how to troll sp's ??

[Foxxy]

havent quite cracked the trolling sp code yet. Anyone offer some adivce for using them in ppb? Like depth to jighead size ? how far back ? etc etc

[madfishman]

Trolling sps might get you some pike, couta or sambos, but in most cases deeper than 4mtrs and you will unlikely hook up a snapper.

in regards, to just trolling sps its not something i do at all, hard bodaies for trolling.

but i usually fish sps with 1/8-1/6-1/4 ounce jig heads and you could use any of those if you choose.

hope that helps.

[maverick]

All my snaps on SP' have been trolling SP's - no different to casting. A slow troll is like a slow retrieve and a few twitches as you go along. Adjust the speed and jighead weight to the depth of water. My fish have come from 6 - 8m so it is relatively easy. In anything around 10 m, casting is probably a better option and try to keep the yak stationary, while retrieving with plenty of pauses. IMHO.

[ELM]

As others have said, I preferred to cast my plastics, however I did also like to reverse my kayak as I jigged and I guess you could call that trolling.

Most of my (forward) trolling was with Hard Bodies or the odd paddle tail plastic, depth would depend on how deep the fish were, rule of thumb if the fish were lazy, you needed to get your lure depth within 1 meter of fish depth, aggressive fish will rise 3+ meters to take a lure. Trolling paddle tails behind the AI though, tended to break the tails off, you also had to add some action to the troll either by jigging the rod or lots of tacks so as the plastic would drop as that is when a plastic is more likely to be hit.

Jig head "size" will depend on the size of your plastic, match your bait/plastic to your hook. If you are using small plastics, you need small hooks/jigs and if you need depth, then you need to weight your line or use a downrigger to assist getting the lure in the strike zone.

How far behind, in shallow water, I always found the further back the better. In deeper water, it was all about getting the plastic/lure in the strike zone and if the fish were on the bottom, I would prefer my lures to be within 1 meter of the bottom or bottom bashing.
How much line do you put out to get depth (angle of deflection); There are a lot of variances that will contribute to angle of deflection and only practice + knowledge of your own gear will tell you that.
Jig head weight, line weight; More weight, the deeper you can troll.

Line thickness/material; The more surface drag a line has, the more it will resist the urge to sink. The thicker the line or the rougher the surface, the surface drag it will have. If the line will also hold air bubbles (not that many do), then the more prone to float it will become.

Style of plastic (particularly the tail type/action); I always believed resistance at the tail, made plastics dive deeper.

Speed, Faster you go the more resistance there is against the line.

Is the line cutting through a disturbed water surface, or a still water surface; Water has a surface tension, if the surface tension is already broken (eg: by prop wash), then the line will have less resistance and will sink quicker decreasing the angle of deflection.

If you are using a "rated dive" HB lure, then unless you weight the line, it will only dive to the rated depth no mater how much line you put out.

Eddie

[bj fisherman]

Slowwwww.