New to trolling, have a boat + trolling questions.

[Kuba]

Hi to all, My name is Daniel and i have recently acquired a fishing boat. It's a Crestliner Kodiak 167 with a 50HP outtie.

I have recently purchased a downrigger made by Cannon (didn't have time to put it on yet) and would like to get into trolling. I live in Mississauga so am close to Port Credit.

I have sailing experience so i know my ways in water, not affraid of choppy stuff is trolling possible in choppy stuff?

How and where to find fish? What to do with a downrigger when a fish is on? reel it in? hold the rod at the same time?

When is best time to go out for trolling?

Can i use my 50HP Mercury ELPTO 2 stroke for trolling?

and the most importand question..... is my boat OK for trolling on Lake Ontario?

here is few pics

http://boats.iboats.com/2008-crestliner ... 88125.html

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Yes....but pick your days wisely. That boat is kind of a shallow v. You should be ok on days that are 1 ft or less with little wind. Chop doesn't really effect the bite if you can keep a steady speed. When you use a downrigger you use a line release that holds the line to your weight. Fish hits and releases the line. You see the rod tip pop-up and grab the rod and reel it in. You leave the weight where you set it in the water. Then reel it in after landing the fish. Reset it and fish for another. Best time is usually early morning. But some days it doesn't matter. Your motor is fine for trolling. I use a 90 hp mercury 2-stroke. Good luck!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[BAZOOKAJOE]

As far as how to catch you have a lot of reading to do on this forum. Hard to say in one post. Read the reports section and you will see most people report speed, depth, lures, etc.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[camomanbg]

It may be a good idea to find someone to go out with and get some hands-on experience. It is much easier to see and do it than just read about a lot of the methods for trolling. Check the trade a trip/open seat forum on here or see about doing a "learning trip" with a charter boat. Like Bazookajoe said, there is a LOT of reading that you can do on here.....this website is one of the best resources for outdoor info that I've ever seen. Good luck and welcome to the world of trout and salmon fishing!

[Mortigan]

+1

[TyeeTanic]

Take someone out that knows how to fish. There's too much to learn, and we would need 30 pages and 10 hours to type everything out.

All the questions you ask are good, but there is not one simple answer. Fishing is a system, and the system must change to suit variable conditions.

Fishing depends on:

- water temperature

- lure speed

- lure color

- lure type (fly, spoon, meat)

- presentation (length of lead, main line wire/mono/braid, flashers, riggers vs dispeys)

- depth of line

- depth of fish

- weather (both what happen last couple of days, and how it is day of fishing)

- wind and waves

- moon phase

- time of year

That is just to get a fish on. Then you have to reel it in, and of course your tackle and gear is important here, as well as your technique.

Mark

[LongLine]

Welcome to the site. Pick your days wisely. Those seats are kind of high for a small boat indicting that's a fairly calm water boat. I'd head out real early.

Yes fishing can be great in a chop. I find slamon usually a little higher in the water column on those days. Some guys clear the rigg'r with a fish on & others leave them down. If you do clear i,t remember to keep the rod bent & line tight. Salmon usually get off if they get any slack line.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Kuba]

Guys, thanks all for great advice. The only thing i am unclear off is spoons/lures etc...

I bought some spoons based on advice given to me by a gentelman at Le Baron.

Well, i guess we will find out tommorow as im going out in the morning around 7am. Will keep you posted

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Hooked on Kings]

Do a search for a thread " hey you bunch of new guy's" lots of great info here, should tell you much of what you want to know. Second thing is you can't beat experience so take a charter or take someone with you that has the knowledge. I'm still learning every time I go out and I have learned so much from this site, it's been a huge help. Guy's here are great and always willing to help. Just a suggestion but a better time to hit the lake is around 5:30 am or so, early bit is usually the best. Good luck.

[Kuba]

Well, we caught nothing, by 730, when we were dropping the boat into the water another boat was being pulled out. They had two salmons. Two other boats were leaving because they said it was too choppy and windy.

We trolled untill noon. I changed spoons three times, third time i added a flasher, but i put it right at the ball, not knowing where it goes. Sooner after i found out that my gps was showing speed in nautical miles;) and we did about 3.5 throughout the whole time. Right after i changed it to about 1.5m my weight (8lb) showed up on the screen. )))

Yeahh, i learned a lot today

Oh and i noticed that my spoons were like 60-70% of the size of the spoons that a gentelman who caught few fish used. Heh, any more tips;)?

What is a spin doctor?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Mortigan]

The larger spoons are magnums. Sometimes they work better, sometimes they don't. Running a combination of sizes is popular - running a regular spoon off the ball and the same pattern magnum cheated above it is a MUP rig.

Dreamweaver Spin Doctor - popular brand of flasher.