Got Skunked Saturday...

BunnMan · 04-28-2009, 06:40 AM

New to this and studying hard. Got out Saturday morning (4/25) and trolled parachutes from Bay Bridge down to anchors in front of Thomas Pt. almsot all day. NUTHIN! Did snag one shad which tells me my trolling depth was good anway. Only ran two rods which would only support single parachutes as they are heavy spinning rods I bought for live lining late last season. Ran one chartreuse and one white. I plan to get a couple heavier trolling rods so I can drag umbrellas and tandems as soon as the budget allows.

My information led me to believe the aim was to troll about 15' deep in about 50' of water at 3-5mph. I tried this going off the speed on the GPS/fishfinder (Raymarine A60). 3mph indicated seemed too fast so I slowed to around 2mph. Even at that speed I was faster than everyone else trolling out there so I slowed to 1.5-1.7mph. The unit picks up speed from a pinwheel on the back of the transducer, is in not accurate or is did my instructor steer me wrong on speed? Any help appreciated...I wanna catch some fish!

Also, what was up with the dagblam flies? Little suckers that looked like a cross between a fly and a gnat were ALL OVER us and the boat once we got out on the bay. They didn't bite but man were they a nuisance all over everything. Never seen them before...any idea?

Thanks and God bless,

-BunnMan

happyjack92 · 04-29-2009, 08:28 AM

you could set up some dummy lines to run some deep umbrellas...no rods or reels needed. just a strong back and some gloves to pull that sucker up!

two lines will definitely make it tough. i know guys pulling 20+ that are having a tough time right now. the bite has slowed while the bigguns are up in the rivers spawning...just less fish in the main stem right now.

your speed doesn't sound too bad. trolling east-west (or even quartering) rather than north-south will help you cover more depths. it's not a bad idea to start out at a specific depth, but the baits move around thoughout the day and with the tides...and of course the stripers follow them. i like to troll in to about 35' and then back out into the channel. take note of where your're marking baits. after several zig-zags you may notice a pattern and can then try to match your track to where you're marking them.

yeah...the flies were a pain. the lack of wind on saturday was both a blessing and a curse!

good luck...and remember, there's plenty worse ways to spend a saturday than not catching.

BunnMan · 04-30-2009, 09:19 AM

Thanks for the help Happyjack. I'm gonna rig up one more rod this weekend and will check into setting up some dummies. There's at least one in the boat...I might as well drag a few too! LOL! As far as marking baitfish, I'm pretty sure I seen 'em but then again I'm not real versed in interpretting my fishfinder just yet. I'll keep at it...

God bless,

-BunnMan

crabbeer · 05-03-2009, 12:48 PM

From what I know, your speed while marking fish should be 2.8 to 3.2 mph. If you troll east/west, you should be indicating a true speed. North/south and the tide will mess up your indicated speed. Although, with a pinwheel, that may negate the tide.

East/west definitely covers more depth. Also, stripers feed upward. You can't be too shallow but you can be too deep.