A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post offshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
Here's a question. I'm trolling alone with a deep diving plug for gags and I get one on.
I kick it in neutral and pick up the rod, and the fish is off. Happened 3 times today. Do y'all pop it into neutral or leave it in gear, or doesn't it matter?
What did work was to put on a big planer with 20 feet of mono and a 6 inch soft swimbait, so at least I came home with one good one. Public reef, 45 foot depth.
I continue on my way and fight the fish at the same speed he bit on. About halfway to the boat i will back of the throttle once i am sure he is clear of the structure I caught him on.
Thanks. I've heard what you're suggesting for keeping them out of the rocks, but I was putting it in neutral before I grabbed the rod, and it seemed like the sudden slowdown might have given these gronks some slack to get off the hook.
I'll try it your way next time, just have to make sure I don't fall out of the moving boat
It almost sounds like you might need to apply the same tactics as the Bass anglers use for crank baits. Maybe a little more flex in the rod or a little less drag, so as not to pull the hooks loose.
Good advice so far. I’d add keep
boat in gear when the hit comes and a tight line. Also make sure if you are using braid to have a maybe 10’ mono leader for shock and only apply enough drag to just prevent line coming off at troll
I have a good fishing buddy, but he works lots of weekend & holiday shifts in law enforcement. And I must confess, time on the water alone is good for my soul.
Spent many years trolling in south Florida for pelagics, and always kept it in gear. Wouldn't go into neutral until the fish had been hooked for a bit and I knew it wasn't coming off. But even then, the transition to neutral is important, as you should very slowly ease into neutral (don't slam it). We also kept the drag lose (as someone else mentioned), and would slowly tighten to increase pressure before coming out of gear.
It can be hard solo, but I had numerous friends who did it successfully. Depending on the boat set-up they would try to keep the rods near them (A bent butt trolling rod is excellent for this). The rod doesn't really need to come out of the holder until it's close making it more convenient/comfortable for the angler. If it isn't close, you may still be able to reach and tighten the drag, while keeping the rod in the holder and slowly coming out of gear to fight the fish.
I would recommend keeping the kill-switch lanyard on when solo trolling. I'll admit I am not always the best at it, but when you get multiple hook-ups and the chaos starts it's easy to lose balance dancing around the boat. I knew a seasoned angler in S. Fl who went out solo and fell overboard trying to grab a rod. The kill-switch lanyard saved him, and outside of the scary moment, everyone and everything was fine. These lanyards can be short and I know a few folks that solo fished regularly who would tie fishing line or string on a spare one so they could reach the back of the boat when needed.
Thanks for all the advice. Didn't lose any on the trolling lures today, 1 keeper and some shorts. The big one in the picture came drifting live bottom in 45 feet with 2 sardines on one big circle hook.
