# nearshore trolling 8/17



## servo765 (May 25, 2013)

I went out this morning off of Pickens, dodging thunderstorms to do some trolling. I sabiki'd up two dozen or so cigs and herring in about five minutes and set out to troll. From 6:30 to 9:30, I had seven runs. All but one made my drags sound like an idling gas turbine engine, so I assume kings or big spanish at least, but truth is I don't know. Each time I reeled in half a minnow, or some badly slashed/stolen bait. I only landed one king (23" fork), and lost another which looked to be in the 24-30" range right beneath my kayak.

Is this an abnormally low hookup rate (2/7)?
How much drag should I be setting at the strike? I think my drag was set too light initially.


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## DawnsKayBug (Jul 24, 2013)

Where are you putting the hook(S)?


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

Stinger hook? They can really make a difference between a strike & a hookup.


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## servo765 (May 25, 2013)

They were kinda just trailing alongside/under the bait. I spent all night tying haywire twists and then left my tupperware of duster rigs on the bench in my pre-coffee state, so I grabbed a few pre-made rigs from a tackle store this a.m.

I probably had them rigged up wrong, but this was the rig I was using. Not really a stinger hook. Each time I tried to bury the hooks into the cigar minnow, it would twist up like crazy so I left them trailing.


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## pimpfist (Mar 12, 2012)

Use this rig with #4 trebles and 30 or 40lb AFW sevenstrand. You'll get a much better hookup rate! 

http://youtu.be/Dr8wwDoip4Y


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## still flippen (Oct 6, 2007)

Add a stinger hook like mentioned above....they swim close to it and it's in there face!!


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

Even with a stinger rig I've missed hook-ups only to reel in the front half of the bait on the front hook and the back half on the stinger perfectly cut in half. However, that low of a hook up ratio is probably due to that rig. It's designed to be sewn into the belly of a larger trolled dead bait.

Drag should be set around 5ish lbs and then DO NOT TOUCH the drag for the rest of the fight if it's a King. Especially at the end of the fight when a king's doing death circles under the boat, DO NOT TIGHTEN up or you will pull the hook. If it's something else like a shark or cobia, then you're ok to tighten up the drag during the fight. But with kings, too much drag pressure will result in pulled hooks or breakoffs because they can change directions and/or accelerate to 30-40+ MPH in seconds!

Good luck!
Alex


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## Pourman1 (Oct 4, 2007)

Also , a LOT of times if I'm King Fishing and get a strike , I go into Freespool because sometimes they will only take half the Bait and you miss the Hook-up ... 7 out of 10 times they WILL come back for the second half of the Live Bait as it's falling after the initial strike ... trial & error


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## servo765 (May 25, 2013)

I appreciate all the input. Regardless of the lost fish, it was still exciting to hear the drag screaming like that. They were hitting it so hard, that the weighted duster was slamming forward and wedging itself on the barrel swivel. Powerful fish for sure.


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## weedline (Aug 20, 2011)

the rig u are using is for dead baiting for live bait u want 2 #4 3x trebles only hook your bait with the lead hook letting the stinger free 3 to 5 in behind the bait #2 to 4 single strand works great for me and im sure 7 strand will do fine u will still miss fish but that should help and fish a loose drag for kings


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## northportcjm (Jun 9, 2009)

10-4 on tightening the drag. I made that mistake this year and lost a huge king when he was doing about 40 mph. Got scared he was gonna spool me. How can I put a color change or a mark on my line to let me know if only got say maybe 50 yds left?


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## Bluediemond (Apr 28, 2009)

50 yards of backing would work, no?


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## northportcjm (Jun 9, 2009)

I do the backing on my conventional outfit but I was scared the knot would get dug into the spool or hang on the bail of my spinning reel. Is that normally a problem? I'm gonna try it I think that will solve the problem. Thanks!


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

northportcjm said:


> I do the backing on my conventional outfit but I was scared the knot would get dug into the spool or hang on the bail of my spinning reel. Is that normally a problem? I'm gonna try it I think that will solve the problem. Thanks!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Should be fine if the bail on your spinning reel is in good shape and you use a low profile knot like an albright slice.


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## panhandleslim (Jan 11, 2013)

You can mark the line, longitudinally, with a black Sharpie. Make sure you make the mark 8" or a foot long. Doesn't matter braid or mono. 

Drag should be set at fighting drag, just don't make it super tight. The poster that told you to use a #4 treble 3X was telling you the right thing, for live bait, but I like pretty lite single strand. Either will work well. No more than 65 lb. wire if you use single strand; also, add a single offset stinger hook to the back of the bait..near the tail. Bring a piece of single strand from the eye of the treble to the eye of your single. I lay it on the side of the bait to make sure that when I go in and out of the bait, the hook will be hidden and the wire will lay straight against the side of the bait. 

Another method, if your rod is in front of you, is to set the drag but open the bail and have a rubber band, tight around the rod, in front of the reel seat. Double your main line and tuck it in the rubber band. Make sure it's just tight enough to keep it in the band while you are trolling.

The nature of a mackerel or wahoo is to cut the 'running gear' out of it's prey and come back to clean up the victim. That's why so many cut-offs. If they hit and nothing is there, just work any remaining piece you feel, back to you by jiggling and reeling slowly. They may come back to pick up the pieces.


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