next to no skill if you're trolling :P .



:P .

Troy



This is a pretty selective quote i know but there is an awesome amount of skill in trolling properly( inshore ,off shore, esturarys,impoundments) it doesn't matter. Selecting the right gear,lure colour ,depth, using a downrigger properly,speed of troll, and area to troll. If you think it's just a case of putting a lure out the back and hoping your very very mistaken.

Ian

[Captain_Zero]

I did a trip with Brad Smith on the broadwater a few years ago and he almost exclusivley trolled lures that day and we caught a lot of fish. Brad knows the broadwater well and would nominate the species would were likely to catch in the various areas and he was invariably right. We caught quite a few species including flathead, bream, whiting, trevally & pike and it was one of the best days fishing I ever had.

[Luc]

I'm with Jeff.

You can just chuck lures or you can cast tem

You can just tow lures or you can troll them.

It's all part of fishing.

Luc

[Lovey80]

They all count in my books. There are some exeptions when me and my mates are competing. 1 Anything caught in a net must be realeased and doesnt count...... Im always getting nice flatties in the net. 2 Vermin NEVER count and I dont care that you can eat catfish, eels, and Rays are vermin. And 3 we only count legal fish.

Trolling hasn't done well for me inside but if i did it would definitely count.

Cheers Chris

[rob tranter]

With all Estuary fishing I prefer flicking Lures around, but when that fails and I've had enough (after a good few hours) I Troll, and have caught some nice fish and been as happy as a pig in sh!t.:D

If the competition your in doesn't allow a certain way of fishing and you don't like it, :( don't go in the competition.:)
Rob8-)

[straddie]

If you haven't made your rod from a tree branch, woven the line from stringy bark and then made a lure from leaves and feathers on a hook you carved out from shell then it just doesn't count, cause it's just too easy.

[kingtin]

<snip>

2 Vermin NEVER count and I dont care that you can eat catfish, eels, and Rays are vermin.



Why is that????http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_11_52.gif

If you were to say that you fish for sport then why would vermin be discounted?

Is it because it isn't a targeted fish?

Could it not be argued that there is an element of skill and sport in targeting say, large shovelnose or rays?

Can anyone who has caught a large shovelly deny that they take some getting to the boat.........more so than a big cod which in my experience come in like lead balloons compared to say a shovelly or manta?

If you were to put to sea with the intention of catching one, and couldn't, yet your mate could, couldn't it be argued that he was the "better man on the day"?

I, of course, do not have a vested interest in putting forth these arguments http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_11_6.gif

The Verminator

[samson]

To say trolling doesn't count is stupid some types of fish respond better to this technique e.g wahoo and marlin i agree that hooking these fish on a short leash casting is more enjoyable but if you want consistant catches and don't want to come home fishless i'd advise you to put a lure out the back and enjoy trolling for what it is another great way of catching a wide variety of fish.

There are forms of trolling that are boring and monotonous such as trolling dead flat featureless water for minimal results but jump aboard a guys boat who knows what he's doing that trolls around good stucture and bait and you will get very good results that will get you trophy sized fish regularly and if you don't find that enjoyable good more fish for me, i'll take a dozen good fish trolling to your one casting anyday.

Cheers samson

[killitfillit]

trolling is definately an art worth your learning it's not just driving around with lures out the back.it's putting selected lures in an exact spot and requires skill,it seems pretty easy sometimes when the driver of the boat has the necessary skill level and you are a passenger but swap drivers and it's snagged lures and no fish.

[Poodroo]

Trolling involves a lot of calculation to a degree. If trolling placcies for example you need to select the right jighead weight, placcie, leader and line class depending on what is being targeted. It isn't a matter of plonking just anything on a line and letting it drag behind the boat. Once a fish is on the hook you still have to land it so there are a few things to consider but I think all fish count.

Poodroo

[darryl13]

the scores are in troy you lose this one
trolloing is part of fishing and the fish count no matter where you do it
i have seen blokes walking along trolling lures in irrigation drains 1m wide for barra and i have to say those fish are that big they have to count

thats my 2 cents worth
cheers

[breamnut]

Wellaty wellay wellaty. Started a thread have we Simon :P . I think trolling is acceptable in some situations. They include, trolling for pelagics miles offshore and maybe kayaking.

Though I think it requires next to no skill if you're trolling the estuaries. The only effort it takes is to be able to feed line out the back of a boat, so you don't even have to know how to cast (Take Simon for example). Maybe change your lure to a deeper/shallower diver, and look on the sounder and hope :P .

ABT and many other major comps even back it up by banning any form of trolling :P .



This coming from the person who can't catch a Jack :P .

Troy

hey troy ummm can you tell all these people the size of your jack???
what was it again? you sent a pic to me and it only fitted in the palm of your hand! thats not a jack... thats a pup;D
so your jack could harly fit a 2inch gulp shrimp in its mouth... haha
20cm is how big you said it was.

[Roo]

this is a silly argument...........but i still voted;)

Trolling may not require a skill in some peoples opinion.....but dragging a lure around the estuary behind your boat is no guarantee of a catch. definitely requires skill to master and to be successful. usually the people who refuse to do it are those lacking the necessary skills to make it successful.:-[

cheers roo.

[Reel Nauti]

And it's not just the skill associated with the troll. Upon hook up the fish still has to be brought boat side as with any other style of fishing.

Cheers

Dave

[blue_mako]

Nathan: How big was your so called Jew that was a soapie? :P .

Troy

[Feral]

Well I have nothing against trolling, but I voted no, I dont reckon a fish you catch while sleeping counts! (which you could easily be doing) Trolling is as boring as bat Sheet! Almost as bad as catching fish on set lines for entertainment value!

