Trolling in estuaries

[gogecko]

MIght have to start to do some trolling. Any advice appreciated.

What speed do you troll at in rivers where you would be targetting jacks, jews, trevally?
Do you keep it at 4-6 knts?Even slower?
Does it depend on the lure?
I see some hard body lures are designed to dive to 6ft and another goes to 20 ft for jew. Is this just for cast and retrieve? Ive tried a few trolls at around 6 knts and the lure just seems to skip across the surface. Wrong lure or wrong boat speed?
Are poppers ok for trolling?

What about outboard motor noise? Wont that scare the fish? How far behind the boat should the lure be?

thanks guys

Andrew

[Billo]

yep , depends on the lure ...you just need to get the right speed for the right action

can often be hard work and can be costly on the lure toll .
I normally only troll for Lizards through muddy banks with divers churning the murk up ...can produce , but i would not do it often .

Some spots are ok , like down the logan near the hut on the cliff ,,...you can get the lures in nice and close to the rocks without too much hassle , but normally for jacks i prefer working the lures right into the snags .

[gunna]

Ive tried a few trolls at around 6 knts and the lure just seems to skip across the surface. Wrong lure or wrong boat speed?

Andrew

Wrong boat speed. You need much larger lures - up around CD14 - for that speed. I don't know about jacks but for lizards you only want about 2knts - or less. Just enough to get the lure working.

[Point_Blank]

gogecko

mate for nearly all estuary species try and keep your speed as slow as possible even troll in and out of neutral if you and with the wind or tide. at a slower speed you can work a spot easier.

good luck
benny j

[ancienttinnie]

Have now caught over thirty species in estuaries on trolled lures, idle speed on the motor is good, use your sounder to control your lure depth, If you want to know how or get some lessons get hold of Brad Smith at the Boatshed Bait and tackle on Currumbin creek and spend the money for a day out with him. You will learn heaps and he is happ to show you how andwhat to do, lures to use and things to watch for. A small boat also helps, as you can get in and out of more interesting places. Most estuaries species including whiting will take a trolled lure. Noise from the motor doesn't make all that much difference to the fish. Also some lures work better for some species of fish.

[flickflack]

Yup all correct, might just add that for trevally you wanna go a bit faster. They like a fst troll.