eric,
i was thinking the same thing, i was running the lures back 20-30' off the ball. i had about 6 releases but never fought a fish.

i run a drift sock off the transom to slow the boat down and i am wondering if all the turbulance from the drift sock is spooking the fish. i am trying to get someone to rig a kicker for me but i have had no luck. any thoughts?

ilucas

Guys, my first thought is that this links with what some of us were discussing the other day... Speed changes, erratic movement, etc. With that much line out (on leadcore) your lure is going to tend to move around more due to the affects the water has on the line.
With the shorter lines attached to the riggers they are going to maintain a more even troll... perhaps not as enticing to a fish that's not "feeding"?
The erratic behavior is probably helping to entice a bite and a heavier bite at that, which is why they were hooking up better.
Just my thoughts... but what the heck do I know. Someone will probably say I've got it backwards? LOL

Slip may have a point. Sounds like experimentation is worth it. Occassional crazy ivans, speed changes and up/down movements on the ball may trigger more bites. I know Salty says he only runs his lures 10-25 ft. behind the ball, but he is using vertical attractors.

Not only did I have the same experience Ilucas had recently, but one of the only salmonids I got one day came when I was reeling in a lead core line that had been out about 7-8 colors and when it got to about 5 colors WHAM a small brown hit and I pulled it in. This says something about speed changes, as I was reeling in as I was still trolling.

Ilucas - consider a trolling plate instead of a kicker! (There was a lot of discussion on this subject earlier in the year). I bucked up and got the Easy Troller -- this type has a hinged plate on it in case you forget to pull it up before you throttle up (no shear pins to bust and change!). This already proved its worth as not once but twice (the same day) I forgot to pull it up first and it saved my butt. I've got an Alumacraft Magnum 175cs (18 ft long, 8 ft beam) with a Honda BF 90 hp 4 stroke. Before the plate, the slowest I could get was 2.5 - 3.5 mph unless I towed 2 buckets AND a drift sock (light boat for a 90hp). With the plate, down to 0.5 mph (laker territory) no problem. I paid extra for the hydofoil fins and its had no effect on my speed when cruising, though I need to pay more attention to my tilt/trim to get ideal top end speed. No trolling bags, no kicker, its worth considering.

slipnot,
makes alot of sense, this newbie needs to think more like fish

eric,
i checked into a trolling plate for my motor. the problem is that they are made for up to 150 hp. i have a 250 hp, also i would like to have the kicker to cut down on the hours on the big motor and have the extra help if the big motor failed. i am so tired of that drift sock, got to find a solution!!!

ilucas

With gas at $3.50 a gallon, have to think about the difference of idleing the 250 hp vs. running an 8 or 10hp kicker. My 8hp Honda will troll all morning (pushing a 19' Grady) on about 1 gal of fuel. Plus I don't ever worry about needing a tow back to the dock if the primary motor fails......Just my two cents.

ilucas, Give Rick@BBW a call his email can be found on here most likely under an Sunapee Report, He is really good with motors and the such, and i believe he is a mercury dealer also, if anyone could figure out something for you he most probably could. Take CAre God Bless and Tight Lines LOL Dave From up North

thanks Dave, i will look into that, I don't know how he feels about suzuki's but i would like to try and keep the kicker the same as the big motor. thanks for your help.

are you fishing soon we have not seen any reports?

ilucas

not sure how much gas i am burning, but you are right salmo it would be minimal w/ the kicker. boy isn't gas getting crazy. it costs us 50 bucks round trip every time we tow up to ames farm and then 20 to launch. wow,times have changed

ilucas

back down to earth today 5 lakers 1 baby salmon the first 4 lakers were all nice fish 22-24in all on the smelt gun.when the rain stopped so did the action for me.was thinking about the difference between today and yesterday.was pretty much calm today yesterday was windy with big waves right from the start.A small boat like mine really rocks and rolls. And like slipkont mentioned i think the big waves in the broads added the little EXTRA ACTION to get the fish biting.up until now high wind is the one thing that would keep me off the water im gonna test this theory the next windy day.

rich,
nice meeting you yesterday, we kept looking for you as we trolled diamond and rattlesnake, we lost site of you about 6:00-6:30. did you troll on the ames farm side of rattle snake and head towards alton bay?



ilucas

it was nice to meet you too sorry about the dead fish handshake my right hand and arm are just about useless [health issues] i fished the broads all morning east of diamond and rattlesnke then trolled up to welch was that you fishing back and forth by diamond and if so did you catch many there. and again nice boat i saw you launching late in the season last year at newfound it stuck in my memory cause all those spot lights very cool im out there in the dark alot with just a flashlight lol

hey rich,
yup that was us, we were marking fish and bait there continously, and having steady action on the lead core lines, we stayed in the area until about 9, then trolled on the broads side of rattlesnake till about 11:30 picked up 3 more and then headed out. we did fish newfound at the end of last year, i needed to get comfortable with the boat so we started out fishing there (traffic on winni can get crazy) and we ended up really liking newfound. you are welcome to join us, i will e-mail you

ilucas