The Right Tools for the Job

Whether fishing for fun or as a competitive angler, consistently catching your target species is never easy. Improve your odds by expanding your skills and techniques. Having as many options as possible and tools available will only increase your chances of tangling with the desired species. This is critical as our time on the water is generally limited and we all definitely want to increase our success and fun factor for the day by being productive.

Many anglers have a preferred technique based on prior results. Case in point, I have fishing buddies that only troll for most of the day. They have perfected their technique and therefore feel fairly confident they will catch fish. This limits them to a day’s trolling whether they catch fish or not. It’s always good to have an alternate plan when the fish are not cooperating. An easy add-on would be adding various trolling techniques such as high vs slow speed trolling which requires different lures in the spread or adding a deep trolling option like planers or large lipped deep swimming plugs. This way you more effectively cover the water column. All your lures in the spread whether on top or below the surface must swim correctly at the desired speed. It takes a bit of work picking the right combination of lures and distances, but the improved results can be dramatic.

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By Mark Ambert

Pro TiP – Always target areas like weed lines, current or eddy’s that help concentrate bait.

I keep it simple and use a Rapala Magnum Deep Dive 7” swimming lure that gets down about 40’ when trolled at approximately 5-8 mph. I run it in the shotgun position and use that as my deep and close lure. About a ten count back puts it right behind the prop wash and about 30’ down.

If high or medium speed trolling doesn’t produce, having a bump trolling technique using live bait can be a game changer. Using this around dropoffs, ledges, weed lines or other forms of structure is the way to go. I like to use goggle eyes or small blue runners for this as both are hearty swimmers that will dive deep once the boat is put in neutral.

When it all comes together – wahoo on the troll.

Pro TiP - Having fresh cut dead bait as well as live bait on board to pitch behind a hooked fish can make the difference between catching a single fish on the troll to having a full cooler. Capitalize on the moment!

I always have extra rods baited and ready for when active feeding fish are finally located. Rods laid out for specific tasks cuts down on wasted time and enable the savvy angler to respond quickly as conditions unfold. I have one rod set up and rigged for casting fresh whole squid. Another for fresh dead bait and still another for cut bait. Two live baits are already rubber band rigged and waiting in the livewell. This kind of attention to detail can turn a slow day into an epic one.

Once active fish are located trolling, it’s time to set out the live bait! Have a parachute on board to control the drift and as an attractor. Have your offerings set up properly so as not to swim together and tangle but to effectively cover the water column. Use spinning gear with the Baitrunner option to deploy live baits in a spread, but make sure to have other rods at the ready to pitch other baits and offerings when needed. Have at least two additional rods rigged for jigging down deep and one for blind casting a small hair jig or popper as an attractor.

Make sure to have both a landing net and gaff within easy reach and have someone designated for the task. Make sure they know how to use both and don’t assume! In the last minute this could cost you a nice fish.

Do this consistently and you’ll be the captain that always returns with a happy crew and a full cooler. mark ambert, marksgonefishing™ author – avid outdoorsman,

Gear used – coastal Fishing company made exclusive for the fisherman by a fisherman www.coastalfishing.com