BigBendFishing.Net

WAIT!!! I HAD A REVELATION!!!!

What about the top speed of the fish species you are trolling for????

Karst, I appologize for the sarcasm but I couldn't resist. The best advice is experience on the water and looking at the pics on the forum posts. Listen to whoever catches the most and biggest grouper!!

In Virginia they troll with a MOJO. Its a lead weight with a hook and rubber body on it. The purpose is to get the bait down to a certain depth. The MOJO is o the end of the setup, and 3'-4' up is a three way swivel and they put 30' of line behind it with a stretch or other lure. Striper bite the MOJO or the other lure. But they also use those Umbrella Rigs too.

MOJO


Umbrella Rig

A big part of trolling is how deep do you want your presentation.

Water speed determines the depth a lure runs at. If you use gps speed as your guide, you will need to constantly adjust for current to hit your depth, which is going to usually be just a guess. RPMs work just as well.

grim reeler wrote:A big part of trolling is how deep do you want your presentation.

Water speed determines the depth a lure runs at. If you use gps speed as your guide, you will need to constantly adjust for current to hit your depth, which is going to usually be just a guess. RPMs work just as well.

Thanks grim reeler and all the rest of the members for youall's interesting (and quite varied ) input on this subject.

After all this healthy discussion, it appears to me that the Big 3 of Trolling are:

1) Depth of lure
2) Speed of lure
3) Favorable bottom structure

Followed by the Little 3 of Trolling:

4) Line size
5) Length of line out behind boat
6) Does the captain have a clue at all (i.e. does he listen to his forum buddies about lure type, color, depth, etc...)

As to determining the precise speed of lure presentation vs. prevailing current using only a GPS, I think with some more experience I will be able to do seat-of-the-pants reckoning like most of you do. In the meantime, here's my solution:

Start trolling in big circles around the grouper hole -- and then at least some of the time the lure will be going the right speed and I should get some hookups !!

So if you see some boat out of Steinhatchee/Keaton area doing just that one of these days, you know it will probably be me - just say HI to ol' KarstRanger on Channel 9 !

KarstRanger wrote: Start trolling in big circles around the grouper hole -- and then at least some of the time the lure will be going the right speed and I should get some hookups !!

Now THATS thinkin' Give me the GPS numbers of that hole and I will try it and let you know

Dubble

Tom Keels wrote:

KarstRanger wrote:

Tom Keels wrote: Stretch 25's, 30's and Rapala CD14's are the baits of choice.

Thanks for the info, Tom. About what lb. test of leader and how much leader length would you run on these? We were going to try Steinhatchee Reef, first. Don't know if any grouper are holding there, but hope to find out.

4-5 feet of 60-80 pound test should do. I've never lost a stretch to a king, so use the swivel. It helps to keep grass off the lure if you leave about an inch of the tagline hanging when you tie it on.

This is a rig I have used with much success in the past.

Can I put in a snap swivel to easily change lures, or is it best to tie the lure right to the line??

KarstRanger wrote:

Tom Keels wrote:

KarstRanger wrote:

Tom Keels wrote: Stretch 25's, 30's and Rapala CD14's are the baits of choice.

Thanks for the info, Tom. About what lb. test of leader and how much leader length would you run on these? We were going to try Steinhatchee Reef, first. Don't know if any grouper are holding there, but hope to find out.

4-5 feet of 60-80 pound test should do. I've never lost a stretch to a king, so use the swivel. It helps to keep grass off the lure if you leave about an inch of the tagline hanging when you tie it on.

This is a rig I have used with much success in the past.

Can I put in a snap swivel to easily change lures, or is it best to tie the lure right to the line??

I use a snap swivel.

Tom Keels wrote:

KarstRanger wrote:

Tom Keels wrote:

KarstRanger wrote:

Tom Keels wrote: Stretch 25's, 30's and Rapala CD14's are the baits of choice.

Thanks for the info, Tom. About what lb. test of leader and how much leader length would you run on these? We were going to try Steinhatchee Reef, first. Don't know if any grouper are holding there, but hope to find out.

4-5 feet of 60-80 pound test should do. I've never lost a stretch to a king, so use the swivel. It helps to keep grass off the lure if you leave about an inch of the tagline hanging when you tie it on.

This is a rig I have used with much success in the past.

Can I put in a snap swivel to easily change lures, or is it best to tie the lure right to the line??

I use a snap swivel.

Other than catching the fish for me, I think you have done about all you can Hopefully I'll be posting some good grouper pics in a week or so when I can get out for the next offshore trip.