Off shore Trolling

[DazSamFishing]

I am coming close to taking delivery if my new rig, and I am bloody excited and so is the missus! Only a few weeks left and its time to hit the ocean once again. I will be new to the off shore trolling scene, so I need some useful advice on what to look for or where to start trolling? My main area would be anywhere off the Gold Coast. Summer is soon approaching so I will want to get stuck into some maks, tuna, and hopefully some bills and wahoo. Any tips would be great!

Daz

[Jeremy]

if you want to do it seriously, best shot is to join a local game or sport fishing club.

Jeremy

[AaronF]

For starting up you will need a few basics. Two lever drag (TLD 20'S maybe) rigged on 10-15kg rods and spooled with 10-15kg mono (or Braid if you like but mono is preferable for trolling). An assortment of lures both hardbody and skirted. Try Halco Laser Pros and Blue Pilly's as well as some Hollowpoint or Pakula skirts in the smaller range 4-6".

Start trolling with the rods spaced at different lengths behind the boat 20-50M is a good starting point and aim for 5-7 knots to start using your SOG on the GPS if you have one. Find an area that has bait like Mermaid Reef, 12's, 18's or Palmy Reef as starting points or look for other boats trolling. Have your lever drag set at about half drag to start so that the hooks can be set but you can then hook up and increase the drag to begin the fight. Keep the boat in gear if it's a decent fish and release those you don't want to keep.

There are other threads on this subject if you search this website so get to it young man. Things to research are leaders, hook set-ups in skirted lures, how to read that sounder you paid too much money for (there is a great thread on this site) and lure colours. Work your way up to three rods eventually with the middle one in close in the prop wash and during certain times of the year (something else to research) expect all three to go off at once which makes for great fun.

Please release all Marlin (even your first) as they are too magnifcent to kill and it does wonders for your fishing karma.

[DazSamFishing]

Thanks AaronF

I have recently purchased two TLD25's with 15-24kg rods to suit. I will be using 30lb mono and 50lb mono on those reels. I have done plenty of headland trolling for tailor, bonito, and trevs so I always like leaving out a metal lure out the back attached to my EFS80, but would this work off shore? I have heard so much in regard to offshore trolling, its amazing to hear and see so many techniques used. However, I am very keen to get into it! You mentioned GOS which I haven't heard of? I am stepping up in the GPS/sounder world. I have only used a couple of small Matrix17's etc in my other smaller boats and will be using the 97C in my new boat! Also, you seem to know what your on about... So what is your opinion on wire vs mono leader? I have never been keen on wire all my fishing life! In addition, would you suggest heading out to one of the Goldie reefs to search for my own trolling path? Should I just follow the reef but keep an eye out for bait fish? More help would be muchly appreciated!

Daz

[Jeremy]

There is a hell of alot ot learn if you want to seriously target bills. A good starting point is www.pakula.com.au

Jeremy

[DazSamFishing]

Hey Jeremy,

I am not particularly interested in bill fishing, although, I know there are alot of fishos out there that want to fulfil one of their fishing dreams. I remember the first time I hooked up on a small marlin, I was just out off The Gold coast Seaway fishing the 12 fathom line when one of my cowanyoung livies took off... Unfortunately I managed to lose the fish because I didnt have a clue about what to do by myself with 2 other rods in use! However, I really just want to know what rigs to use trolling, where to point the boat and what lures to use and what to look for...

Cheers

Daz

[Lobster48]

You really need to identify a target species before you anyone can tell you give you any decent tips. THe rods, reels, lures, line, locations, speeds, spacing etc etc all depend upon the species.

Lobster

[Sportfish_5]

Look for life out there - whether thats structure holding bait/birds/baitfish/current lines/temp breaks. Understand how current flows around your local area. There is a lot more to offshore trolling than any other form of fishing and once you have an understanding of the pelagics world you are half way there.

Wire - for me most definitely if you are chasing hoo or spannos but only short single strand wire traces with high quality small dark swivels to minimize bubble trails. For the rest, definitely no wire.


Learning is half the fun - best of luck


Cheers

Greg

[davez104]

SOG + Speed Over Ground

Dave

[DazSamFishing]

Thanks guys, I suppose I will start off targeting a frequently encountered species which is probably the mack tuna. I still don't understand SOG... Does anyone care to explain? I am also keen on getting into the spotties this season... So I suppose they would also be on my to do list... If I can get experience with these fish, then I can move up in the pelagic world. Does lure size matter for the spotties and mack tuna?

