|
|
Posts: 51
| I mostly fish the St-lawrence near MTL where I can only have one line out and always fish alone from a Yak?
The big plus of trolling is covering alot of water and Im not covering all that much trolling one line.
One alternative would be to drift and fancast OR
Trolling with an additional line out without hooks(Im not even sure if thats legal, I would actually call and ask them before hand). I could at least spread for information even though I'd obviously lose a fish 1/2 the time. But I'd gain info on depth, lure color, strike based on location weather and lunar activity.
Is anyone having success troling with 1 line in the water? How do cover open water as an alternative?
Edited by MKevin 10/14/2020 6:58 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 716
| People in MN are limited to one line as well and plenty of fish are caught trolling. |
|
| |
|
| Fishing by myself in northern WI, one line for trolling and I have had some success with that. An example is the river that connects the lake I live on to the next lake in the chain. Tough to cast, shallow and weedy but I have had good luck prop wash trolling just off the weed edge. Still prefer casting, but single line trolling certainly is good option. With weather getting colder, I will probably be doing more of it. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1247
Location: Walker, MN | Well, we feel good about casting with one line. You're covering as much or more water when trolling, probably the best way to connect unless you have some great casting spots in mind. I'd say cast the key structures, then troll to cover water. Good luck out there, catch a giant! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | You would probably never know it if a fish ate a bait with no hooks, so that's not a good idea. You wouldn't lose half of them, you'd lose all of them. Fish eat crankbaits when trolled and often don't get hooks even with 3 trebles on them and you never know it. I know this because I've seen a lot of underwater waterwolf camera footage of this happening. One thing I would do is lock your drag down pretty tight trolling from a Yak to bury the hooks in the fish. |
|
| |
|
| Kirby Budrow - 10/15/2020 11:14 AM
You would probably never know it if a fish ate a bait with no hooks, so that's not a good idea. You wouldn't lose half of them, you'd lose all of them. Fish eat crankbaits when trolled and often don't get hooks even with 3 trebles on them and you never know it. I know this because I've seen a lot of underwater waterwolf camera footage of this happening. One thing I would do is lock your drag down pretty tight trolling from a Yak to bury the hooks in the fish.
Only tried trolling with a kayak one time, going between areas that I wanted to cast at. As luck would have it, I hooked a musky on the top water bait but as I was getting it to the kayak, it came unpinned. I loosened the drag as I do when motor trolling and I think if I had it tight, I would have gotten a better hook set. Still was fun, being that low in the water and having a musky up close. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 51
| @No8 Good to see there's still success to be had trolling one line. My concern stemmed from everything I've read about trolling for muskies talked about having from 4 to 6+ lines in their spreads. Now covering water being the biggest plus, my first thought was am I still covering enough water to make it an advantage given that Im at best covering 1/4 of the water of those articles/book chapters I was reading.
@masqui-ninja while I agree that we cover more water trolling 1 line, I'd also say we're covering it better fan casting while drifting/controled drifting. Keeping in mind trolling with only 1 line in the water. If I have my Tm set for .5 mph and fan cast, I can test a much wider span and different depths more efficiently. Question is, is the difference of speed between tactics really worth it...?
@Kirby Budrow Now thats something I definitely considered, didnt expand on it as I didnt want to make the OP to long. If I were to use an additional line with no hooks on, it'd have to be the one highest in the water column with bait clicker on and drag real loose. Im not trying to catch that fish, Im trying to id a bite. The big con here is you're giving an opportunity to a fish that was going to hit your lure, to hit on a dummy lure that you're missing a 100% of the time. This is not good... but otoh, it also allows me to switch gears if I miss 2 fish on the shallower dummy bait. It gives me information. But like you said, this is all moot if I cant detect the strike to begin with...
