Trolling lures at sea has come a long way over the past decade. Just about everything, to do with trolling has been changed, altered or made more sophisticated. Even the way we think about bluewater trolling has been changed by anglers working at the cutting edge of the sport.

Much of this change has been part of a worldwide phenomenon in lure trolling for game fish and some of it has been pushed along by local anglers looking for ways to adapt new techniques to local conditions.

The real basics of trolling have not changed. All that is needed is a boat, appropriate tackle and a bunch of lures. The lures are paid out the back, the boat moves along at about eight knots and eventually something will eat the lures. It sounds easy, but some things have changed. Anglers who want to maximise their trolling results need to have a good look at every facet of what they do and how they do it. When all the parts are put together, the system works and hook-ups follow.

The Platform

Good trolling technique starts with the set up of the boat. If the boat is correctly rigged a whole range of options can be used. A poorly rigged boat will limit those same options. The first part is to have plenty of quality rod holders keyed to hold the rod gimbal and keep the rod angled the right way. The keyway also locks the rod in place when a fish strikes. At least four rod holders, two each side, should point outwards at 45 degrees. Two of these rod hold­ers will be used for the outrigger held lures and two will be used for back set flat lines. A further four rod holders that position the rods straight across the back of the boat are also needed. These rod holders work best if they angle back at 45 degrees as this reduces tip friction angles on hot fish and tends to suit modem short rods better than rod holders that point straight at the sky.

The rods angled back also seem to take the weight loading better on the hook up. However, if the design of the boat means the rods point straight up then that's how it will be. Outboard powered craft tend to create a natural void for rod holder positions in the centre of the boat because of motor posi­tion and boat design. Fitting rod holders to fill this space in the centre of the wake is important.

We covered this by having a small game chair which came with two rod holders and it wasn't until we fitted the chair we found how easy it was to run two extra lures down the centre. It made trolling eight lures possi­ble under all conditions on a 6.4 metre vessel. Six lures are possible on any bluewater craft. Eighty kg striped marlin on 15kg line. The lure is an Hawaiian Baby Blue.

 

Outriggers

Outriggers are essential for spreading the lure pattern and setting the lines at different ele­vations. Using the height afforded to outrigger set lures keeps these lines away from the flat lines under almost all sea conditions. Outriggers have lots of other uses in bait fishing too but they are an essential item in modern lure trolling.

Tag Lines

Historically the only drawback with outriggers and lure trolling was that billfish could be missed, as the slack line gap between the strike pulling the line out of the release clip and the full weight of the fish coming onto the rod to drive home the hook allowed just enough time for the fish to throw the lure or fail to hook up. This problem is solved by tag lines. We've seen some really complex rigs on game boats, but our tag lines are nothing more than a measured piece of blind cord fitted with a rounded cork for handling and a large snap swivel at each end. One snap clip goes onto the eye of the outrigger release lock­ing it in place and the other snap clip is used to clip onto the looped elastic band securing the fishing line.

The system works by paying out the outfits to be set in the outriggers first. Once the lure is in its designated position, usual­ly furthest out on each side, a No. 36 size elastic band is looped over and over and then through itself, locking it firmly onto the line. The eye of the rubber band is then fixed in the snap clip and the outrigger clip is then hoisted to the top of the outstretched rigger. The tag lines are measured so they finish in line with the transom. The outwards pointing rod holders nearest the cabin hold the rods working the outrigger lures. The line between the rod tip and the elastic band has no slack in it, but it is set so that all the weight is on the tag line. When the strike comes, there is very little take up time and everything comes tight with next to no slack. As soon as the line pays out the elastic band breaks and the rod pays off just like any other outfit. As a rule, we work 24 kg out­fits from the outrigger so there are no line bums or other hassles from the elastic bands.

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Rocket Launchers

While most anglers use them for rod storage it is quite possible to set troll rods from the rocket launchers.

The outfits set from the out­riggers will work just as well from the launchers as anywhere else.

It is also possible to drop a strategically placed lure down the centre of the pattern from the middle rocket launcher. The added height off the deck will allow this lure to sit a little ahead of the two lures set from the out­rigger and remain tangle and crossover free. It won't tangle with deck set rods either because of its elevation. The outrigger and rocket launcher lures are set about 50 metres behind the boat. These are usually larger style lures set for billfish.

Deck Rods

The next set of outward pointing rods are set to make up the back pattern. These rods are paid out until the lure is sitting on top of the fourth or fifth wake wave. This is usually 30 to 35 metres behind the boat. The end result is that a patten of four or five lures can be worked without tangles or crossovers in the most productive and likely big fish strike zone.

Close Pattern

A close pattern is set on the second and third wake line behind the boat. The stern rod holders set the lures straight down the gunwale line on the third wake. The two rods in the game chair or middle rod holders set the lures on the second wake wave. These rods can be mounted on the transom or on the outboard well, but their aim is to fill the void in the middle of the wake. With this set up it is easy to set eight outfits without any tangle problems. Nine can be set using the rocket launchers. While this may seem like a lot of rods it actually breaks up into two sepa­rate patterns, the 'out the backs' and the 'closer ins', and we think it adds more strikes to the day. Each boat owner can make their own mind up on how many lures they troll but we suggest six is the minimum. Patterns There seems to be two factors in favour of patterns, which are full of lures. The fish do seem to get excited by all the activity and it allows for a wider selection of colours and actions to be used. We don't use any attractors like witchdoctors or birds. It's old fashioned, but we prefer any­thing that goes over the back to have a hook in it. Anyway, what could be more attractive to the fish than a bunch of lures splash­ing and fizzing along all over the place? Multiple lures also means mul­tiple hook ups on yellowfin and dolphin fish, and occasionally on marlin. Multiple hook-ups are not a problem with trolling gear so long as the boat goes slowly ahead after the hook up until all the outfits are wound in.