[hungry6]

I don't think you really need to go offshore to target spotties and macs or similar tuna species, plenty of old member here who does it , just need them to reply. I'm too scare to stick a big lure or bait over the side and troll. My arms are pernamently stretch from the last 2 AJs that jump on my little pillie out on the bank.
Happy fishing with your new rig.

[DazSamFishing]

I definately know how to get them in the bay with slugs. I went through a phase of only fishing with metal for almost a year... and boy did I have some fun! I still can't get enough of flicking metal at hungry surface feeders... But I think that trolling would be the way to go if I take out the missus' old man and mine! I know a lot of team work is envolved when off shore trolling...

Anyone have any other suggestions... I know of a mate the trolls hex heads at 15knots... and others that troll just behind the breakers off moreton is. Is this effective?

[AaronF]

Hey Daz

SOG is as stated speed over ground. What this means is your actual speed in relation to how fast you are moving across the water as if it were solid earth. Remember that water moves in currents so if you set your engine revs at 2000rpm when going down current you would have a much faster speed in real terms than going upcurrent with the same revs. Current, wind direction and swell all affect the SOG you will achieve.

You ask about wire, personally I never use it even for wahoo but others will disagree, I compensate by using a decent snap swizel than gives you a few more precious inches and fit it to 150lb Jinkai or the like with a length twice that of the fish I'm chasing tied to a double Bimini twist wind on leader.

Try lures that work at similar speeds to start like hard bodies and skirts, I've used Hexheads before but for me they were no more effective (probably less) than my regular set-up and the fuel burn was much less expensive. Jeremy's comment (stop giving away all the secrets will ya) is a great reference point. The Pakula Marlin Bar has all you need to know about offshore trolling + some (buy the CD it's worth it) and although targeted at Billies is applicable to most types of fishing. It is all a learning curve so try different trolling patterns, speeds, lures, distances, colours and ground and find what works for you. Everyone has something akin to their own style so switch drivers when you are trolling as well - this worked for us on numerous occasions when we were having a dry day.

Most of all enjoy it and remember research, research and research and it will all come to you.

[Grand_Marlin]

G'day Daz,

I use 150lb mono for all species... all species will take a lure rigged on mono, where a lot shy away from wire.
You might loose the odd wahoo / mackeral, but I think your strike rate when using mono more than compensates for these few losses.
If you knew you were trolling around a school of mackeral, then maybe use wire.

I would troll 4 rods / lures if you have them.

Dont try and mix skirted and hard body lures - use one or the other a tthe one time.

Skirted lures around 150mm or 6 inches are good for all species - try the Pakula Uzi's & Fluzi's.
Colours to definitely have - lumo green, black & purple, blue & green, pink.

Hard bodied lures - as stated above - the halco range is good ... I especially like the crazydeep 7m+ (black and purple) trolled at around 4 knots

Set the strike drag of your tld 25 to 1/3 of the breaking strain of your line.
so if using 15kg line, set the drag to 5 kg - this way you are less likely to break off on a nice fish.

The last thing is - just get out there and try ... there are no absolute rights and wrongs... try different areas, try different lures and techniques.

You could also invite someone off here who knows what they are doing ... take them out for the day in exchange for showing you how to set everything up.

Cheers

Pete

[AaronF]

I have to disagree with Pete on the mixing of lures, I always ran skirts with hardbodies but you need to use lures that work at similar speeds. As both of us said earlier it's a matter of finding what works for you, this system didn't work for him but did for me so a great example of trying different things right there. If you do shoose skirts with hardbodies then run the skirt in the middle to start in closer than the rest and see how you go. 4 Rods is a little more difficult on a smaller boat (was for me anyway) but you can try flatlining (research and buy the right rubber bands) as a measure to cope on windy days. Great advice on finding someone that knows what they are doing but what works for them doesn't mean that it works for others. Read Pakula's article in the new Bluewater Mag for some inspiration on that front. Oh and Pete's tip on lure colours for Pakula styles is spot on. You will find that certain fish love certain colours which is why a variation is the norm unless you are a snob and only want Spaniards for instance.