Edited by MKevin 10/15/2020 4:12 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1
| I had no idea that what Kirby said was a normal happening . . . one would think that at trolling speed and a hit on a dummie lure would easily signal a strike. I sometimes use a downrigger for prop wash trolling (I am new to this!), but it doesn't seem like it takes much to pull the line out of the clip and the rod to spring to attention. Of course, that's with a loaded rod, which may make it much more obvious. Very interesting comment and would love to see such videos (I am not questioning the comment/knowledge at all by suggesting I'd like to see videos of it, FYI - so nothing snarky meant by the comment). |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | Chrisko - 10/21/2020 4:12 PM
I had no idea that what Kirby said was a normal happening . . . one would think that at trolling speed and a hit on a dummie lure would easily signal a strike. I sometimes use a downrigger for prop wash trolling (I am new to this!), but it doesn't seem like it takes much to pull the line out of the clip and the rod to spring to attention. Of course, that's with a loaded rod, which may make it much more obvious. Very interesting comment and would love to see such videos (I am not questioning the comment/knowledge at all by suggesting I'd like to see videos of it, FYI - so nothing snarky meant by the comment).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaMTGo6ZwuI
This is the guy. Thanks Loren 
I don't know if any of his videos on youtube are strikes that he didn't know about, but he has said that a lot of them go undetected. It probably happens more with rubber baits trolled at lower speeds. I know that I've trolled McRubbers after dark thinking I had no action, only to find tooth marks in it when I reeled up. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 100
| I'm not sure about Quebec, but I know in Ontario the guidelines clearly state lines, not hooks. That means that if you are running two lines you are in violation of the guidelines and subject to a fine, confiscation of equipment, and other actions. I imagine the same holds true in Quebec. Even if you called ahead and asked, if it clearly says trolling 1 line only it is possible that you encounter an enforcement official who disagrees with the information you get online.
I'm pretty sure that a notable guide in Northwest Ontario got in a lot of problems for taking a liberal interpretation of the guidelines for dragging a sucker while having people cast in the boat.
Bottom line, if the guidelines say only one line, only troll with one line, or you are asking for trouble. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 51
| Yeah havent tried and like you said, even if it was legal, I'd just get pulled over on the spot every time... Not worth wasting everyones time over this...
Just spent most of the day trolling one line with no success... Before leaving I went over a dead weedbed to cast a mag heli dawg and landed my PB... Fish escaped the net as I was going to grab him to take a pic... Hello darkness my old friend... FML!
Edited by MKevin 10/31/2020 5:13 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 355
Location: Selkirk, Manitoba | MKevin - 10/31/2020 5:12 PM
Yeah havent tried and like you said, even if it was legal, I'd just get pulled over on the spot every time... Not worth wasting everyones time over this...
Just spent most of the day trolling one line with no success... Before leaving I went over a dead weedbed to cast a mag heli dawg and landed my PB... Fish escaped the net as I was going to grab him to take a pic... Hello darkness my old friend... FML!
Sounds like a great day to me. Congrats on the catch. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 51
| Angling Oracle - 11/1/2020 1:03 PM
MKevin - 10/31/2020 5:12 PM
Yeah havent tried and like you said, even if it was legal, I'd just get pulled over on the spot every time... Not worth wasting everyones time over this...
Just spent most of the day trolling one line with no success... Before leaving I went over a dead weedbed to cast a mag heli dawg and landed my PB... Fish escaped the net as I was going to grab him to take a pic... Hello darkness my old friend... FML!
Sounds like a great day to me. Congrats on the catch.
That was the greatest fight I ever got, I still have flashes of the ski hitting my dawg literally 2 feet away from the yak coming out of nowhere. This was something I was actually scared of as it hadnt happened before and wasnt sure about how it would affect my balance standing up in the yak.... Nevermind that the water temp was 43F...
Yup! great day! Just missing the cherry on top but its not like I'll need a pic to remember that fish anytime soon...
Edited by MKevin 11/2/2020 8:38 PM
|
|
| |
Is trolling a bad option when...