Which Lures?

This part is extremely subjective and depends on what the anglers are trying to do. Our fishing con­centrates on striped and black marlin and yellowfin tuna. There are big blue marlin in the area but we just don't have the gear for them. They are a specialised target needing big gear and big lures. Our success rates with big lures has not been high anyway, so we have dropped back to smaller lures and caught more fish.

Our idea of big lures out the back are something like a Pakula Mouse or Top Gun or similar 30 cm type lure. In the next set, a pair of Pakula Cockroaches, Fenwick Psycho Speed, a soft­head or one of the Pacific range. On the third wake will probably be another Cockroach and a softhead or a Pakula Mosquito. On the second wake will be a Mosquito and a Wilson No. 2 Sea Jet. The mouse size (30 cm) lures are rigged with double hook type set-ups, but everything else is rigged on single hooks.

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We have a marked preference for single hook rigs and have great success with them. They are also a lot safer when releasing the fish. We'd be quite happy to fish sin­gle hooks on all the lures. We have also come down in hook sizes and use 8/0's on the Mosquitoes and Sea Jets, 9/0's on the Cockroaches and 10/0's on the Mouse size lures. The smaller hooks are easier for the 15 and 24 kg tackle to bury home and we have had a marked increase in billfish hook ups since dropping in hook size. We lowered the hook sizes while chasing yellowfin in winter but found the marlin stayed hooked better before we re-rigged for summer and have left it that way. The big rigs and big hooks only work well on heavy tackle. All the hooks used are Mustad 7732 stainless.

We've tried most patterns and heard all the stories about other styles being correct­ly angled to hold the fish etc. etc, but the aim is to get the hook in first and the 7732's are the best at that. All hooks are sharpened with a file to produce a three point cutting edge on the point of the hook. The hooks are set right at the back of the skirt. All the outfits used are lever drag game reels but the line classes get mixed up a bit. The back row are always 24 kg, the next two rows are 15 kg and an odd 10 kg and in close we use 6 and 10 kg. We put the lighter gear out in the middle of the pattern when the yellowfin are thick, but move it further in when the marlin are about.

Speeds Trolling speeds

Trolling speeds can be very important and an accurate speed reading on a sounder or a plotter is a valuable aid to trolling. On tuna we and other successful local charter boats all nominate 7.5 knots as being the be speed. On marlin we like to go quicker with eight to nine knots seeming to produce more strikes, although this is a reflection of what is working as we write the article rather than what has worked over many years. Be prepared to move the trolling speeds around during a trolling session, using 15 to 30 minute bracelets to test what provides the most attractive speed on the day. Most importantly watch that the lures are moving attractive and not jumping clear of the water too often.

Lure Colours

Lure colours often relate more to personal preference rather than anything else. We have about six lures that seem to genuinely attractive to the fish and have each taken multiples of big fish.

By far our most consistent hit lure is a pink over white Fenwick Psycho S peed that now getting close to a half century of big fish including 30 billfish fish. Sadly these lures are longer produced.

Next are black over blue and pink over mauve Pakula Mouse and Cockroach, followed by a mostly white soft-head. In the smaller lures the pink over Christmas Tree Wilson No.2 Sea Jet and a yellow green Pakula Mosquito attract a lot of attention. We have a small orange Zuker with red and white feathers that takes a lot of small to medium yellowfin tuna. Dark blue coloured lures seem to work very well on striped and blue marlin.

If minnows go out in the pat­tern these are targeting yellowfin tuna and they will almost always be a CD 18 Rapala in red head/silver body. The axiom about dark lures on a dark day and bright lures on a blight day might have something in it but we tend to stick with proven fish catchers before we start changing too much around. However, we do experiment and changing a few different lures in the pattern is common if nothing happens after a couple of hours. The other argument regularly read in the USA fishing magazines is about the advantages of softheads over hard heads and all sorts of other bits and pieces about good lures in rough or good lures in smooth conditions. All this needs to read with a jaundiced eye.

We've seen enough to know that these arguments are put forward by specialist anglers who are talking about the 10 per cent of the fish that are touchy or about personal preferences that are hard to prove or disapprove. Most of the fish get on with it fairly readily. Experience builds in the trolling craft just like it does in any other form of fishing and it takes a while to build that level to a point where there is confidence to do things and make moves that produce more fish. As an example we recently had a 50kg striped marlin have a dozen goes at a lure while everyone watched, jumping out of their skins. Out of curiosity, as the fish charged the lure I pulled off the throttle and as soon as the rod tip moved I slammed down the throttle. The result was a well-hooked little striped marlin on 15 kg now wearing a tag. That sort of tactic does not always work, but just knowing it can be useful.

We were already doing nearly 10 knots so going faster didn't seem right. The fish had already had a heap of hits at speed, but going slow made the target worth swallowing. Like any fishing method there are things to learn and most of it can only be learned by going out when the conditions are right and the fish are available. A bit of time on a knowledgeable charter boat can also add substantially to the learning process. The learning part can't be stressed too much. There is something to learn every time the boat goes to sea.