Saltwater Trolling Alternatives©
By Rich Johnson
While I may
not be the biggest fan of trolling as a method of catching fish, it does have its
advantages, misconceptions, stereotypes and alternatives within 
its own method of madness. Trolling is the
technique in which we drag lures or bait behind a moving vessel, thus covering more ground
and making the lures look more lifelike. Wire line trolling has the advantage of being
able to cover ground and gets the plug down to where the fish are. Its stereotype is a
long drawn out boat ride waiting for something to happen, the misconception is you can
only do it in the ocean while it’s alternatives are trolling plugs on mono and doing
it all in the back bays!
I have found
trolling to be somewhat boring as we crisscross the ocean looking for fish to take metal,
plastic or rubber and fighting fish on wire line is not all that exciting. Anything less
than a huge fish does not have much chance against wire line and sharp hooks…maybe
that’s why so many anglers like it…the odds are in your favor. Most of you may
be familiar with wire line trolling and most probably troll bunker spoons or umbrella rigs
as the major weapons in your arsenal. However, you can troll a variety of lures and you
don't have to troll them at depths like 40 or more foot of water outside the inlet as you
may be accustomed to.
In May of
2002 I visited New Jersey to film an episode of my television show with 
noted outdoor writer Capt. Al Ristori of the NJ Star Ledger
newspaper. Capt. Al Ristori has been the Ledger’s outdoor columnist for 18 years and
is a well know expert in the trolling game. Joining me on the trip was Pradco’s
northeast representative Joe Farry. There had been some large bunker schools of adult
bunker in Raritan Bay the last few weeks of April and May and many were chunking or
trolling bunker spoons for some decent fish. However I know that many of you may already
know the virtues of trolling bunker spoons so I decided to film a show about trolling
large plugs like 7 to 9-inch Bombers, Red Fins and Rebels. We used wire line in depths of
28-foot of water inside Raritan Bay with great success. This episode will probably air the
first week or two of June.
EQUIPMENT.
When it comes to trolling plugs, spoons or umbrella rigs I’m sold on the Seeker Rod
Co. They make a fantastic glass trolling rod with my favorite models the BA330, a 7-foot, one piece glass trolling rod. The other
model is the BA 1153M which is softer up top and comes in 8 or 9-foot models. This 1153M
is the ultimate bunker spoon rod with a soft action so you can see the thumping of the
spoon through the rod tip and has the back bone to handle large fish taking spoons. The
Seeker BA330 is the preferred choice for umbrella rigs and plugs and what we were using
this trip. As for reels the workhorse is the Penn Senator 114H, 4/0 reel. This allows you
to put enough backing on the reel and still get 50 to 100 yards or more of 40 or 50-pound
stainless wire on the reel easily.
RIGGING.
To the front end of the wire we use a haywire twist to a small barrel swivel and then tie
a 15-foot stretch of 50 to 60-pound test mono as a leader. Then add a 150-pound snap
swivel so you can attaché whatever it is you are trolling. You can uses an Albright knot
from wire to mono if you prefer.
We trolled
7-inch, model B17A Magnum Long A Bombers with Chicken Scratch and Baby Striped Bass
the two hot colors this trip with Red & White also catching quite a few fish. These
are shallow running lures and work best on wire line. Remember, wire line is designed to
get the lure down to the fish so you do not need a deep running bait here. You can use the
Bomber 25A, which is a deep running plug and will run as deep as any other on the
plug on the market. When running deep diver lures you can troll monofilament line and get
the plugs 18 to 20 foot. Whether you use wire and shallow runners or mono and deep divers,
it opens the door for you to experiment and catch fish on the troll…even in the back
bays or the state boat channel.
The main
channel or the edge of the channel is a great place to troll. You don’t have to worry
about getting in or out of the inlet and you can fight some big fish in the comfort and
safety of the calm water back bays. Some of the largest bass and bruising bluefish caught
season are caught trolling the back bays and state boat channel using plugs, umbrella
rigs, shad baits or squid! Each boat and engine combination is different and can vary as
to the proper rpm’s that catch fish. Most of the time you can bet you’re
trolling at the right speed somewhere between 900 and 1100 rpm’s.
