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Trolling for Bass Written by Mike Thrussell Talk trolling techniques from small boats and most anglers assume you're discussing foreign gamefish. Few bother to try, but trolling lures is just as devastating this side of the pond as it is in warmer climes. Bass in particular, prove highly vulnerable to worked lures. It's not localized sport either. Pick any part of the country where bass are caught and providing you locate suitable ground features, you're in with a chance. SEASON FISH HOLDING FEATURE
Begin considering ground very close inshore first. Look to the mouths of estuaries, immaterial of size, as potential holding ground. Ignore large areas of clean sand and even deeper clean ground gullies. You're looking for areas of mussel beds, patches of boulders scoured out by the fast estuary currents, weed beds, or sandbanks that cut deep in to the main tidal flow creating a tide rip with a calm, deep bay on the inner estuary side. Sandeels, and then bass, congregate over the rough ground patches, but are not present on the clean sand. The exception to the clean sand rule is the shallow sandbank that deflects the tide. Sandeels get swept in to these and are picked off by bass that sit on the edge of the fast passing current just inside the quieter water on the downside of the sandbank. Moving away from the estuaries, look to the rough ground beaches as your next test area. The place to try trolling is roundabout the low water line of a normal spring tide mark. Ideal ground would be boulders, weed beds, small rocky peaks a few feet high that suffer some tidal run, or a definite dropoff area from very shallow to slightly deeper water. The best marks of all are reefs, preferably shallow reefs, that are connected to the shore. If these run for any distance in an offshore direction, then at some time they will hold bass. What happens is that bass herd sandeels on to the top of the reef and hold them there by staying below and downtide of them. The bass, now shoaled up and numbering anything from a dozen fish to hundreds, make frequent raids in to the panicking sandeels a few fish at a time. This activity can be clearly seen by frequent splashes on the surface as the bass seize a victim and turn, and by the hoards of screaming and diving terns taking advantage of the chaos. In all these situations depth is not important from the bass's point of view. They will work around the mouths of estuaries and over inshore rough ground in only a few feet of water. The only criteria here is of boat and crew safety. Over deep water reefs where you may have 30ft plus of water under the hull you are looking for the peaks of uplifting rock pinnacles. Again, the sandeels are worked towards the peak of these pinnacles with the bass below them. TIDES Both high and low water periods, again because of little tidal flow, are poor. It's the middle hours of the flood and ebb that prove best, in particular the ebb which often produces the bulk of the fish. Don't expect prolonged feeding bouts. These will only last an hour, maybe a little longer, then the bass move off. Time of day also plays it's part. Dawn and dusk periods are prime when working ground close to shore. It's less critical offshore, but mid day is less reliable than when the suns rays are at a shallower angle on the seas surface during mid morning and mid afternoon periods. Hazy days when the sun is subdued are excellent, but cloudy days are hit and miss depending on the clarity of the water. You do need a high degree of visibility for real success. TACKLE Reels need to be multipliers holding 250-300yds of 12 to 15lb line. Fixed spools are not suitable for this type of fishing as reel clutches need to be set precisely to give line the moment a fish hits the lure and turns.
Artificial sandeels such as Redgills and Eddystone's will cover 90% of the fishing. Occasionally, the bass will be choosy and take nothing but 4ins eels, on the next tide they want the bigger 7in eels, rarely will they take eels larger than this. Colour is also important. The primary taking colours are all white and all black, or a mix of red and black. However, sometimes the bass work in an eccentric manner and demand fluorescent orange, bright yellow, or luminous green. These occasions are rare, but emphasize the need to carry a range of colours. Other good colours to try are all red, and To retain the action of the lure you require minimal weight to be added. For all shallow water fishing you nothing more than a single large swivel. Tie the main line to one eye of the swivel, and a length of 12 to 15lb line about 8ft long to the other, then the eel. In deep water you may need a spiral lead or bullet weight. The spiral are best having the best streamlined shape and are less conspicuous. Other lures worth considering are the artificial fish with wagging tails like the Shad in the larger 6in sizes and Mr Twister lures between 4 and 6ins long. Again, vary the colours. Spinners in chrome colouring like ABU Toby's, Dexter Wedges, Ryobi Odin's and the new ABU Trolling Devil can work at times, usually during bright sunlight. Diving plugs can also be excellent, but colour comes in to play with silver and black the best. Jointed plugs outfish single bodied ones. Look to Rapala's, Yo Zuri's, Big S etc. TECHNIQUE Marks that have little tidal run, areas of rock or mussel beds out in more open water, or ground just out from a rough ground beach can be fished just by trolling in a line along them. The lures need to be worked between 50 and 100yds behind the boat's stern. Stagger these distances so that each lure is at a different setting. After releasing the lure, hold the rod at right angles to the boat and keep the rod tip low to the water. As a fish takes, the tip simply gets heavier. Just lift the rod and the tightening line sets the hook. As a fish is hooked it is policy to shout "Fish on", the helmsman should then shut off power and leave the boat to drift naturally with no forward movement while the fish is landed. Those anglers not in to fish at this time should slowly retrieve their eels back towards the Any turns by the boat with lures still trolling can produce horrific tangles. It's up to the helmsman to take turns and course alterations very wide and slow. Use the tide to keep the lines to the lures tight, then push beyond and uptide of the ground dropping back to troll under power as before. SAFETY TIPS Sometimes you feel a bass pluck and pull at the tail of the sandeel. This is a sign, that either the bass has seen the lure for the fraud it is, that the size of the eel does not match the size of natural sandeel that the fish are feeding on, or that the colour is wrong. Ring the changes for success. When working shallow reefs look for the defined line of calm and rougher water that signals the tidal run over the top of the reef. This is where the bass will be and where your lures should be trolled. Comment... |
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