I'd much rather catch nothing casting lures all day than a bagful trolling. But then again fishing for me is the challenge and the sport, if it was getting a feed, it would be a different story!

[pennman]

Count for what?

[the gecko]

Of course a trolled fish counts.
but what about a foul hooked fish, does that count?

I caught a trevally , foul hooked on a hard body lure, and I had the feeling it didnt count. Nobody pinged me for it, but I felt like it didnt count. Was I wrong?

cheers
Andrew

[breamnut]

Nathan: How big was your so called Jew that was a soapie? :P .

Troy
over legal size! please remind me how many jew you have caught?haha

[For Steve]

Of course it counts. When I lived up north and trolled lures and big baits for spanish mackerel, a lot of research and preparation was involved. Once you've hooked up and boated an impressive speedster, you know it counts.

Regards
Brad

[blue_mako]

For everyone that has said something about trolling offshore for pelagics then re read what I have said.

Exactly Nathan, I have caught none, I am saying the same thing to Simon except Jew is replaced with Jack ;) .

Troy

[For Steve]

For everyone that has said something about trolling offshore for pelagics then re read what I have said.

Exactly Nathan, I have caught none, I am saying the same thing to Simon except Jew is replaced with Jack ;) .

Troy

My apologies Troy - I didn't read what you have said. :-[ Just voted in the poll and responded to TheSaint's post.

Right, you're the friend that TheSaint mentions - now I get it. Doh!

[breamnut]

just as long as you know that your jack is small!

[blue_mako]

Just as long as you know your Jew is small :P .

Troy

[breamnut]

hey troy next time u come back down to my house in summer and we go jack fishin you will get some trolling.
what will you say about it then??? oh ohhhh snap!
my jewie would eat ur jack for breakfast!

[saurian]

Catch them anyway possible, they all count.
Ta

[edleigh7]

Of course a trolled fish counts.
but what about a foul hooked fish, does that count?

I caught a trevally , foul hooked on a hard body lure, and I had the feeling it didnt count. Nobody pinged me for it, but I felt like it didnt count. Was I wrong?

cheers
Andrew

Of course a fish trolling counts...it may not be as much fun or challenging as other methods but still a fish. We used to catch a lot of freshwater trout trolling with lead lines, paravanes etc....it wasn't very enticing but a fish nevertheless;)

Andrew.....we used to catch a lot of trout on fly that were foul hooked as sometimes they used to stun their prey by flicking their tails to knock the insect(or whatever out) and then eat it. It was a great fight and you thought you had a monster on, but i also had a feeling that it sorta didn't count.;D

Ed

[tunaticer]

Trolling up any fish that has taken the lure cleanly in his gob is fair game in any waters. Having said that tho, I guess it would be a bad decision to turn up to an area where it is a lure throwers heaven and troll up and down that piece of structure.
I generally will troll a lure heading to an area i want to spin and if i get a few fish along the way all is good, god knows ive spun the hell outa perfect waters without a touch a thousand times too.

Some species are best targetted by trolling too even in the pine river. Try trolling around a 3" shallow diver dead slowly thru the bigger holes above the bridge at night for a few big tailor for example. You can try spinning all night for next to no result or try floating out baits either under floats or without lead for minimal results of bigger tailor, but drag one lure around really slowly and you will get results.

Jack.

[guru2]

i court a 3 foot doggy macral( dont even know how to spell it) trolling in cape bowling green of the back of a 48 foot yaght it caunted when it was on my plate. please exuse my spelling

[ssab1]

pick your lure,depth,color and speed for the appropriate species target likely areas do all this and when you catch fish consistently tell me NO SKILL REQUIRED for trolling.cheers alex.

[Voda]

Yes trolling does count,If i cant get offshore due to bad conditions,theres nothing id rather do than go estuary fishing for Jacks/estuary cod/Flathead or what ever else decides to have a chop at a lure thats trolled behind a boat.It's not just a matter of clipping on a lure and dragging it around but also knowing where to troll it and read where the fish will be holding up ect" stucture,shelly bottom,weed fringed banks,back eddies,list could go on and on.

Blue_mako----As far as no skill needed to catch fish in estuary's try telling that to people who fish catch & release comps like the Flathead Classic on the gold coast that no skill is required to be competitive.Maybe we might see you on top of the leader board this year if it's that easy hey ;D

Cheers Voda

[Kid]

Your mates on some serioud drugs!

[fin finder]

hi as for trolling it bores me to death in feb i went to awanga for the first time we spent day and a half casting lures with 1 hit started trolling and started catching fish but after driving for two days to get there we had to do what we had to get the fish is this the norm at awanga some one might be able to tell me ? gazza

[Brucie Boy]

They all count

[cdg81]

Trolling Is Awesome, It Is Fishing After All, Ban It In Comps Cos It Is So Productive, Trolling Still Requires All Fish Finding Ability As Chuckers Use. If He Got Over His Ego And Give It Some Time And Effort, Might Catch Some Quallity Fish, Good Fisher People Use Dirversty To Catch Fish. That Is The Whole Point Of Fishing, ...isn't It.

[Timbothecat]

Watch that new DVD that has just come out....'The Fishing DVD no 7'
and listen to what the guide says up North.
There is alot of skill in trolling....Using your sounder to find structure,seeing what depth the fish are at,selecting the right lure to get down to the right depth and making trolling patterns around the structure you find.
There is skill involved and YES trolled fish DO count.

Cheers
Pete

Justin Jones? I think that's his name. Yeah, that was awesome but it looked like a pretty solid workout before you ever get a fish on. Reckon it would be fun to try as long as at least one person in the boat has a clue as to what they're doing.

Regards,

Tim.